Hello all.
Don't know what I did...
This afternoon I replaced a worn-out aftermarket power antenna with a nearly identical new aftermarket unit. Not brain surgery (blue wire to blue wire, red wire to red wire, ground to chassis where the old ground was).
Well, I go to test it out and the deck (Pioneer) is Dead! Not dim, not bad sounding... no power at all!
I've checkd every fuse in the car and they are fine. I even tried hooking the old antenna back up and the deck is still dead.
Any clue as to what I may have done and is it fixable?
any help would be greatly appreciated!
Replies (5)
swez on 03/31/2004 09:01:25
Does your HU have an inline fuse as well? If yes, check that too. First matter of biz, get the HU working again w/o antenna connected.
The blue wire from HU is generally for REMote amp turn on. Some decks use a blue/wt strip for antenna feed to relay mounted near the antenna. The b/wt feeds relay as a energizer to trigger relay coil and allows the antenna to go up. When HU is shut down or switched to CD player, the antenna relay opens, reverses polarity of the motor and the antenna comes down.
Did you replace the antenna relay as well? You may have a problem in the original relay. These can short or stick in open or closed position over time. Can easily replace the relay to be sure you have a good one. They are cheap at any good auto parts store.
Finally, when working on any electricals in car, best to disconnect NEG battery terminal, do your work... then reconnect Bat wire.
Swez
ttocs on 03/31/2004 13:10:59
I bet the deck was grounding through the warn out ant... try re-grounding the deck and see what happens.
swez on 03/31/2004 13:22:35
Good point ttocs!
When grounding the Aftermarket HU, always use a body ground that is bare metal. Not a harness ground as some decks will become noisy if not grounded to body such as floor pan.
Swez
JJR on 03/31/2004 15:29:46
Thanks guys, I'll poke around at it some more tonight and see what I can find. I'm really at a loss as to what I cou'dve done to to cause this problem.
A little more background on the car: This system is in the rear compartment of a stretch limousine. Everything was installed professionally about 5 years ago including the previous "generic" aftermarket pwr ant (in which I believe the relays you mentioned are self contained). The system worked great before and after the old antenna froze up.
I'll admit I didn't pull the battery as I should've, but the deck (the entire rear compartment) was powered down at the time - the red power line for the antenna was probably stil hot though. All I did was replace the antennae with an identical unit in the exact same manner the old one was in using the original wiring. I'm also not sure how the ground theory works as nothing has changed but it'll sure be on my mind when I look at it again tonight.
The deck is wired into a master control box in the drivers compartment - all fuses there are fine. There are also the original fuse block under the dash and another near the battery - also all fine. Could I have possibly generated enough of a short or other problem to blow an internal fuse in the HU w/out damaging the usual fuses? I haven't had much chance to inspect the deck itself as it's built into a bar and is extremely difficult to get to. I wanted to exhaust all my other options before I tore into that project.
Anyhow, thanks again for the input.
ttocs on 04/2/2004 11:29:26
I have never disconnected the battery.......... but I have seen a spark er two......
I have installed more then a few decks in limos in the back and there is always a problem one way or another.... the wiring is always minimal and odd.
Don't know what I did...
This afternoon I replaced a worn-out aftermarket power antenna with a nearly identical new aftermarket unit. Not brain surgery (blue wire to blue wire, red wire to red wire, ground to chassis where the old ground was).
Well, I go to test it out and the deck (Pioneer) is Dead! Not dim, not bad sounding... no power at all!
I've checkd every fuse in the car and they are fine. I even tried hooking the old antenna back up and the deck is still dead.
Any clue as to what I may have done and is it fixable?
any help would be greatly appreciated!
Replies (5)
swez on 03/31/2004 09:01:25
Does your HU have an inline fuse as well? If yes, check that too. First matter of biz, get the HU working again w/o antenna connected.
The blue wire from HU is generally for REMote amp turn on. Some decks use a blue/wt strip for antenna feed to relay mounted near the antenna. The b/wt feeds relay as a energizer to trigger relay coil and allows the antenna to go up. When HU is shut down or switched to CD player, the antenna relay opens, reverses polarity of the motor and the antenna comes down.
Did you replace the antenna relay as well? You may have a problem in the original relay. These can short or stick in open or closed position over time. Can easily replace the relay to be sure you have a good one. They are cheap at any good auto parts store.
Finally, when working on any electricals in car, best to disconnect NEG battery terminal, do your work... then reconnect Bat wire.
Swez
ttocs on 03/31/2004 13:10:59
I bet the deck was grounding through the warn out ant... try re-grounding the deck and see what happens.
swez on 03/31/2004 13:22:35
Good point ttocs!
When grounding the Aftermarket HU, always use a body ground that is bare metal. Not a harness ground as some decks will become noisy if not grounded to body such as floor pan.
Swez
JJR on 03/31/2004 15:29:46
Thanks guys, I'll poke around at it some more tonight and see what I can find. I'm really at a loss as to what I cou'dve done to to cause this problem.
A little more background on the car: This system is in the rear compartment of a stretch limousine. Everything was installed professionally about 5 years ago including the previous "generic" aftermarket pwr ant (in which I believe the relays you mentioned are self contained). The system worked great before and after the old antenna froze up.
I'll admit I didn't pull the battery as I should've, but the deck (the entire rear compartment) was powered down at the time - the red power line for the antenna was probably stil hot though. All I did was replace the antennae with an identical unit in the exact same manner the old one was in using the original wiring. I'm also not sure how the ground theory works as nothing has changed but it'll sure be on my mind when I look at it again tonight.
The deck is wired into a master control box in the drivers compartment - all fuses there are fine. There are also the original fuse block under the dash and another near the battery - also all fine. Could I have possibly generated enough of a short or other problem to blow an internal fuse in the HU w/out damaging the usual fuses? I haven't had much chance to inspect the deck itself as it's built into a bar and is extremely difficult to get to. I wanted to exhaust all my other options before I tore into that project.
Anyhow, thanks again for the input.
ttocs on 04/2/2004 11:29:26
I have never disconnected the battery.......... but I have seen a spark er two......
I have installed more then a few decks in limos in the back and there is always a problem one way or another.... the wiring is always minimal and odd.
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