it is the 1000 watt dual 12inch package. I helped a friend install the 10 inch package on his bmw and that was a breeze, i think because he had an aftermarket headunit and also his battery was already sitting in the back of his car.
At anyrate my problem is getting the amp to light up (turn on). Now it is possible that i didnt install the remote wire properly (the blue cable?) or i didnt ground it properly, or somehow the fuse i am using that connects the amp to the battery is faulty. It can be so many other things but as of now im pretty baffled.
Also since my headunit is the stock one, i dont have the audio out ports, so i was told to connect some wires that were included in the package directly to my rear 6x9's (connect with the positive and negative connectors on the speakers), and that would be the same as connecting it with the audio cable to the headunit.
Well i'm not so concerned with it not playing music than the amp not even turning on. With everything connected my stereo runs fine but the amp just doesnt turn on. One thing i havent tried (because it is pouring) is starting my car up...perhaps it needs more power? I'll try it tomorrow hopefully when the weather is better so i dont die of Carbon monoxide poisoning in my garage.
Thanks for any suggestions and help. I just need to think outside the box i guess.
when i worked at pepboys we had losts of those returned with bad amps so it might b ethat butyou should check yor power ground and remote before taking it back.
I don't think it makes any difference whether your car is on or not.
As for the remote wire, that's typically blue with a white stripe.
I assume that you've check that you have power going to the amp, ie there's power on the +12 wire. For ground, you just need to bolt the wire to the fram with a ring terminal. You may need to sand the paint off the contact area.
honestly i am pretty bad with electrical stuff, but i hope the amp is okay. All the fuses are still there and what not.
I did sand a part of my car where i grounded the wire, but i really have no way of checking if there is indeed power going to the amp via the red 12volt wire or not (i dont have a multimeter). although when i was about to ground the wires there was a spark of electrcity so i assume there is power going to the amp then?
honestly i am pretty bad with electrical stuff, but i hope the amp is okay. All the fuses are still there and what not.
I did sand a part of my car where i grounded the wire, but i really have no way of checking if there is indeed power going to the amp via the red 12volt wire or not (i dont have a multimeter). although when i was about to ground the wires there was a spark of electrcity so i assume there is power going to the amp then?
you grounded your amp with the battery connected?? not safe....
ummmm....how else are you supposed to ground your amp?
if you ground and then do power, you'll end up sparking AT the amp, or AT the battery, which is much much worse than sparking at the grounding point- no damage done
the best way is to have a switch to throw, but most people don't do that...
and yes, if your ground sparks, then it means you're getting power
so it seems like it's probably a problem with your remote lead- try using another wire and see if that works, since you don't have a multimeter to check for a charge
__________________
HaHa
__________________
"Life is a deep sleep, of which love is the dream..." Ripped...and the girls are loving it.
I did get a cheapo multimeter that shows i do have power. So my problem must be the remote.
Right now i am sort of adapting the remote cable to the wire harness of my oem headunit and plugging that into the amp. Still no results. Perhaps the remote cable isnt the blue cable on the wireharness? So perhaps the remote cable color isnt universal?
no, the remote cable color is not universal...or at least not when it comes to stock decks...
it sounds like you're probably not getting enough power from your head unit (if any power at all) to your amp
depending on the amp, some amps need more power from the remote lead to turn on than others- I've installed an RF amp from my car to my buddy's stock altima bose system, and my deck's antenna harness supplied enough power, whereas my buddy's stock deck and amp did not, I ended up tapping straight into the radio fuse
__________________
HaHa
__________________
"Life is a deep sleep, of which love is the dream..." Ripped...and the girls are loving it.
i did a search on tn and found my answer. For me it was the Red and Black line. The blue was something else. Unfortunatley it looks like i don't have a cable to turn an amp on...so what i am left with is three choices. 1, live with only using my subs with the radio because its feeding off the power antenna line. 2. buy a switch and manually turn it off and on when i want it or don't want it powerd. 3. buy a brand new head unit and all of these problems will be fixed (in theory).
I guess my question would have to be, do i have a factory amp? Circuit city said i did, but after today im not seeing an amp anywhere. So this HU must pump out a heck of a lot of power to power all my aftermarket speakers and blow out my oem ones.
Another thing you could do is wire the remote to the cig lighter, that way the amps only turn on when the cig lighter has power - when the ignition is turned to ACC or ON position. The amps will turn off when the ignition is turned to LOCK.
Another option is to use something like this to trigger the amp. You would connect the input to the speaker leads on the back and it will trigger your amp to turn on.
Look at the back of the OEM unit.
If you have two harnesses that plug into something that looks like the two plugs below, you do not have an aftermarket amp. If there is only one harness with somethng like 20 pins, then you do have an aftermarket amp.
Well the back of my HU has actually two places to plug a wire harness into but only one is being utilized and it doesnt really look like the one thats pictured. Then of course there are two other plugs that i have to plug the antenna into and i guess something else. (they are both circulare 'male' type plugs).
So since i have one harness plug free on the back of my HU (the free one sort of looks like the one you've pictured), i can assume i do have an amp?
And thanks for that cig light idea. I do currently have my XM radio plugged into my Cig light plug, will it still be able to handle the current? and how do i know which part of the cig plug is postive and which one is negative? I dont reacall seeing the harness/plug marked.
The plugs onthe back, the left side one is for auxilary device, ie CD changer, steering wheel control etc. The plugs towards the right side is the same as the ones I pictured above.
This unit does not have an external amp. The antenna plugs are on the far right side.
Also note that HU has two types of metal on the back, ie one part is the steel case and then the part where the plugs are are different kind. It looks thicker. That part is used for heatsink for the internal amp on the HU.
The plugs are different. They still have the same plug for auxilary device, but the outputs look really different because they require an external amp. Also notice that there is no thick metal plates on the back to serve as a heatsink.
oh i havent taken a really close look to the differences in metals, but the unused harness point would be for a cd changer etc makes sense to me. (i have neither).
comparing the two hu, i definately have the 1st one, as JBL wasnt offfered till gen 4.5 i believe.
And the rear of the 1st one definately looks like the back of mine but i'm not sure if there is different metal on the back or not. Where would a factory amp be located? I assume it'd be fairly small in size and discrete.
And for the cig lighter idea, i can probably use a multimeter to test out which connection is postive and which one is negative right? i'd probably connect it to the postive.
Sorry im kind of new to electrical but im loving it so far. Thanks again!
The AutoGuide.com network consists of the largest network of enthusiast-owned enthusiast-operated automotive communities.
AutoGuide.com provides the latest car reviews, auto show coverage, new car prices, and automotive news. The AutoGuide network operates more than 100 automotive forums where our users consult peers for shopping information and advice, and share opinions as a community.
ToyotaNation.com is an independent Toyota/Lexus enthusiast website. ToyotaNation.com is not sponsored by or in any way affiliated with Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. The Toyota, Lexus and Scion names and logos are trademarks owned by Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.
Subwoofer Install Problems
Linear Mode
