Location of JBL amplifier?

Really? Can nobody even tell me where the amplifier is located? Pretty please?

 

it's under the passenger front seat. Under a plastic cover.

The radio has error codes (just like the money light....er I mean check engine light). Pull them and post them, I can tell you what they are.

I show how to get into the menu here: http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...nd-generation-2008-2013/1315777-nav-system-keeps-getting-lost.html#post10942809

It should be the same for a '12...hopefully. On the system check page, it should show codes there, or around there. just poke around and try to grab a pic of what comes up.

 

Awesome! Thanks, @sweenyp.

I didn't understand what you meant by "parking light control switch", but I tried turning the headlamp rotary switch at the end of the left stalk back and forth, and hey presto the radio/nav went into diagnostic mode. Hooray.

The DSP-AMP shows red, "NCON", presumably for 'not connected'.

I then located the amplifier under the passenger seat -- thanks again. Popped off the plastic cover, and disconnected, inspected, and reconnected the connectors. All looks fine. But no change on the diagnostic: still shows NCON.

Presumably, the next step is to pull the radio and check the connectors on the back. Is that what you would suggest? If you can give me the connector pinout I guess I would check there is voltage getting to the external amp first.

Really appreciate you pointing me in the right direction.

 

Is there a Mute feature by any chance?

 

@ukrkoz -- nice idea. Would be great if it were that easy. But I don't think that would cause the diagnostic error code of "NCON" for the amplifier.

I thought maybe that when the car was cleaned by the dealer that they might have whacked an exposed connector, and that that might cause the apparent disconnection. But following the electrical diagrams that @sweeneyp PM'ed to me, I tested that there was power to the amp, and continuity on the signalling wires for the local bus. I guess I could/should test the resistance of every single connection between the head unit and the amp.

My current guess is that the amp is dead. Am looking into buying a used replacement on Ebay.

Mostly, the reason I'm hesitant is that in the longer term I'd like to replace the head unit with an Android device. Which would involve (I assume) bypassing the amp entirely.

 

Make sure you aren't shorted to ground or bat VCC on any of the 'TX' digital lines lines. You should get around 70ohm if you measure between the 2 lines (TX+ to TX-).

But yeah, if you've ruled out const 12V, ACC 12V, and GND, its likely a damaged amp. It sounds like your handy with electronics, its simple to dissasemble the amp to get the circuit board out (or at least my 08 one was, it shouldn't have changed. Once you get teh sides off, and unfasten the clamps that hold the transistor packages to the aluminum body, the board slides out). You may be able to find a blown component you can replace.

And no better time than the present to go ahead and upgrade if your planning on it. I completely ripped out my JBL system (after my navi died (well lost its left channel)). I put in one of those android units. I already had amplifiers behind the JBL amp, so all I did was rip out the JBL amp, JBL headunit, run 6 sets of RCA's to my amps and easy as that. I would get an amp and not power directly off the radio. Just know front door speakers are 2 ohm, dash speakers are 2 ohm, rear door speakers are 4 ohm, rear sub is a DVC (2ohm/coil) free air shallow sub. Power handling on everythign stock is low (<20W RMS) as the JBL amplifier uses 2 of the standard 4 channel aftermarket car radio amp packages to power the speakers and an additional transistor for the sub; overall power is fairly low (the amp only gets 15A via the fuse, far from the 440W JBL says. I know amps can exceed that for short bursts, but the amp has very mimimal capacitor...capacity to supplement that.). I'm rambling, but just FYI.

 

Man, @sweeneyp, you're a mine of useful information.

Certainly gotta be worth pulling out the amp and taking a look. For whatever reason, it hadn't occurred to me to open up the amp and inspect the circuit board. I guess it's been so long since I worked with anything that had components that could be individually replaced. Most digital stuff is not repairable any more: even if you think you know which IC is fried, it's very hard to de/resolder surface-mount components and find replacement parts.

BTW, I did measure the resistance between the TX pins. Was a little higher than spec, something like 100 ohm. I attributed the extra to my crappy paper-clip connections. (No good test equipment at home.) Also tested for shorts to ground.

Appreciate all the sage advice. Thanks

-- Dom

 

Don't get your hopes up, it's still a very digital board with mostly smd components, but some of it (power supply, amplifier portion) are do'able. Worth noting the entire board has been coated in whatever marine grade coating they use to protect against corrosion (some resin). You'd have to scrape it off, will be a pain in the...

Found an old pic of mine to give you an idea of what you'd be getting into on my phone.

Sent by carrier pigeons via Tapatalk

 

I'd like to replace the head unit with an Android device. Which would involve (I assume) bypassing the amp entirely.

U right, it won't. But sometimes silly solutions are best. No, no mute button, I checked. My wife keeps compaining there is no sound in her RX350 - but she has it set to BT and none connected. Silly.
Check diagrams. If sound goes from HU through amp to speakers - well, changing HU does not help if amp is fried, right? If not, I'd just replaced the HU. Those are quite unadvanced anyway. Either way, as you appear to be very tech savvy, you can replace HU and add multichannel amp for speakers. For what it is, it almost sounds - pun intended - to do that, instead of hassling with ebay parts - and doing over again.

 

@ukrkoz -- didn't mean to sound ungrateful for the suggestion. As you say, sometimes, the obvious gets overlooked. Even the most intelligent, experienced and tech-savvy have brain-farts. I find I do with depressing frequency...

 

Interesting how typed words can be misunderstood.
Never crossed my mind.
That's what forums are for - ideas, suggestions.

 

Update

Figured I'd follow up on this.

I ordered a used JBL amp on Ebay. $166 shipped. Arrived last night. Removed old amp this morning and plugged in replacement. Worked perfectly. Phew!

On the subject of removing the amp, I discovered that it was only one 10mm bolt to release it. Realized this a little late after I'd wasted a bunch of time attempting to unscrew the many T15 screws holding the mounting brackets to the amp housing.

After I'd pulled the old one, I decided to open it up to see if I could see anything wrong. I was interested to discover that the PCB was coated in some kind of rubbery sealant. Is this supposed to make it water-resistant? Couldn't see anything wrong at first, but then I did notice some damage around some surface-mount resistors close to the connectors.



I'm still planning to install aftermarket head-unit, but who knows how long that will take to arrive from China. And it's nice to have all the factory equipment working correctly. If something is not working later, it cuts down on the number of different things that could be wrong.

 

Just bought a 2012 Highlander Hybrid Limited, 86k miles. Everything looks great, apart from a few niggles.

The first is that there is absolutely no sound from the stereo. Head unit is Toyota E7033 -- JBL sound system with Navigation. The display, buttons and navigation functions seem to work just fine. But no sound comes out of any of the speakers.

Nothing happens when you turn volume knob, or use the steering-wheel controls. I don't have working model to compare to, but I would assume that some sort of volume slider or number should appear on screen.

Another interesting symptom is that on the setup -> audio page the sliders to control base/treble are stuck all the way to the right, and the fader/balance is stuck rear right.

I'm not sure where to start with diagnosing this. I checked the fuses marked "Radio 1" and "Radio 2"; also "AM 1" and "AM 2" thinking those might be amplifier fuses. I would check connector and voltage to the JBL (?) amplifier, but I don't know where to find it!

Can anyone give me some help? I'm hoping that this may be as simple as just a connector that was dislodged when car was detailed.

Hi I’m having the same problem did you found what was the problem?

 

Same thing just happened to my JBL amp in the 2009 Camry... well sort of. I only get sound from the front right speaker... weird, eh?

More weird is I can disconnect all 4 rca plugs that go from the amp-wire-harness from crutchfield (which retains your JBL amp with an after market stereo) and sound STILL comes out of that one single speaker, somehow without going through the amp. I suppose the amp is blown, but not quite sure how a sound signal is bypassing the amp to make it out of one single speaker if the audio cables for the amp are all pulled out.

I buy another car and decide keep this 2009 camry as an extra, but it just starts falling apart left and right. Now the TPMS system broke too. Light won't go off despite all 4 tires having adequate tire pressure. etc, etc

 

Same problem here... happened after a big rain and my moon roof leaked... water everywhere. If anyone can let me know which JBL amp to order, I'll try that first.

Much obliged.

 

Just bought a 2012 Highlander Hybrid Limited, 86k miles. Everything looks great, apart from a few niggles. The first is that there is absolutely no sound from the stereo. Head unit is Toyota E7033 -- JBL sound system with Navigation. The display, buttons and navigation functions seem to work just fine. But no sound comes out of any of the speakers. Nothing happens when you turn volume knob, or use the steering-wheel controls. I don't have working model to compare to, but I would assume that some sort of volume slider or number should appear on screen. Another interesting symptom is that on the setup -> audio page the sliders to control base/treble are stuck all the way to the right, and the fader/balance is stuck rear right. I'm not sure where to start with diagnosing this. I checked the fuses marked "Radio 1" and "Radio 2"; also "AM 1" and "AM 2" thinking those might be amplifier fuses. I would check connector and voltage to the JBL (?) amplifier, but I don't know where to find it! Can anyone give me some help? I'm hoping that this may be as simple as just a connector that was dislodged when car was detailed.

Hi, I do have a High 2012 and I am having same issue as you. Can you help me sending me how you solved this issue? Thanks!

 

So has anyone fixed this issue yet?

 

Well, I fixed mine, but it's most likely not related to the others' issue. Sound coming from one speaker turned out to be the kenwood receiver, which I replaced. Then immediately after installing the new receiver I had 0 sound. Turns out the AMP fuse was blown even though it did not look it. I replaced the fuse and all has been good since.

 

Correct. Still used the stock JBL amp/speakers though

 

Where was the amp fuse located if you can recall?

 

Amp fuse was under the hood. 30a i believe.

 

Awesome thank you, I'll check that out asap