Hey guys. Im Jarrod, a 19 year old from Melbourne Australia.
I have a very weird problem with my car stereo install. Nobody has been able to give me any idea as to what i can do about it yet, but i heard that the people here were very knowledgeable so ill give it a try.
I drive a commodore (1984 Australian Sedan). My install consists of a pioneer head unit, a pair of Pioneer 6" 3 way speakers in the front doors, and a pair of pioneer 6" by 9" speakers on the rear shelf. These speakers are powered by a MTX Audio Thunder 4244 amp. There is also a Kenwood 10 inch subwoofer powered by a kenwood amp (for any newbies out there, dont buy kenwood....just trust me).
Anyway the problem is an odd one, It all works fine, until i apply the brakes. Whenever I apply the brakes the speakers will cut out for a few seconds leaving me with subwoofer only for anywhere from a second to 4 or five seconds.
The install was done by the guy who works at the shop that i bought the stereo gear from. The problem even has him scratching his head. I wonder if anyone out there has came across a similar problem before and how they solved it. Any help would be much appreciated.
Thankyou.
Jarrod.
PS. oh and if one more wit suggests i just dont brake anymore........well, it stopped being funny the third time.
Replies (6)
Swez on 09/9/2003 07:33:34
Sounds like an amp wiring issue here. Somewhere in the wiring of this system, the installer may have tapped the wrong ground wire source. When you brake, that circuit shunts power to the brake lights and you lose signal power to the 4 channel amp that feeds the speakers.
You mention a Pioneer HU right? There should be be a REM (solid blue wire) that comes of the HU to feed both amp REM turn on lugs to each amp. This HU should have enough power to keep 2 amps running.
I would be incline to look at where the installer put the ground wires for the amps. They should be grounded to a bare metal floor pan or common ground block. If he tapped into the tail light harness for the ground on the 4 channel amp... that's the problem.... Move the ground to same as sub amp.
Let's see what others have to say on this as it is not totally uncommon... but rare.
ttocks, Tray... any thoughts?
Swez
ttocs on 09/9/2003 11:29:19
that is odd, but I have heard of stranger.. Do you know if the amp turns off when the speakers cut off? We need to narrow down the areas that could be the problem.
I had a guy come in one time saying his amp cut off when he hit 50 mph.... Turns out he tapped the remote turn on from the fuse box. It had to do with the cruise control and acted like +12v switched until he got to speed, then it turned off..
Try pushing the brake and see if the light goes off on the amp. This will probably require the help of a friend, unless you can run really fast...
Tray on 09/9/2003 15:12:54
GROUND.
An old buddy of mine ran into a similar issue in his, dare I say it, Chevy Citation.
Anyway, it only happened with the front speakers, as the ground location of the amp was a very poor choice. Somehow he had tapped through the brake wiring, and was causing himself a huge nightmare.
Anyway, to make a long story short, the HU needs a good solid ground, directly to the vehicle frame. The amps should have a common grounding location, if possible, and all screws, wire taps, etc... should be checked, double checked, and triple checked to make sure no exposed wires are present, and there are no shorts.
FYI - after my revamping of the Citation, I had his 'SQ' system hitting 148db. PROUD
ttocs on 09/9/2003 15:51:35
we actually had a big system in a new nissan crew cab in the shop last week. It was grounded to the frame, and was only able to get 8 volts to the amps because of it. The frame was isolated from the body/chassis and would turn the amps on, but would not drive them. We had to run a 0 awg from the batt to the frame.
Swez on 09/9/2003 15:52:32
Wonder where that HU power wire is tapped into... if not ACC/IGN slot in the fuse panel, that could do it as well.
Swez
compvr15s on 09/10/2003 00:06:57
i also had this problem it was indeed the ground, everything worked great till i applied the brakes, i dunno why becuase my ground was nowhere near any wires or anything that should affect that to my knowledge, and i changed the ground to my spare tire wheel well and presto! fixed everything.
I have a very weird problem with my car stereo install. Nobody has been able to give me any idea as to what i can do about it yet, but i heard that the people here were very knowledgeable so ill give it a try.
I drive a commodore (1984 Australian Sedan). My install consists of a pioneer head unit, a pair of Pioneer 6" 3 way speakers in the front doors, and a pair of pioneer 6" by 9" speakers on the rear shelf. These speakers are powered by a MTX Audio Thunder 4244 amp. There is also a Kenwood 10 inch subwoofer powered by a kenwood amp (for any newbies out there, dont buy kenwood....just trust me).
Anyway the problem is an odd one, It all works fine, until i apply the brakes. Whenever I apply the brakes the speakers will cut out for a few seconds leaving me with subwoofer only for anywhere from a second to 4 or five seconds.
The install was done by the guy who works at the shop that i bought the stereo gear from. The problem even has him scratching his head. I wonder if anyone out there has came across a similar problem before and how they solved it. Any help would be much appreciated.
Thankyou.
Jarrod.
PS. oh and if one more wit suggests i just dont brake anymore........well, it stopped being funny the third time.
Replies (6)
Swez on 09/9/2003 07:33:34
Sounds like an amp wiring issue here. Somewhere in the wiring of this system, the installer may have tapped the wrong ground wire source. When you brake, that circuit shunts power to the brake lights and you lose signal power to the 4 channel amp that feeds the speakers.
You mention a Pioneer HU right? There should be be a REM (solid blue wire) that comes of the HU to feed both amp REM turn on lugs to each amp. This HU should have enough power to keep 2 amps running.
I would be incline to look at where the installer put the ground wires for the amps. They should be grounded to a bare metal floor pan or common ground block. If he tapped into the tail light harness for the ground on the 4 channel amp... that's the problem.... Move the ground to same as sub amp.
Let's see what others have to say on this as it is not totally uncommon... but rare.
ttocks, Tray... any thoughts?
Swez
ttocs on 09/9/2003 11:29:19
that is odd, but I have heard of stranger.. Do you know if the amp turns off when the speakers cut off? We need to narrow down the areas that could be the problem.
I had a guy come in one time saying his amp cut off when he hit 50 mph.... Turns out he tapped the remote turn on from the fuse box. It had to do with the cruise control and acted like +12v switched until he got to speed, then it turned off..
Try pushing the brake and see if the light goes off on the amp. This will probably require the help of a friend, unless you can run really fast...
Tray on 09/9/2003 15:12:54
GROUND.
An old buddy of mine ran into a similar issue in his, dare I say it, Chevy Citation.
Anyway, it only happened with the front speakers, as the ground location of the amp was a very poor choice. Somehow he had tapped through the brake wiring, and was causing himself a huge nightmare.
Anyway, to make a long story short, the HU needs a good solid ground, directly to the vehicle frame. The amps should have a common grounding location, if possible, and all screws, wire taps, etc... should be checked, double checked, and triple checked to make sure no exposed wires are present, and there are no shorts.
FYI - after my revamping of the Citation, I had his 'SQ' system hitting 148db. PROUD
ttocs on 09/9/2003 15:51:35
we actually had a big system in a new nissan crew cab in the shop last week. It was grounded to the frame, and was only able to get 8 volts to the amps because of it. The frame was isolated from the body/chassis and would turn the amps on, but would not drive them. We had to run a 0 awg from the batt to the frame.
Swez on 09/9/2003 15:52:32
Wonder where that HU power wire is tapped into... if not ACC/IGN slot in the fuse panel, that could do it as well.
Swez
compvr15s on 09/10/2003 00:06:57
i also had this problem it was indeed the ground, everything worked great till i applied the brakes, i dunno why becuase my ground was nowhere near any wires or anything that should affect that to my knowledge, and i changed the ground to my spare tire wheel well and presto! fixed everything.
Copyright ClubKnowledge 2009 * All Rights Reserved
