Short question:
I installed a new CD player and now have 2 problems:
It cuts out when there’s a musical peak at high volume.
My alternator light keeps coming on.
What’s going on?
Long version:
Had in car:
Old Alpine head unit (40X4 peak, RMS- ?)
Basslink 1
Crap 6.5” speakers
HU started getting old and not reading disks, so I decided to replace it with a new Alpine 9852 (45X4 peak, 16X4 RMS). I wired the harness with butt connectors (the ones that don’t allow the actual wires to touch each other). After that, 2 problems:
1: If I’ve got the volume up pretty loud and I’m listening to a song that gets quiet and then peaks all at once, the 4 main speakers cut out for a second or so. I can hear my sub still playing that part of the song without skipping or cutting out at all.
2: Alternator light is coming on. There doesn’t seem to be any pattern. Low or high RPMs, low or high volume.
I was thinking the butt connectors were the source of the problem, but it wasn’t until 2 weeks later when my basslink started blowing fuses like crazy that I pulled the deck out to look at everything. The remote lead for the sub had come loose and grounded out, so I pulled the whole deck to re-wire the harness. This time I wired the wires together directly and used heat shrink. It SEEMS like I can get a LITTLE more volume out of it before it cuts out, but it’s still happening. Why?
If more info is needed on the alternator light since the re-wire, I will edit this to add more info tomorrow evening after I drive to and from work. I drove it long enough to get some BK breakfast this morning (hell yeah!) and it didn’t happen.
soontobe2ndGEN: Both connections hard wired not through a harness? Then how do I shut the deck off? Power button? Is that a good idea?
spikeymike: Yeah I was thinking the alternator was gonna go out (I have no idea if it’s original and the car has almost 220,000 miles on it). Do you think it was a coincidence that it happened when I installed the new deck? I don’t see how another watt or 2 (RMS) would make this start seeing how the sub is pulling 200 RMS and has been for over a year with no problems.
EDIT: Just thought of other things.
This happens even if the car is off. Does that mean the alternator would have nothing to do with it?
The sub is hard wired to the battery and doesn’t have this problem. That would tell me the battery is fine.
I don’t claim to know a whole lot about this, so tell me if I’m way off.
Anyone think the deck is malfunctioning? I have 2 weeks left to send it back no questions asked.
Gotcha- red serves the same purpose as the remote lead. So then do you think I should tap into the power wire going to my sub? Is there an easy way to do that?
Anyone else have comments? I think there’s more to this…
It deff. sounds like HU is not getting enough current, [and it can’t through the oem constant, as has been mentioned run a fused lead, [12ga] from the batt. pos.(+) to behind HU and connect HUs yellow constant power lead to it, yellow is HUs internal amp power, [along with memory].
Connect all other leads to the OEM radio harness, [don’t forget to cap off the OEM constant and OEM illumination lead if not used.
Using a proper, [“L” bracket, (metal)] back support from HU to OEM rear support bracket will give the HU all the ground it needs.
Basslink power should also be connected to the batt. pos.(+) terminal and fused, ground Basslink to floor pan of car, seat and seatbelt bolts work well as do any bolt/nut on stud that goes into floor pan of the car.
Take your car to anyplace that does batt./alt. and have them to a load test on the alt. and check the batt. most places do this for free, only takes 5min.94
Since I have a fused 4(?) gauge power wire already going from the battery to my basslink, would it be a bad idea to split it with a distribution block to send power to the basslink and my HU? Or should I use a 2nd wire for the HU?
By “rear support bracket” do you mean the brackets under the dash?
I would run the 12ga for the HU.
Yes, I mean the “bracket under the dash” the stock bracket that held the stock HU, [and pocket] in place.
As seen here… http://www.installdr.com/InstallDocs/Acura/PDF/466049.pdf
scroll down to 3rd page.:idea:94
First thing I did was get the battery and alternator checked. The problem was just that the neg batt terminal was loose. Nothing needs replacingEDIT-I was wrong…see below
Today I spent 2 hours cleaning all the corrosion from all my terminals before I started to get down to business.
After fucking with it and poking holes in it forever, I realized that I wasn’t going to get another wire through this grommet on the passenger side:
I couldn’t even see where it came out the other side!
So I logged onto G2IC and used the search function to find another place to get through the firewall. The other places that people are using weren’t going to work.
I finally decided I was going to have to use the one on the driver side. Trouble is, I only had 6 feet of cable. I ran to the store and convinced them to give me 10 feet this time, and rushed back home to figure it out. I drilled through the grommet, threaded the wire through, ran it around my engine bay and under my pedals, and hard wired it.
I followed these instructions exactly (YES the wires have a fuse in them, and YES I re-did the ground), and the HU is STILL CUTTING OUT at high volume. Now before you say “turn it down”, I’m only listening to it at 20 out of 35. Anyone with a 45X4 Alpine knows that 20 isn’t that loud. Not only that, but now my sub is humming- even with the car off AND my headlights are randomly getting dim.
Well first that’s not the place I would run the power on the pass side, if you had used the one that the other electrical goes through, you would have found more then enough room, for both the “4(?) gauge” and the new power lead, what you do when you run it to the drivers side is take the longest possible route, and that power lead strung across the engine bay is an RF ant. just waiting for noise to pick up.
Even with the lead that long the HU should now be getting enough current, [assuming all the connections are good] and current should not be an issue, although the long run across engine bay may be a noise problem, [I would still run it on the pass. side] anyway, I would now look at the speakers/speaker terminals/tinsel leads or speakers leads shorting out.
You should be able to test this by fading all the way to the front and/or rear and turning it up and see if it still cuts out, if it does not, [say when faded to all the way to the rear it no longer cuts out] fade to center and balance all the way left and/or right, test again, if again if it only cuts out when balanced to say the right speaker, it is the right front speaker, [HUs output] that has the problem, start by pulling the speaker and check and make sure that the speakers terminals, tinsel leads of speaker wire terminals can, in no way come in contact with the metal in the car door.
BTW, what speakers are in the car, and how are they installed?:idea:94
It’s not a 4 gauge, I was mistaken. i was going from faulty memory.
I also couldn’t find a way to get the wire through where the old one is. I can’t even see where it comes out the other side. Does it look normal under there? I don’t even see how they installed the wire last time. In any case, that’s obviously not the problem (corrosion has been eliminated and connections have been triple checked) and I’ll probably go back to harness power to eliminate the long ass wire.
Front speakers are stock, rear speakers are old Infinity Reference. All 4 lines have passive high-pass filters (120 hz) in line just before the speakers.
I’ll try this new test and post the results, but it looks like I’m going to be returning this head unit- I don’t think this is worth my time anymore. What a waste. There’s no reason it should be doing this when the old one didn’t.
Ok, I’ve got more info and would like more answers if possible.
Again, thanks in advance!
I tried the fading thing, and it was cutting out in the rear (left AND right). When the fade and balance are both set to 0, all 4 speakers cut out. When I fade front, nothing cuts out. In fact, I can fade anywhere from 3-15 front (15 is max) and it eliminates the problem. So for shits, I switched all 4 speakers front to rear. The problem followed the speakers (the Infinitys). How is this possible? 2 speakers cutting the whole system out? I did re-check the wiring at all 4 speakers- nothing is grounding out.
I also removed the power cord from the battery and re-wired it through the harness. This did not eliminate the “hum-with-the-RPMs” that I’m hearing through the sub. The only things that have been touched throughout this whole “ordeal” that relate to the sub are the RCAs and the remote lead wire where I plug/wire them into the deck. Yes the noise gets louder with accessories on, but the ground hasn’t been touched and the RCAs are in the same location in relation to the sub power wire as they’ve been for a year (noise free). Any suggestions?
The other issue is the alternator light. I had the battery and alternator checked 3 times at 3 different locations on 3 different days, and the diagnosis was “good” on both all 3 times. Today, however, I disconnected the battery while the car was running. It died all 5 times I did this- in under a minute each time. I’m getting the alternator replaced this week, because it’s obviously faulty.
My main issue now is- can all of this be a coincidence? All of these problems started within a few days after installing the new deck. I’m MORE than confident that the harness is wired correctly/tightly with no wires exposed. I installed the last deck in this car and had NO problems whatsoever. I have another few days to decide if I’m returning this deck.
I need to know:
Can a deck fry an alternator? Is there any possible way that the alternator going bad is the deck’s fault?
Can RCA outputs get fried so that they give off this humming noise? What’s causing this?
One or both of the speakers, [that you moved from the back to the front has a short in the VC, [maybe a VC that is separating] when the HU “sees” the short it shuts down the HUs internal amp, that’s why when you fade away from the “bad speaker(s)” the protection circuit does not “see” the short so it does not shut down, [you should be able to tell which speaker it is by using the balance].
It is unlikely that the HU damaged the alt., I would be more inclined to think your problems are because of the bad alt., [including the noise].:idea:94
When ur music shuts off, does everything else shut off too ? eg. clock,doorlight,tach …
If so, then it’s most probably your alternator goin out cause I’ve had this problem WHILE I was driving.
If not, then it’s most probably your deck shutting itself off due to overheating. or your sub amp is drawing too much current leaving not enough for the deck. My suggestion is grabbin a cap, ur system will sound better too
azntklc: I think I’ve narrowed the cutting out down to the speakers. Nothing else shuts off, it does it only when faded to the Infinitys, and it does it even when cold- within seconds of being turned on. Thanks though!
The alternator will be replaced tomorrow. I’ll run some more tests this weekend and let you all know if the problems are fixed.
the way I solved that was by not using the factory ground as it is only sufficent enough for the stock tape player and older cd players. I grounded the radio to the bolts at the bottom of the frame/bracket assembly that holds the radio.
