Braking Causes Electrical Issues / Radio Shuts Off ~SOLVED~

Truck: 2016 DCSB 4x4 TRD Off-Road 6 Speed Manual

Laying this out for those that run into this in the future. Truck started acting up with the head unit and cruise control randomly shutting off. I noticed that the head unit would shut off and reboot most often when braking. I had no warning lights on the dash, but did have the DTC B158F which is battery voltage drop to the radio.

Found some examples of others having this issue and it was also associated with headlights dimming during braking and dash illumination going bonkers during braking.

The root cause was simply weakness in the electrical system with the hydraulic brake booster exploiting the weakness. The hydraulic brake booster puts a fair amount of load on the electrical system when it's operating the rear brakes, boosting braking force, and/or charging the accumulator. This exacerbates any weakness in the electrical system and the most sensitive components to input voltage such as head unit, cruise control, and headlamps can begin to act up.

My cause turned out to simply be loose battery terminals, but other causes could be any electrical system weakness such as a dying battery/alternator, poor ground/s, or poor electrical connections.

Have no fear, if you run into this issue and have a hydraulic brake booster you're just getting an early warning that your electrical system voltage is weak and it should be an easy fix.

 

A friend of mine had a similar issue on his Tundra. Some no starts, quick drains, and weak starts. It was the terminals corroded through. A replacement and he was set.

 

Come on, you are even here too. Every problem I find, there you are lol.

 

Don't be mad because they're faster.

 

I just started having this issue today. Hitting the brakes reboots my radio. I thought I was going crazy.

Pulled into my driveway and turned my lights on and hit the brakes and the lights flashed as well

 

This worked for me

 

Cheers!