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When things start going south...

On top of a few other electrical issues, my trip odometer and radio presets are occasionally resetting on start up. I got my battery replaced a month ago, and it has happened three times since. I'm assuming that it's related to the battery itself - anybody with experience on a fix? Is it a dud battery? I have no problems starting the car.

 
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does the radio go into "lock mode" when it happens?

do you need to enter in your radio code?

this would indicate a temporary loss of power

 
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Radio reset I can understand.....but I don't think I've ever seen a tripmeter reset by itself due to a power loss. Odd.
(If it's not an antitheft radio, it can't lock up.)


Check all the other wires attached to the battery terminals. There are more than just one. You may need to do some volt drop testing if you really want to test things.

 
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The radio does not lock. I'm thinking it might be the EMCU because the headlight beep no longer happens when I leave the lights on. I'm perplexed by it - checked all the fuses and they're fine.

 
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I would check all grounds to start with. Then check and make sure fuses aren't loose...replace the radio under dash, and the one under the hood for back up with new fuses. Pull out the radio, and check for loose/niched wires...may have been rubbing on something metal that will cause a short. If you know what your doing, I would take the instrument cluster out also, and check to make sure all pins are securely in there clips that connect to the cluster, and make sure everything looks nice and snug.

If that doesn't fix your problem, 1st get a printout, or manual that will tell you what each individual wire is so you know what to look for (pwr/grd/acc/ect.)

THEN your going to have to get an meter, and start check ground connections and proper voltage, and see if there is any interruption when you turn key to ACC

Thats real fun...Trust me

 
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Uf. Thanks for the info! This looks like a not-so-fun project for next weekend.

 
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Update - I installed a radio myself last year and some of the electrical tape got loose from the wires in back and were rubbing against other wires. I assume that caused a short. My spedometer was occasionally bouncing too, and that seems to have stopped since retaping everything.