'03 Honda Pilot - sound cuts out and dashboard lights come on

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

I have a 2003 Honda Pilot with about 152,000 miles on it. Recently while driving if i have the radio on or have my ipod hooked up, the volume will turn all the way down and the dashboard warning lights will turn on. It only lasts for a few seconds at a time but it happens very randomly. Sometimes it won’t happen at all and other times it will occur every few minutes or so.
After the few seconds the volume turns back up to its previous set level and the dashboard lights go back to normal. The way the lights come on seems pretty random as well. Sometimes it will just be the “parking break” light and other times it will be all of the warning lights.

I’m not sure what the problem is. Maybe a fuse is shorting out? Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Matt

2

Fuses don’t “short out.” If there is a short circuit in the wiring the fuse for that circuit will blow, or burn out, to protect the circuit.

If you have no blown fuses you have no short circuit.

The problem may be a faulty ground connection somewhere. Since there are multiple ground connections it may be difficult to find. A wiring diagram and some test equipment (test light, multi-meter) would be helpful.

Paying a mechanic to find it could be expensive because it’s going to be time-consuming.

Does everything else work normally when this happens?

3

The trouble is most likely due to a intermittent break in the power delivery instead of a short circuit. A lot of folks confuse the two different kind of problems.

There may be a intermittent problem with the ignition switch and tapping on it may show up the trouble. If it isn’t there then there may be a faulty connection in a connector. Tracing the power circuit for the radio should show the things that need to be checked to find the problem.

4

I think it’s a ground problem too.

5

mcparadise - yeah everything else seems to work fine, there is no loss in the breaking or acceleration functions. The RPM’s and MPH guages continue to function normally as well.
Cougar - I am not exactly sure what the exact difference is haha

Do you think this is something I need to get checked out? meaning could anything worse arise if i dont get it looked at for a while?

Thank you all for the help!