im not to proficient with electronics...im definately more of a mechanical guy

anyway, my headunit keeps shutting off on me. only when i turn it up past like 24 it starts to dim when any bass hits (not subs, bass...like speaker bass) and then just shuts off and comes back on. i dont know what the heck is goin on but my 12v wire to my amp isnt turning the amp on anymore either.

any ideas? like i said its only when i turn it up a lot, its like it cant take the power or something anymore and it just dies...

i cant tell you EXACTLY whats wrong, but i can tell you that for some reason your HU is using alot of power. im not sure if your battery needs changing, but for some reason with the added voltage of heavy bass and loud volume its not leaving enough power to run the HU...either that or your HU could possibly be overheating. im just guessin dude. all i know it with my last battery, it wouldent hold a charge very well, and when it got way down..you couldent put the volume up very loud or else it would cut out. now mind you this wasnt while i was driving...this was while i was working on installing my new timing components, so this was strictly running off that bat. but the same principal applies, your HU isnt getting the power it needs to perform at those levels. is it a stock or aftermarket HU?

Describe your system layout, Josh. What speakers you have, head unit, amps, what kind of wiring you're using....stuff like that.


There are a lot of variables.

its a kenwood headunit, stock speakers, 500w amp i believe and two tens in my trunk. the subs wont turn on though i dont know why and no fuses are blown. the battery holds a great charge so its not that and while driving the voltage is between 13.6-14.3 on my turbo timer, so thats good too...

would a blown speaker or something cause it to ground out or something? it seems like thats whats going on...my back right speaker is kinda like popping at high volume and then the headunit shuts off. its either power or ground i think but like i said, im no wire guy. it just started doing this though and i havent changed anything, i used to blast my system at like 30 and it was totally fine, never did anything like this...

maybe i just need to re-wire the headunit, is the 12v switched power for it controlled by a switch by the fuse box or something? i can just run a 12v wire to the battery or something and give it a solid ground and see how that works...

edit: oh and it doesnt do this every single time either, most of the time it will though if i leave it past 24 for a few seconds...and it doesnt do it when the car is off completely, i can blast it at whatever volume then and it doesnt shut off and it doesnt start to blink like its losing power

i think you're right though its not getting enough power, maybe the headunit is toast?

Sounds like your amp has had a current spike and fired a high current back through the remote turn-on lead to your amp. Also having stock speakers on an aftermarket head unit is generally a bad idea as well. Probably have a blown speaker which is throwing off your headunit's amplification as well as some blown circuitry from the current spike and your HU is saying "well, fuck it."

Originally posted by a_miller_76
Sounds like your amp has had a current spike and fired a high current back through the remote turn-on lead to your amp. Also having stock speakers on an aftermarket head unit is generally a bad idea as well. Probably have a blown speaker which is throwing off your headunit's amplification as well as some blown circuitry from the current spike and your HU is saying "well, fuck it."

x2
or I guess where the HU connects to the battery might be loose or corroded. but I'll go with what aaron said on this one.

ok all that mumbo jumbo MIGHT make sense if the headunit didnt work perfect when the car was off

it works PERFECT with the car off....so um, wtf?

edit: and how would my amp send some output thing through the turn on lead if it has NO FUSE in it...? it doesnt even turn on so how could it be sending power anywhere...

I meant it spiked the head unit when it died. Trust me dude it happens a LOT. And when your car is OFF the head unit is getting 12.2V, when it's running it's getting around 14.7V. If it's having a stabilization issue with it's MOSFET system then it will react more violently to the higher voltage.

ok that makes sense then, so my headunit is fucked? or some wiring along the way is melted or something?

i just went out there and its not doing it at all now...not even blinking like it was at full volume, i started the car and idled there blasting it and it never shut off once...how weird is this, maybe it only does it while im moving?

what should i do aaron? inspect around for a fubar wire or two?

edit: idle voltage on my turbo timer was 13.3 just now and it wasnt shutting off, it usually sits around 13.3-13.6 once warm (i have a UDP) but ive noticed the headunit doesnt cut off in sync with a voltage drop or voltage gain, it just does it randomnly whenever it wants but mostly when i would turn it up past a ceratin point or it would try to hit a certain bass note or something...my speakers arent blown though thats for sure, i just blasted it at like 30 volume and the speakers sounded good

bump, aaron what should i do? get a new headunit? or re-wire it?

well

before my alternator went out.... my stereo would turn off when had the volume turned up really high aswell as the bass. After I changed the alternator, everything was fine. I could turn it up as loud as I wanted without any problem.

Try hooking up a different amp and definately buy 4 new speakers around. That will help no matter what, stock speakers fucking suck. If you hook up a different amp and it doesn't turn on either then your head unit has a fried remote lead, so yes you need a new one.

Check your ground wire. It might not be the problem, but it is an easy thing to check and take off the list if it isn't it. Make sure the wire is grounded to bare metal securely.

WHERES your HU ground.

check that.

and the amp ground too.

i had my engine in peices these past 4 days and got it all back together and what do you know...fuckin radio is working about 75% better...:wtf, doesnt cut off nearly as much

Originally posted by turbo8u
i had my engine in peices these past 4 days and got it all back together and what do you know...fuckin radio is working about 75% better...:wtf, doesnt cut off nearly as much

Your alternator sucks ass then.

Originally posted by a_miller_76

Originally posted by turbo8u i had my engine in peices these past 4 days and got it all back together and what do you know...fuckin radio is working about 75% better...:wtf, doesnt cut off nearly as much

Your alternator sucks ass then.

alternator is new from alterstart dude, im fairly sure its working fine

Originally posted by turbo8u

Originally posted by a_miller_76

Originally posted by turbo8u i had my engine in peices these past 4 days and got it all back together and what do you know...fuckin radio is working about 75% better...:wtf, doesnt cut off nearly as much

Your alternator sucks ass then.

alternator is new from alterstart dude, im fairly sure its working fine

Well if you had your engine apart this weekend and it fixed your radio then there's soemthing wrong under your hood which is affecting your stereo performance. And that's all on you bro, you're gonna just have to troubleshoot it and find what that "something" is cuz this problem is beyond our ability to suggest things. :shrug:

Originally posted by a_miller_76
Well if you had your engine apart this weekend and it fixed your radio then there's soemthing wrong under your hood which is affecting your stereo performance.

yea i figured as much when it started working right after all that, my best guess is a melted wire or something that was grounding out and i moved it? shit, who knows...this fuckin car is retarded

Maybe check the back of your box to make sure the connection is good? My friend had the same problem with his system, come to find out, where the wires hooked up to the sub box, at high volumes and in motion, the wires were touching from the vibrateion. Pushing them in further fixed the problem.

When are ya free? I can meet up with ya and see if we can think of something.

I got big money on the power or ground. Trace back ur ground, make sure the sleeving is good and that the ground is tite on BASE metal. If that doesn't work then i have even bigger money on the power. Run ur power off something else, such as ignition or running lites, just make sure it can handle the extra amps.