My dashboard lights, clock, and radio turn on and off

Hello,

I have a 2003 Hyundai Tiburon. I have an aftermarket radio in my car that has the capability to be hooked up to a rear view camera. I did not put it in, I also do not have a back up camera. It was done before I got the car. At first it was just a quirky thing, whenever I would turn on the headlights, the radio would switch to back up mode. I would turn the radio on and then off again and everything was fine. Then every once in a while the radio and clock would reset. I kept getting annoyed with that so I left the light switch on. (When i turn my car off the headlights turn off as well) Then it occasionally started resetting when i turned the car on. Now as I drive down the road and my car has been on for 20 min, half hour, the dashboard lights turn off and the clock and radio reset.

Any ideas?
Thank you,
First time poster.

I would check several things: First I would check the battery terminals and associated wiring for cleanliness and tightness. I would also look at the wiring to the radio if it’s accessible and any additional wiring and splices added when the backup camera was installed.

As stated check the battery terminals and the tie down bar for the battery. Had a vey similar issue with the clock and radio resetting themselves and dash lights going out. Turned out the negative battery connection was loose and the tie down bar was not installed properly. 5 min repair to fix both and no issues since. It’s actually a bad idea to allow these voltage swings to occur so get it checked ASAP.

A jinky ignition switch can do that too.
As the internal contacts wear, they might need a little wiggle to stay on.
Those circuits are not connected as you start the car. Only after you release the key to spring back does it turn those on.
My 1980 Bronco did this very thing. I could start, run, and drive the thing with no gauges or radio untill I wiggled the key a bit so as to wiggle the switch further down in the column.
Your Tiburon ignition switch is piggy backed to the ignition lock cylinder immediately behind it in the housing.

Along with cleaning the ground connections under the hood I suggest you check the power circuit for the memory. It is separate from the regular power to the devices. Memory back up power is used to keep the memory alive while normal power is OFF. The fuse for memory power should be located in the fuse panel under the hood. There may be a faulty connection in the line.

@ken green: I was also going to suggest the ignition switch as a possible problem, but the OP says the clock is resetting on the radio, and this should be independent of the ignition switch, I suspect the battery wiring.

I would check all the wiring for the after market radio. It could be the constant power for the memory, the dimmer function which connects to the stock illumination circuit, the ground or any other combination of the above or other things. But since it all has to do with the radio I would start there.

I’m wondering if the factory wiring was spliced and grounds or power connctions under the dash are messed up. I would take it to a reputable stereo shop and have them pull the unit and check all the connections.

I don’t understand why the radio would be involved with a (missing) back up camera. Do you mean the radio has some kind of a tv display screen, a touch screen used to change the stations that can also display a vdo image?

All the illumination is tied together according to the prints. When they tied the aftermarket radio into the dash lighting, they made a poor connection. This is causing the problem with all your dash lighting.

The OP seems to be having trouble also with the memory power circuit since the clock time is resetting.