Teddie18

iTrader: (3)

I've read several threads that deal with the intermittent and sometimes terminal Bose woofer cut off problem, woofer stops working. Some have identified what was thought to be the cause of the problem; little black box shorted, bad connectors, amp not working, and etc. All are good probable causes but none seemed to really nail down the problem and in turn provide a repair that absolutely corrected the problem without removing or modifying parts or having the problem return.

In any case, this is my humble attempt to provide a definitive cause and solution that eliminates the problem for the 2000 Maxima.

The harness and circuit board pictured below appeared to have no continuity problems. I then examined the circuit board under a magnifying glass and found the 5 soldered joints that are circled in the last picture which connect the little black box to the circuit board were all broken. I could barely see the broken joints. I re-soldered each joint. This has eliminated the woofer cut off problem.

Repair Procedure

1. Remove the harness in the picture below which is located on the side of the woofer housing(do so by sliding the two connectors off of the black housing of the woofer)
   
   
   
2. Slide the zip tie off of the two joined connections
3. Unplug the 2 connectors
4. Remove the harness by detaching the 2 tie downs from the base that the woofer is attached to (do this by removing the woofer grill on the rear parcel shelf and pushing the tie downs through their holes)
5. Carefully cut through the foam and plastic cover under the foam to fully expose the circuit board (see picture below)
   
   
   
6. Re-solder the joints circled in the picture below
   
   
   
7. Recover circuit board with plastic and foam
8. Re-install part

neowhitemaximase

iTrader: (1)

I will this a try and let you know if it works for me. Thanks for the write up.

WasatchY2KMax

I did this exact same fix about 2 years ago and the sub has never cut out again. It was hard to see the bad solder joint without a magnifying glass.

maxdriver10

have to try this...just purchased my '00 maxima and the sub will turn on every once in a while... Hopefully this will fix the problem

maxdriver10

this did not work for me ...does anyone know if it is at all possible to purchase another circut board for the sub?

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

mine use to just turn on in cold weather...its been playing for 2weeks straight..knock on wood

maxdriver10

unfortunately i don't think that will help mine...nights are sub freezing here with days in the mid forty's....

Dballs P.

I'm planning on doing a total replacement of the speakers, HU, wiring, etc in the next week or two. Since I am having the intermittancy problem of my sub working on occasion right now, i'll try this out before hand and let ya'll know how it worked for me. I located the problem to this area yesterday, however, i thought the problem was in the connecting bracket (plug) going comming out of the amp into the woofer. Thanks for the tip.

PadawanKnight

iTrader: (1)

It's possible to completely remove the "circuit board". As far as I understand it (my stereo knowledge is limited) that board is used to cutoff higher frequencies being sent to the sub. If you completely bypass it, the sub should work, but all frequencies will be sent. It's a double-edged sword since you'll get some noise you're not used to, but also here some of the lows that weren't low enough to make it through the filter.

maxdriver10

any idea how I would do that...I mean have the circut board bypassed?

Dballs P.

I'm just guessing, since i haven't taken it out and looked at it yet, but he probably just snipped the wires and tied them off together (or soldered them), making sure he matched up which the wires going into the board with the ones comming out.
I haven't seen the board yet though, so if this just seems laughable or isn't right i appologize, but that is where i would start unless told otherwise.

SilverGLE

iTrader: (21)

Just undo the connectors that go to the CB and hook the remaining ends together... I did this and the only downside is the turn-on "thump." But then again, I removed my sub amp a while back (or rather, I misplaced it...).

maxdriver10

i may just pass on the headache and spend that nice rebate check our president is giving us on a decent aftermarket setup

jdm01se

Dude, you're the maaaaaan!

Just a question though:
What kind of soldering tool are you using? It obviously can't be as insane as what's located on a plumbers toolbelt...?

maxdriver10

well i'm not sure exactly what i used when i attempted to fix the problem, one of my granfathers tools. it was just a handheld soldering tool that pluged into an electrical outlet, just make sure if you tryu this that the "wire" you solder with is resin based

PadawanKnight

iTrader: (1)

You unplug the 'circuit board' from the sub and the wiring harness and then plug the harness directly into the sub.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

is what u repaired (soldered) in that silver 'box' in the black piece that is just below the bose subwoofer?

Teddie18

iTrader: (3)

Look at the first picture at the top of the thread. What you repair is circled. It is enclosed in foam padding and plastic underneath the foam.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

ok i'm going to check that today on lunch..hopefully i can have time to break it down and get it off so i can get it resoldered. thanks

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

Good Call -- mine just started cutting out.
I'll be yanking this piece o sheet out and attempting to solder -- hopefully that will be it.
I'd LOVE to replace the whole "Blows" system - but practicality dictates that I leave it stock -- hence, I shall attempt the fix.

thanks for the timesly post!
gr

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

well i have that piece exposed...time to get it resoldered..hopefully by this w/e

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

I shoulda known better - the 5.5 gen Blows Sub is totally different.

took it all apart - found no anomalies on the circuit board.

Best I cud do was to squirt some di-electric silicone grease in the molex connector on the back of the sub when I reassembled it.
It still works - but no idea if that fixed it.

2002-2003 guys be warned -- our bose subs ARE different from the 00-01 guys.

gr

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

i'm tempted to just splice and connect the wires together..that piece as was said was to stop the popping sound when the car starts...

perkman87

iTrader: (6)

I did this and it sounds fine, just remove the piggy back plug that is between the reg power cord and the sub female adapter it works fine. My sub cut out and i just did this quick fix sounds fine!!

perkman87

iTrader: (6)

take out the middle conector that goes between the power wire and the sub, it is wrapped in foam. It wil work fine did it about a year ago still sounds great!!

ser_altima

Bose is the best decision Nissan made

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

show me what u mean middle connector please....i'm audio uninclined

Emaximus

Could someone post a pic of the joints soldered? I'm not exactly clear what you are to solder..

Teddie18

iTrader: (3)

There is a picture. It's the third picture in the first post, under step number 6.

Progress

iTrader: (26)

FWIW, I just removed that part altogether and plugged the sub in directly. The only, noticeable, difference is the thump sound when you turn the stereo on.

I've had it like this for well over a year with no adverse affect. I've also had it like this on stock and aftermarket HUs.

Emaximus

Oh ok, so those joints are already soldered then. I thought that was a before picture.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

this didnt work for me

Teddie18

iTrader: (3)

That is a before picture. As the directions say, RE-solder the joints. That means solder them again. Carefully read the post again. It states what the problem was, the condition of the circuit board and the corrective action.

Emaximus

Ha, I see now. I missed that part because I was just looking at the pics (duh). Got it and now I'm going to try this. Thanks..

euclid

The CB in my 01 AE is different than the one pictured. There is no small CB like this one, only one inside the outer cover that bolts onto the back of the bose sub. I pulled it apart and I don't see any broken solder joints on either side of the board. With the CB installed, the sub cuts in and out when I tap the box that holds the CB.

As far as bypassing it, there are 5 wires going into that cirquit board. Full 12V power, ground, and 3 smaller (maybe 18 guage) wires. I'd rather not give the sub the whole range anyway.

Any thoughts?

My next step if nothing comes up here is to send it to these folks (orger linked in another thread):
http://www.carstereohelp.com/nissanBoseMax.htm

Teddie18

iTrader: (3)

The 2001 woofer set up is different than the 2000. That is why the fix is for 2000 Maximas, hence the title of the thread.

bigpopaj369

iTrader: (2)

i had trouble with my subs cutting out and i had eliminated the 8'' bose one and the pLte for it so more air could pass through and i all of a sudden had no subs i had used the idea of removing the entire circuit board and have found this the best solution this site rocks!

AutoMaxic

HELP!!!! Okay, so first I tried soldering the parts on the circuit board that were circled above. Well, that didnt work but it didnt surprise me because I didnt really know what i was doing--I just got the solder hot and tried to get some to stick to each joint, but it was difficult for me to do this because it seemed like the solder wouldnt stick because it would solidfy(sp?) so quickly after being melted. So, now I disconnected the wires to the circuit board and stripped some of the rubber wire coating from each wire and have tied(wrapped I guess) wires from the same color of wire together. STILL MY BASS HAS NOT COME BACK. Any idea what I might be doing wrong? I believe there are three colors of wires--red, blue, and black. I really want my bass back...Any help or insight is appreciated!

200SXSE

Just wanted to say this worked for me and it was so easy. Only took a few minutes. Thank you for this write up.

SilverGLE

iTrader: (21)

That's the point of solder... Heat it up, it melts to flow and adhere to the wires, then quickly solidifies. You can try to add some extra solder to the connections, but I'd recommend you remove the whole black box via the connectors. Bypass it entirely and you should be good. You'll get the turn on thump, but so what?