I have a problem with my 86 corvette, when I put the headlights on the radio light goes out. Any one have an answer.

don't turn the lights on. need more to go on. is it the original radio, did someone work on the wiring, did it just start, etc. 

I bought the car about two weeks ago and the previous owner said he has had the problem since he bought it. It is the origanal radio.

This is purely conjecture, but it sounds like a bad bulb or a connection inside the radio has a bad solder joint letting it make and break. The connection might be so bad that when the headlights come on, it doesn't have enough juice to light the bulb and/or other things dim.

I've seen similar things happen in computer work, so my money says it's in the radio circuitry


|UPDATED|8/21/2011 9:17:28 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

My '87 is new to me too. Just over a month. One thing I'll check later tonight is if the headlights are turned on does the radio display dim for night vision. If the dimming circuit is faulty it may cause your issue.

The dimmer wire becomes active when the headlights come on, the engineers think "Well, duh the headlights come on and the radio doesn't have to be so bright." Start there.