Alright...this one has me completely lost. Hopefully someone here has an idea!!

The first thing to note is, it doesn't matter whether the car is running or not.

If the car is just sitting there running, or not running, and/or the key is in the "On" or "Acc" position, and I pull back on the lever to flash the brights, the radio will lose power, both blinker arrows will light up faintly, and the small orange light on the rear defrost button will light up faintly. Also, if the car is running, I hear/feel the engine strain a little bit right when I pull the lever, and the engine jumps about 500rpm for a second, then returns to normal. I can also get it to do all of this if I put the heat/vent on high.

Right when I let go of the lever, everything comes back on and acts normal.

This has happened sitting in the driveway, driving 30-40mph down the road, and doing 70mph down the highway.

I have checked all of the grounds, (that I can find.) The battery is brand new and has been tested, and the alternator (although I think, since this happens without the car running, it has nothing to do with the alternator,) is brand new. I have cleaned the battery terminals, as well as the cable clamps. They are both getting a good connection. I have followed both cables as far as I can, and both seem to make good connections everywhere.

I'm just about running out of ideas here!

Most likely, you have a short somewhere in the circuit. Something is drawing enough power to shut down the radio, shunt some sort of stray voltage to the indicator lights and when the engine is running, the alternator is struggling to put out the required amperage.

Electrical gremlins suck. Good luck in finding them I would start in the column with the headlight switch and work your way towards the firewall.

Michael

Well...here's a slight development.

When I pull the plug from the back of either headlight, the other headlight gets almost twice as bright. Then, when I put it back, the radio goes out again, and the lights go back to being a little dimmer. Definitely looks like there is a ground wire screwy on one of the headlights.

Does this give anyone else any ideas? Or am I right to suspect a ground wire from one of the headlights?

Just thought I would update a little more here. This is quite long...but maybe it will make someone think of something!!

I switched out the headlight relay with a couple of others...and it reacted just the same. The strange thing is...when this happens, and the radio goes out...it seems to come on for a couple of seconds, then go off again. Almost like its trying to come back...just can't.

If I pull the relay for the headlights...the foglights go out, as well. Is that normal? The foglights have their own relay right below that, too. Why does the headlight relay affect the foglights?

The number on the headlight relay: D 7329

It's the complete randomness of the whole thing that drives me crazy. Just now...I had the radio on. Turned the lights on, flashed the brights...and the radio dimmed slightly...but stayed on.

A minute later, repeating the same thing results in the radio shutting off. I'm just about at the end of my wits on on this one! I hate electrical problems.

I'm not even sure how a shop could figure this one out.