car stereo sound keeps cutting out

[kristofer gaut]

So to start I have a 1993 Nissan altima gxe that I recently replaced the entire sound system in. The head unit is a Pioneer deh-x5600hd connected to two Pioneer ts-975m and two Pioneer ts-575m. When I first did the swap everything worked fine but the sound would cut out at high volumes then after a week or so that stopped but now the problem resurfaced but worse now the sound cut out even at low volumes (the head unit stays on there is just no sound coming from the speakers) I already went and exchanged the head unit for a new one but I am still having the same problem. At one point I was able to get it working again by disconnecting the head unit and making it go threw the setup but now that is not even working please some help me out. I'm thinking it may be the battery or the alternator

 

[Gryd3]

Can you answer some additional details for us please.
Did you or a shop make the swap?
Did you swap the stock or an after-market head-unit out?
Did you notice if the wire-harness has been tampered with prior to your swap?
Did you use the factory wiring that was already in place for your front and rear speakers?
How did you make the wiring connection to the speakers?
Is there a plastic vapour barrier still in place in the cut-outs that house the speakers?
How did you make your connections to the wire harness for the head-unit? Solder and heatshrink, crimp connectors, or the good-ol twist and electrical tape?
Did you remove the original wire-harness or wire in a female adaptor harness?
Aside from the Head-unit and speakers, have you put any additional components, wires, clips, harnesses etc. in during the installation?
You noted that you can make it work again by pulling the head-unit and redoing the setup, did you happen to notice the head-unit getting hot?
Does sound cut-out completely or only for a specific channel... ie, front/back/left/right.

Any additional info is helpful... ie did you tap into additional wiring, did you check the polarity of the speakers were correct.
What do you consider 'high volumes'? High enough to drown out engine sounds, or high enough to tickle your ear-drums?

 

[kristofer gaut]

Can you answer some additional details for us please.
Did you or a shop make the swap?
Did you swap the stock or an after-market head-unit out?
Did you notice if the wire-harness has been tampered with prior to your swap?
Did you use the factory wiring that was already in place for your front and rear speakers?
How did you make the wiring connection to the speakers?
Is there a plastic vapour barrier still in place in the cut-outs that house the speakers?
How did you make your connections to the wire harness for the head-unit? Solder and heatshrink, crimp connectors, or the good-ol twist and electrical tape?
Did you remove the original wire-harness or wire in a female adaptor harness?
Aside from the Head-unit and speakers, have you put any additional components, wires, clips, harnesses etc. in during the installation?
You noted that you can make it work again by pulling the head-unit and redoing the setup, did you happen to notice the head-unit getting hot?
Does sound cut-out completely or only for a specific channel... ie, front/back/left/right.

Any additional info is helpful... ie did you tap into additional wiring, did you check the polarity of the speakers were correct.
What do you consider 'high volumes'? High enough to drown out engine sounds, or high enough to tickle your ear-drums?

I did the swap myself and I swapped out the stock system. There had bin no previous tampering with any of the wiring. I did use the factory wiring that was already in place for all the speakers and they all worked everything was matched properly and I used crimp connectors for all of the wiring. There is plastic housing for the front speakers but not for the rear. I did have to wire in the female connectors for all of the speakers. I did not add anything new and the head unit does not get hot when the sound cuts out and when it does go out it is on all channels. I did check the polarity for all of the speakers when I did the swap and it was all correct. It worked fine for about a week at all volume levels when it started to going out the volume was high enough to muffler the engine sound but now it goes out at low volume. Today I tried to reboot the system to start the set up it worked once then went right out.

 

[davenn]

hi kristofer
welcome to the forums

I have moved your post to the more appropriate repair section of the forum

cheers
Dave

 

[Gryd3]

The only thing I can possibly think of is some kind of overheat protection within the head-unit, but the unit does not run hot... so perhaps a component is defective.

More questions:
-Does the audio output remain dead on all inputs? switching does not help?
You need to power cycle the unit to get sound back.
-Do you or a friend have a spare car amp that can be connected to the front/rear aux output on the back of the head-unit? This signal should be dealt with separately from the internal amplifier.
I'm curious if the audio signal within the unit dies... or the amplifier driving the speakers. Connecting an external amp to the RCA output on the back should help troubleshoot.
Is this unit still under warranty?

 

[kristofer gaut]

The head unit is still under warranty I had already exchanged it for a new one and the problem is still there....this morning I went out and started it and there was sound coming from the speakers for a minute then it cut out again. And as far as I know there are no amps connected to the system. I will try to acquire an amp to try the troubleshooting

 

[kristofer gaut]

(Update) I went for a short drive and then tried the stereo and now all of the sudden it is working just fine. I'm almost positive the problem will arise again

 

[kristofer gaut]

Update.....I believe the problem is with my battery I should have mentioned before that the problem started after my battery died and got worse after my battery died again

 

[Gryd3]

Update.....I believe the problem is with my battery I should have mentioned before that the problem started after my battery died and got worse after my battery died again

I was thinking power supply issue... but that could be hard to diagnose.
Are you willing to try the head-unit in another vehicle, or on a 12V power supply in the home?

 

[kristofer gaut]

I would be willing but I do not have another vehicle or another power supply

 

[Gryd3]

I would be willing but I do not have another vehicle or another power supply

Do you have an old computer, (or the power supply from it)
http://www.atxpowersupplies.com/images/500-watt-atx-power-supply-lpz18.gif
These things can push out 10 - 20A on the 12V line. I've used one in my house to test out a small Class-D 4-channel amplifier.

 

[kristofer gaut]

I do not

Do you have an old computer, (or the power supply from it)
http://www.atxpowersupplies.com/images/500-watt-atx-power-supply-lpz18.gif
These things can push out 10 - 20A on the 12V line. I've used one in my house to test out a small Class-D 4-channel amplifier.

 

[Gryd3]

I do not

Well... Your alternator should help keep the voltage up.
If the battery can't hold a charge very well it could be dipping causes some kind of protection to trip in the head-unit.

If you run the stereo with the car off, how does it perform compared to when you are running?
Do you have a multi-meter you can use to test the battery voltage in the off and on state.
(Measure voltage off first, then on, then again off... wait a few minutes and then measure again.)