interior lights dim with music.

[JMiller]

I have a pioneer head unit and when a song with alot of bass is playing the cd player and interior lights get dim the bright then dim as if it was reacting to the music. I have had this cd player in 3 cars, my 240sx did not do this but when i put it in my RS it did and now it does it in my GST. So i was wondering if i could put a bigger fuse in the radio/interior lights spot to fix this problem?

also i dont have any subs or amps, just the stock 6x9s and some dual 250w 6.5s

 

[spooln4fun]

It could be that the battery in the car is getting weak, if so I would look at getting an optima battery(red top)
or perhaps the alrternator is not able put out enough juice, but would find it somewhat hard to believe since you only have regular speakers and no amps/subs. I would not put a bigger fuse in

maybe try adding another ground from the battery to the car somewhere or re grounding the radio its self

 

[Boost92awd]

Take your car to autozone and have them check the battery and alternator. DSM's are know for shitty alternators.

 

[pukrnukr]

I've seen this happen in alot of my friends cars, not just DSMs. It happens in my DSM since I put in my alpine deck, but figured it was just because it was a higher output cd player than most others including OEM. The instructions for mine said to hook it up directly to the battery unlike most other cd player but I didn't. I wouldn't worry too much about it, I've never known anyone who has had problems because of this.

 

[DGajre777]

Check your terminals for corrosion and check the condition of the wire. If they look fine, get the battery tested and if that comes out good, check the alternator.

It could also also be a load issue at lower RPMs - if you had headlights, A/C and the music at 800RPMs where the alternator is barely making any juice, it will cause dim lights. Go on the highway and replicate it at 80 MPH at 4000+ RPMs and see if it does it.

 

[JMiller]

It does it all the time(even 80+ at 4000rmp) but its only the interior lights i took my alternator out and got it tested and it came out good. Also i have a semi new battery, ill go get it checked to see if thats the problem if not i'll just change the ground from the stock position to the battery.

Just thought i'd let everyone know i changed the ground from the stock postion to the battery and it still does it. Alternator is good so ill get a new battery next week and if that doesnt work oh well. Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

[92Lazer]

I had this poblem in my VW, ### someone did a number on the dash wiring that I had to un-F***

How did you connect the stereo to the car, did you go buy the harness adapter kit. (right way) or did you do it the wrong way, and hack the harness off?

Anyway, if you mixed up the + and - on one or more of the speakers, it could cause the same symptoms your having now, and eventually fry your stereo. If you have aftermarket speakers installed, pull them out and make sure the wires are hooked up correctly on that end as well.

The wiring color chart is available on this site, just search for it.

 

[spooln4fun]

Here are those wiring diagrams/colors for the radio
Vfaq wiring diagram gor 2g.
If possible you could always try a different radio, or have a friend install your radio in there vehicle and vice versa to see if the problem lies in the radio or the car itself

 

[97GSTAUTO]

I have a pioneer head unit and when a song with alot of bass is playing the cd player and interior lights get dim the bright then dim as if it was reacting to the music. I have had this cd player in 3 cars, my 240sx did not do this but when i put it in my RS it did and now it does it in my GST. So i was wondering if i could put a bigger fuse in the radio/interior lights spot to fix this problem?

Bigger fuse isnt going to help. The only thing it will help you do is catch your car on fire quicker in the event of a short. Check your grounds. Since your alternator turned out good I wouldnt really worry about it. Your head unit isnt pulling enough power to worry. If its just an annoyance you can try running it directly to the battery but it isnt nesessary

 

[97GSTAUTO]

Anyway, if you mixed up the + and - on one or more of the speakers, it could cause the same symptoms your having now, and eventually fry your stereo.
QUOTE]

Not true. If you hook up 2 speakers "incorrectly" ( speaker a (+ -) speaker b (- +)) the only consequence of doing so is that you have 2 speakers are out of phase and depending upon the situation, will mess up your imaging. Which in our cars is horrible anyway if you use stock speaker locations.

 

[gsx951]

Where are you pulling power from?
It sounds like your B+ connection is to the lighting circuit. Try running a fused line dircectly from the battery to the B+ connection on your head unit.
Even with our notoriusly wimpy charging systems, the internal amp on a properly wired head unit should not be able to dim your lights; it can't draw enough current.
I'm running two old school amps, a PPI A600 and RF Punch 150 and do not have power issues.

Check out this site for more info, it's very cool and a great resource: Basic Car Audio Electronics

 

[JMiller]

I recently had everything connected to the stock wires, yes i "hacked" the wires but i connected everything the right way until last week when i moved the ground from the frame to the battery. Also everything on the inside of the car except my boost gauge(which has a black box inbetween the wires) flickers with the music. But it only happens when the music is turned up loud and there is alot of bass in the song. I want to fix because i know its not supposed to do that.

 

[probegonedsm]

ive installed 10 stereos myself, mainly pioneer, dual, sony, jvc, every single on i have installed does this, as the bass hits, all my lights dim, its not a problem, the power the stereo needs to push the bass draws more current from the battery. you could get a bigger output battery, but its not needed.

 

[97GSTAUTO]

ive installed 10 stereos myself, mainly pioneer, dual, sony, jvc, every single on i have installed does this, as the bass hits, all my lights dim, its not a problem, the power the stereo needs to push the bass draws more current from the battery. you could get a bigger output battery, but its not needed.

This is just a head unit. There is a problem but its nothing to be concerned about. Getting a bigger battery, capacitor, alternator etc is not going to fix the problem. Now if he was running amplifiers etc then he would need to invest money into a battery, cap blah blah so on and so forth. dont worry about a hacked harness. Some people will blame the harness. But if you used crimps or soldered (best way to do it) you will be fine. NO ELECTRICAL TAPE. It will work for now but just wait until the summer time. I didnt use a harness in mine. Only 2 people made a harness for dsms with the infinity system in it. And they were around $100 at the time. There was no way I was going to spend $100 on some thing that took me about 15 mins and a 9 volt battery to deciper. Which I ended eventually rewiring it anyway because the stock wires are so small and installing JL Xr 650 cs in the doors with stock wires is crazy.

 

[JMiller]

i went to circuit city before i installed it and he said 1 since i had the 6 speaker system i was going to have rewire all the speakers and have to pay 80 for a harness to connect the Pioneer head unit after that. Well thats a bunch of BS, so i did it myself. I used heat shrink not E tape so when it gets hot out theres no problem. It doesnt really bother me but im planning on putting a 12" sub an amp and replacing all the interior speakers to Alpine or kicker, maybe pioneer but right know i got a set of dual 6.5s in the door and stock in the back. Thanks for all the help, when im done working on the engine maybe ill get a new head unit.(recommendations welcome)

 

[TheBagelGuy]

i'm running a pioneer hu with 6x9's, 6's, and 1" tweeter powered by a 200wx6 amp, 2 Alpine Type s's and 1 Alpine Type r powered by 2 Profile amps (1500wx1 and 750x2). To power that i've got 2 optima red tops wired in series w/0 gauge wire and a high output 135 amp alternator. I have no problems with dimming lights whatsoever. I wouldn't worry about the lights dimming though, a lot of cars do that, i've even seem some do it with factory head units. But if you are truly worried about it, just upgrade the wiring from the alternator to a thicker gauge and pick up a good dry or gel cell battery like odysee or optima.

I would definately recommend odysee
PC1750 - Odyssey batteries

 

[khartley]

Maybe try tightening your alternator belt...does it squeal at you a little when you first start the car? If it does, even for a second, then I'd say that might have something to do with it.

 

[gsx951]

Have you tried running a fused line from your battery to the head unit?

Where are you pulling power from?
It sounds like your B+ connection is to the lighting circuit. Try running a fused line dircectly from the battery to the B+ connection on your head unit.Even with our notoriusly wimpy charging systems, the internal amp on a properly wired head unit should not be able to dim your lights; it can't draw enough current.
I'm running two old school amps, a PPI A600 and RF Punch 150 and do not have power issues.

Check out this site for more info, it's very cool and a great resource: Basic Car Audio Electronics

 

[gsx951]

i'm running a pioneer hu with 6x9's, 6's, and 1" tweeter powered by a 200wx6 amp, 2 Alpine Type s's and 1 Alpine Type r powered by 2 Profile amps (1500wx1 and 750x2). To power that i've got 2 optima red tops wired in series w/0 gauge wire and a high output 135 amp alternator. I have no problems with dimming lights whatsoever. I wouldn't worry about the lights dimming though, a lot of cars do that, i've even seem some do it with factory head units. But if you are truly worried about it, just upgrade the wiring from the alternator to a thicker gauge and pick up a good dry or gel cell battery like odysee or optima.

I would definately recommend odysee
PC1750 - Odyssey batteries

The only time batteries power the system is when the alternator is off.
Batteries, especially multiple batteries, are a system load when the car is running.

 

[JMiller]

i connected the car to the charger today(w/ car on) and the charger read 100% until i turned the raido on just showing the time no music playing at all and it went from 100% to 50% so then i put in a cd and as it was playind the needle on the charger would bounce up and down between 40 and 60% but it seemed to be moved along with whatever song was on. After that i turned the radio off and the battery went to 50% and sat there until i turned off the car then it moves to about 75%. Also when the percents chabge it happens almost instantly. I had autozone check the battery and the test said it was bad so im getting a new next week, so ill let everyone know if that fixed the problem, and if it doesnt then ill just have to deal with it.(i'd rather just listen to the motor any way)Also, thanks for the help everyone