today i bought a small amp and sub for the max. everything went ok: hooked up the the power and the ground and all. there's the space on the amp for the remote turn-on lead. at first, i didn't hook anything up cuz i thought the amp might turn on when it got a signal through the RCA inputs. started the car, turned on the cd player, no sound from the sub. the 'power' LED on teh amp didn't come on either. i started looking around the back of my cd player (i have an Eclipse head unit) for something to hook the remote lead into. on the head unit, one of the wires is labelled "amp control" that wasn't connected to anything so i hooked the remote lead into that. put the car on Accessories and everything worked, but still no sound from teh sub and amp power LED was still off.
The only problem, is this time the car wouldn't start!!!!! when i turned the key to ignition, it just turned everything off. i disconnected the remote lead from the "amp control" wire, but the car still won't start. There is also a wire from teh head unit labelled "antenna power" but i used the "amp control" cuz the head unit keeps teh antenna down when a cd is playing, and it only goes up when the radio is on. when i get it all working, i'll just try to put a switch in to turn the amp on.

What did i do to mess it up? And if i do get it working, how do i wire up a switch for the amp????

Pleeeaaasssee help me!!!!

 

I'd check your fuses, see if anything has popped. Usually I connect the amp to the remote wire to the antenna control lead...but like in your case that doesn't work. On my new head unit I have now, it actually has a amp remote line specifically for the task of turning an amp on and off. I would check the documentation for your HU, and see what it tells you to hook the amp up to.

Also it appears that you may of grounded a positive line somewhere. I would do a complete check of all your wiring.

What do you have for your setup btw?

S

 

dude start with the important stuff first... get that car running, then worry about an amp. if your amp is drawing too much current, you may need a relay to connect the amp directly to your battery's (+) terminal with some thicker wire. remember, the factory stereo wiring wasn't designed for the high amounts of current that an aftermarket stereo needs, so the wire gauge is either 18 or 20. any extra heat in that is liable to start a fire. car fires aren't fun, trust me, especially when you gotta wash white powder out of every nook and cranny from under the hood. but yeah sarin's right... check your fuses, and your fusible links. they're located in a little panel just to the right of the battery under the hood. there will be 4 of them. pull the cap off and make sure they're not burned. if the fuses and fusible links are all ok, you've got a more serious problem.

Dan
------

 

I checked alotta the fuses in the little panel under the dash. I was looking at the fuse box next to the battery, i couldn't figure out how to get them out if they are supposed to come out. I couldn't check too much cuz it started thundering, so I had to pack up real quick. I'll check first thing tomorrow, though, cuz this is killing me. I'm pretty sure I got the power and ground hooked up right, but I'll double check anyway. BTW, I hooked up the ground to one of the screws that holds the trunk lock in. I know it completed the circuit, cuz it sparked alittle when I put the wire to it's amp spot.
If I can get it started (say a prayer!) can I just get a little switch from Radio Shack or Pep Boys for the amp that connects directly to the battery? I'll keep you guys posted.

And it's the least of my concerns, but my setup is:
-Single Lightening Audio 10"
-170W Dual two channel amp
-Eclipse 3445 head unit
-Boston Acustic speakers
I got the head unit and speakers when I first got the car cuz I wanted a CD player. All the speakers were in horrible condition so I got the Bostons to have something (I would NOT recommend these speakers, btw). The factory rear amp was also blown so it had to be bipassed. I think the guy who had her before tried to replace the speakers without taking off the door panel and pried loose the plastic piece that's connected to the map pockets. Needless to say, even the puny Bostons rattled to no end, and I finally got sick of it and got the sub from Best Buy today. I wanna mount the amp on the seat back so it's showing when I fold the rear seats down. But like I said, I couldn't care less if Julia won't even start!
I can post some pics if someone tells me how. It says I may not post attachments.
Anyway, thanx a million for the advice and keep it coming!!! I almost cried when she wouldn't start. I'll keep ya all posted and KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED FOR ME!!!!

 

here's how you can post a picture: upload it to any website. then in the text of your message in the forum type this exactly as you see it:

[img] <URL of your picture here> [/img]

any relay will work and they're very easy to install if you know a bit about electricity/electronics. I've gone to school to be an electrician, so it's kinda hard to explain it without getting technical. but it's a way of controlling one electrical circuit using another circuit. both circuits remain isolated. the easiest way to explain it.. your starter solenoid is basically a relay. the starter needs about 400 amps to spin the flywheel and crank the engine. this 400 amps cannot go through the ignition switch, but the relay's control circuit does. when you turn the key to start, an electromagnetic plunger (solenoid) pulls down a large metal disc which comes between the battery terminal on the starter, and the starter's power terminal. this disc conducts the 400 amps to crank the engine.

just take this theory and use it for an amp. it's not as hard as it seems. I've done some pretty interesting things with relays and cars, including different flashing light schemes. one flashed the turn signals like you'd see on a cop car - left, right, left, right, left, right. then I used one with the hazard flashers to flash the turn signals then the reverse lights alternately. haynes' automotive electrical manual is a really handy reference for anyone interested in learning more about automotive electricity.


but anyway, I'm off the subject. those fusible links do pull out. if I'm not mistaken, you have to press in a little clip on each one. if you have a multimeter with a diode test setting, an ohmmeter, or continuity tester, you can check the fusible links without removing them. just be sure you disconnect the battery first. and there are a few more fusible links on the positive battery cable. they should look like a wiring connector somewhere near the cable end at the battery. they're just small wire bridges.


diagnosing, isolating, and repairing an electrical problem is usually difficult. I'd be glad to help out as much as I can. if you have any more questions, just ask. I or anyone else here would be glad to help you get her running again.



Dan

 

First thing I would do is go back to square one...

If your car was fine before the amp install... disconnect
all wires to the amp and see if the car will start.

If your car is an auto, it may be the shifter that's the
problem. It's happened to me a couple of times... I go
to start the car, I get the "light test", then turn the key
to start and everything goes out and no sound from the
starter.

I remembered some talk about bad switches in the shifter
and I just pulled the shifter all the way back to low 1 then
put in park and hit the key and it started fine.

This has happened to me twice now... may not be the
answer, but thought I'd mention it!

Scott

 

I put the shifter in 1st to get to the radio more easily and totally forgot about it when I tried to start it (d'oh!!!). Just went out there and put it back into to Park and it started like nothing happened. A whole thread cuz I left it in gear lol. Thanks for all the advice. I'm not even gonna bother with splicing that remote relay into the back of the head unit, I'm heading down to Pep Boys to get a switch so I don't fry anything for real this time.
I'll let you guys know how it turns out in the end. thanx again!

PS - I'm in school for Mechanical Engineering and I avoid electronics like the plague. I took Calc II and differential equations before taking electronics 101.

 

Wow!
At least I know that I'm not the only one to do that. I tried to start my car in DRIVE.

Needless to say it was an inexpensive fix.

 

jeez..... hey at least you got her running. I was under the impression that when you turned the ignition on, everything shut off.

Dan
--------------

 

Yea I got everything in (finally!). It sounds pretty nice now. Now I can actually hear bass! I ended up getting a switch hooked right up to the battery.

The components I got aren't exactly high end, I realize. But I'm on a budget and the whole thing cost me around $270 from Best Buy. It's alot better now and when I put in a Jay Z CD I can hear bass instead of the door panels spewing distortion and noise.
In a few weeks when I get more money, I'll probably want to get a cap to help the amp out. After that, it's a bigger amp and more power.

Sorry about the false alarm. I'd still probably poking around with the fuses and all without 86wagon's post. Thanks again for the quick responses and advice.

 

Hey we all learn from our mistakes. I've had quite a few of my own, and so will everyone else. No worries.

So you been rattling huh? You know what my solution was? Sound deadening. I got some second skin audio damplifier. It's like Dynamat, but is suppose to be better. I got a layer under the door panel and outer skin in my front doors, and my trunk lid, and holy crap, it makes a world of difference. I still need to do my rear deck, maybe the rear doors and the trunk, but you might consider it.

S

 

I've thought about doing that. My brother is a dynamat freak. He's got 2 Eclipse 12's with about 200watts to them and they rattle like crazy so he dynamatted the trunk lid. But there's still alotta rattle.
Anyway, my rattle is from the plastic piece on the doors that makes the grill and map pockets. I'm not too sure what to do about it. I don't think sound deadening would help. I've tried stuffing some felty material between teh door and grill but too much luck. Anyway, with the sub it drowns out the rattle anyway so it's not too bad. The sub itself doesn't rattle even with teh seats up. That little thing has a lot more punch that I expected too. It's almost giving my bro a run.

BTW, check out his Regal: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/512150/1
All the photos were taken by your's truly

 

Nice Regal! I always liked that body style...

I noticed that there was a Macco floor mat in the car.

Did he have the car repainted by them?

Scott

 

Yea he just got it done about 3 weeks ago; he kept the floormats there and got them in the pics on purpose lol. Looks real awesome though. I gotta hand it to him, he's done a real nice job with it. No cheesiness here. All his audio stuff was installed professionally. And not from Steve's Garage either. Sound Waves is one of the leading installers and competitors on the east coast. Next it's rims and an alarm system. We just put in fog lamps today.

He and I have a bit of a rivalry going on. But it's really funny, as nice as the Regal is, I always get more compliments and offers. Once I got as many as 3 compliments in 2 days just cruising around.

 

Oh and here is my Car Domain site. I just made it in like 15 minutes, but check it out. More pics to come I promise!
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/600684