My stereo shuts off all the time for no reason, and sub hits without music on. WTF?!

[turbolaserAWDrs]

OK, so I've had my stereo for a while. One 10" type-r and an MTX 350watt amp. Latley when I turn music on, and i turn the bass on from the headunit, it plays for a few seconds..then comes back on..then shuts off again, and continues to do this. I lose all my preset readio stations also so it must be losing power, right? I have no clue what to do...also when I start my car up my sub will just pound later than ever for no reason with no music on. Also, if I have the headunit turned completley off, and im driving..and I hit a bump in the road, my sub will hit just once. I have no clue what to do with either of these problems and I can't even listen to any music anymore. any help is appreciated.

 

[FiReBReTHa]

check your grounds, and your remote line for the amp, and see if theres a short anywhere so check your wiring.

 

[TBSpyder]

I'd double, triple, and quadruple check all your power and ground wires. I'm 99% sure that's where your problem is.

 

[f4st]

i cant tell you about your headunit but i think that the problem of your sub hitting for no reason is due to "engine noise". are your rca and power wire running on the same side? is your headunit on when this happens but with no volume on? if you had a amp on your door speakers and were getting engine noise you would have to drive around with a high pitch whine all the time

 

[turbolaserAWDrs]

Yea, some people have mentioned to check the remote wire and grounds and all that...however the ppl at circuit city, and best buy tell me it has nothing to do with that it has something to do with drawing to much power and the alternator can't handle it and that makes it hsut off. I find that hard to believe. My amp is grounded to the strut tower so I doubt that is a bad connect. I will check my remote wire as soon as it gets a lil warm out.

As for the "engine noise" I was also told by them same people that for the setup I have, I don't have enough frequency or something to creat engine noise. but my RCA's and power cable are together for maybe a foot or so and then split up....

 

[miguels3000]

Just because they say something doesnt make it true, fyi they are wrong 50% of the time, I think they just guess.
Anyhow, Pull youre radio out, make sure all the connections are pluged in correctly, and follow the wires all the way to the back checking to make sure they are not cut or torn if they are wrap them up in electrical tape, follow all the wires, if you really want to solve youre issues, make sure that the power cable goes to the back on one side of the car and the rca's and remote on the other, then if you want to Optimize youre system get a monster 1 farad cap. and there you go that should solve all youre problems. ohh and dont forget to check the connections on the amp and box tighten them, take youre grounds off and sand the area then re-ground it.

you should have no more problems, if you dont want to do this than just pay someone 200 dollars for laber+ new wire so they can rewire it and 200 for a new alternater, and starter, (fyi just a little sarcasm)

GOOD LUCK

 

[TBSpyder]

Wow, where to start. Seems like the people you're talking to know little to nothing about car audio. Your first mistake was asking the advice of a place like Circuit City or Best Buy. I can tell you first hand that the majority of the people working there are basically clueless. After working there myself, I can tell you that they do not care about car audio, instead only about selling the most expensive equipment and extended warrantys.

Back to your problem though. Most amps have a protection mode built into them where if it's putting out more power than it can safetly handle, it will turn off until it cools down. This usually would only happen if you have your subs wired to an ohm load which the amp cannot handle, your gains are all the way up, and/or you're playing your music extremely loud for extended periods of time. BUT....this would have absolutley nothing to do with your HU. They're two seperate units and not sharing any power or ground connections..therefore two seperate problems. If your HU is turning off, it means it's either your power/ground or a problem with the HU itself. There's really nothing else it could be. You say you lose all your radio presets..this means there's not a good connection in either your constant power (red wire going to your HU) or the ground (black wire going to your HU). Double check both of these, also make sure where the wires go into the harness are all very secure.

 

[f4st]

i would def. try to find a new ground spot. if your amp had protection mode then maybe you or who ever wired it did it at a ohm that your amp cant handle. and you can get engine noise through your subs but it isnt near as bad or as annoying as coming through your door speakers

 

[LightningGSX]

Sounds like your amp remote wire is wired to the ignition and not the deck remote wire.Or it could be shorted to a constant or ignition power wire.Does your amp turn on LED light up when the ignition is on and not your deck? It is fairly common for crappy installers to burn out the deck turn on wire and just hook it to the ignition, this will give you the thumps you hear and various other noise problems.If your turn on wire is shorted(to ground or power),on some decks, it can cause the head unit to lose power and cause noise.

 

[BlueTalon95]

It seems silly to say this, but you might want to clean your Battery connections as well when you check your wiring. I had a similar problem (headunit shutting off and a pop in my speakers) and that seemed to fix it.

 

[turbolaserAWDrs]

problem fixed: ground wire to head unit. the screw was all but ready to fall out...not sure how it worked its way out but the ground wire was just dangling there.

 

[TBSpyder]

Told you so!