Hey guys,
Real stupid question but can't seem to get solid answer. Basically I am having problems with my radio/cd player (stock single cd player) losing power intermittently / flickering. It happens in 2 situations:

a) Engine is off but cd is playing, as in when i go gas up if i have a cd playing especially at medium-high volume, the equipment will start flickering (radio screen light flickers and music stops/starts intermittently)

b) Engine is ON but i am not moving, eg. stopped at a light. This is especially true if i have headlights and a/c going as well...sometimes if i dont have the headlights and a/c going then it wont do it..unless i crank it real high volume then it might also do it.

Everything goes back to normal as soon as the car starts moving again, and it is only the radio light and the music itself that flickers, all other inside lights stay on.

I'm trying to see what powers the radio if the engine is off? on? on but not moving?
I thought the battery only worked to crank the car and to power things if the car engine is off..so if it only did it then I'd be sure its the battery....but the curve ball is that it does it also when the engine is on but car is stopped.....so then i think maybe alternator? or is the alternator only working when the car is moving?

Or maybe the cd player is going...being in service since 1997 every day...it's lasted a while!

My battery is about 2 yrs old, alternator has never been replaced, radio is stock unit...so I am thinking either of the 3 could be it just trying to see which is most likely the culprit so i wont buy a something i don't need.
Thanx!

the radio gets power from the batt. with the car off as soon as u turn the car on the alt will givew the battery more power . use a dmm and see what your battery voltages are . should be 12volts with the car off and 13.8-14 volts with the car on .

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If your voltages are good, it might be a poor ground on the radio. I had this happen to me before, it would play good until the volume hit a certain point then started cutting out because it wasn't getting enough power. I just added an extra ground wire from the chassis to the radio housing itself and it fixed it until I got a new cd player.

Thanks guys, guess I'll concentrate on the battery first and get it measured if not go for the radio itself.

If your running an under drive pulley, that might explain your symtoms.
An underdrive pulley (depending on manufacturer and type) will make your alternator rotate at a slightly slower RPM at idle than a OEM pulley and result in the alternator not being able to fully charge the electrical system at idle condition.
With this information, try the previous poster's suggestion and check the system with a voltage meter at idle and while running.

i'm not sure about the cd version, but the stock radio/tape deck uses the chasis for a ground. there is no ground wire. this means that if your deck is not securely mounted via metal screws to the frame of the car, then it will not work properly and cause a shitload of electrical problems since it's tied into the accesories systems and consequently the lighting systems as well.

i've had to drive while in the midst of doing electrical work on my car and i just stuck the deck back in the dash for the ride. this did provided only an itermittent ground for the system and caused a lot of weird problems. once it was securely mounted everything went away.

-marc