Random radio off/door unlocks whilst driving

[ckempo]

OK folks, solve this one for me.

When I'm driving along, seemingly at random, my doors unlock (all of them, full central locking etc) and the radio turns off. Locking the doors again is a button press away and usually they stay locked again, but getting the radio back on is a farce - sometimes it comes on for seconds before it's gone again, other times a minute or two, but it rarely comes back and stays on first time, leading to a game of "press the button, wait, press the button, wait" etc that usually leads to me exploding in frustration.

Interestingly, if I'm on a call when it happens then the headunit stays on (the doors still click etc).

The car acts as if I've parked up, essentially - radio off, doors open. Which is useful when you arrive at home; it's nothing but an annoyance as you're driving along.

Has anyone else witnessed anything like this, and know what the root cause is? Importantly - is it an expensive fix, if it needs work?

 

[Legojon]

I have this happen on my MK2 Sport. I haven't got round to fixing it yet, but the radio is practically unusable. I did notice for me it was worse when it rained, so maybe some kind of short. Also, my 12v socket cycles the power as well as the radio / doors. The only other thing I wondered... when I scan for codes, I have loads thrown for the ignition barrel. So wondered if it was something like the effect you get when you take the key out (but only lasting a fraction of a second) - eg, when I take the key out at the end of a journey the electrics go off and all the doors unlock.

 

[ckempo]

Ooh, interesting - I'd never given the charger a second thought, will pay attention to my phone charging state next time it happens.
I didn't have any codes when I last checked, but I had wondered if it was something to do with the key, for the same reason.

Anyone know if a replacement barrel is do-able, and cost-effective?