I have a 2009 Honda Fit Sport. The issues below may be connected but I'm not sure.

Here are my mods:
Kenwood DX418 - Double Din receiver
K&N Typhoon intake

It started off a month ago with the radio randomly shutting down and restarting. It would happen more frequently if I had the AC on. Now its up to the point where it will restart when I press the AC button.

Recently the Power steering has joined in. While at a stop and turning the steering wheel all the way and when I shift into reverse, the radio will shutdown and restart and the steering wheel icon warning appears and I lose power steering for a few seconds). So Parallel parking has become a real challenge.

Last week I had my alternator replaced with a new one, checked the serpentine belt, put in a new Honda Battery, cleaned my battery terminals, checked all the wiring for the radio and checked all my fuses. I think my next step is to bring it to the stealership and bring out the lube. Did any other fitfreak have this issue?

 

There was another member having a radio reset problem, I havent followed his thread to see if there was a solution.

I would look under the dash at the fusebox and start probing, looking for perhaps water spotting or similar corrosion damage that may be effecting the electronics.


If the paneling is easy to remove (I havent tried) underneath the steering wheel, pull them off and check for similar possibilities. Just be very careful, you will have a very bad day if the steering wheel airbag deploys. Check the ignition switch area

 

Have you tried putting everything back to stock?

 

His mods dont mess with anything

Only real thing that might make a difference is make the radio ground to the dashboard instead of through the harness.

But I doubt his radio is pulling excessive power

 

i feel like the radio is pulling too much power. we have electronic power steering that's why and everything seems to be related to eletrical problems.

but then again, i dont know what i'm talking about. i would like to know where this is going though. update us when you solve it!

 

Negative.

The radio is on a seperate fuse then the power steering.

Also, my radio uses 20 or 22 watts rms per channel and I can crank it with no issues.

Something else is up with this situation

 

I'm not trying to be a douche. The OP stated his radio started resetting? Aftermarket and factory radios aren't bullet proof so getting the original issue out of the loop might help find a solution? Possible causes for this might be a ground issue within the head unit or maybe aftermarket install is grounded to improper mounting point?? How about I suggest simply unplugging the aftermarket radio and seeing if the issue goes away? The dealer that he has stated he might take it to will do the exact same thing. Taking away anything that is not original and they will charge him $88 to $115/hr do do this.

 

No one said or even implied you were acting like a douche.


Even shitty brand aftermarket radios wont do this. The radio fuse does not control the rest of the dashboard electronics.


It has to be something that hits everything. Like the ignition switch. Anything that controls accessory 12V

 

or a bad ground somewhere?

 

I truly appreciate all the responses. Even though I cleaned the battery terminals, I noticed over the weekend that the grounding cable from the battery to the chassis was rusted. I cleaned the hell out of it and *fingers crossed* it has been two days now and the problem hasn't re-appeared.

I'm angry that my mechanic didn't notice this and even more mad at myself for not noticing it. But it could've been worse, I could have taken it to Honda Dealer and paid $100+ for this diagnosis. I hope this post saves another fitfreaker from wasting money like I did, but now I have a shiny new alternator and battery.

 

Good deal you found the problem yourself and let us all know that it was that simple but lots of folks missed it.

 

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but then again, I'm not sorry because this is how we FitFreakmen&women learn, no?

I have the exact same issue as the OP: occasional radio restarts (typically under relatively high electrical load such as when AC/lights on), occasional power steering resets (typically when turning the wheel all the way to the left/right as when parallel parking), dimming lights under higher load. I've also noticed that the car is a bit harder to start when left sitting for 4 days. Battery has tested good, and I was about to replace the alternator, when lo and behold! this thread spins a different yarn.

OP, did cleaning the grounding cable solve your electrical woes for good? I'll likely clean mine anyway and see if that does the trick, and I'll report back if it worked. But please chime in to share your story if you have another solution to the problem.

 

I've since moved onto the MDX, but I'll still be a FitFreaker for life!

The issue came back after a few days, I replaced the cable and bolts, parts # 13, 14, 15 and 17 in the diagram below - and that finally fixed my problem.

13
32600-TK6-000
Cable, Ground Batt (Assy)
$15.83$11.12

14
32601-SK7-900
Bolt, Battery Terminal
$6.17$4.33

15
32602-SK7-900
Nut, Battery Terminal
$3.77$2.64

17
90153-SE0-003
Bolt, Ground (6X12)
$0.53$0.37

 

Simply amazing. I just ordered the parts and will be doing the swap as soon as these bad boys arrive. I'll keep you posted--it's simply out of hand right now and worse than ever before.

 

I want to update y'all. As soon as nyczzzjohn filled me in on what worked for him, I ordered the parts in question from hondapartsnow. Since they had not yet processed the order after 5 days, I decided to clean the negative terminal along with the grounding cable with a diluted baking soda solution. I had a bit of a scare when the Fit refused to start initially after reconnecting everything, but after a few minutes, it fired up--without any of the previous issues! We seem to be 100% free of the myriad electrical grounding problems (radio cutting out while under load, power steering kicking back when the wheel was turned all the way to one side, headlights dimming).

If anything changes, I'll be replacing the suspect parts when (if?) they arrive from HPN. I'll of course update here if that's the case.

Thanks so much, nyczzzjohn. I owe you a beer, but here is some popcorn in the meantime.

 

Nothing changed; car still runs great now. Parts arrived and I haven't swapped them out just yet.

 

happened to me too, aftermarket radio would reboot and power steering would blip out for a sec. this was after going from a 151r to a 51r. I have a bunch of stuff also connected to the terminal block, so when I tightened it, it "seemed" right now was far from it. I tightened it up, problem solved. going from a 151 to a 51 is one of the best things I've done for this car. I did have to trim the nub off the air filter housing and cut the 'leg" off the positive terminal and unclip it's harness from its position in front of the battery on that this metal "arm" and route that wire in-between the filter housing and battery in order to make it fit. totally worth it. car starts instantly and it's been 12° F. also, seems like no more parasitic drain. 151r battery is underpowered for this car. I just bought one in mayish 2023 and I just had to replace it jan 2025. I might push car batteries a bit farther than most though (air compressor, amp, 500w inverter in the glove box) so it could just be me.