car stereo installation problem

[QueBert]

amp and subs were stolen last summer, they didn't try to steal the head unit, or if they did there's no visible signs of it. I picked up 2 amps and subs. I'm running 4ga wire from my battery to the trunk, with a fuse holder next to the battery. The head unit turns on, but no sound is coming out of my components. I pulled out the HU and checked, the RCA's are hooked up properly to the deck and my amp. I have the power, ground and remote all hooked to the 4 channel amp. The amp has a green power light which isn't coming on. I used a volt meter and it showed there was voltage there so the 4ga wire should be good. have some experience hooking up car stereos but they've always just worked for me so troubleshooting this is a pain. I tried a different 4 channel amp and same thing, the power light wasn't coming on on it.

The wiring to the back of the head unit is good, the fuse running to the power on my battery is good also I pulled and checked it. I don't want to run out and buy another head unit if that's not the problem. Not sure what the people who stole my shit did, but it looks like they just yanked the sub box that had the amp on it. Any help here would be lovely, I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure this sh!t out.

 

[PM650]

You checked for voltage at the 4 ga. wire, but not the remote wire from the head unit...unless I'm misreading something here? The remote wire providing 13.8/14.4V to the amp is what'll turn it on, unless the amp(s) are dead/faulted.

 

[QueBert]

PM650 - yes, I suck I forgot to test the voltage from the remote wire. I just got back in to read this message lol. I figured out it was the remote, not sure why since it's running from the HU to my trunk, but there's obliviously a break somewhere in the cable. So I took a small piece of wire and ran it from the power wire to the remote and BOOM amp came on perfectly. Again, I'm no uber car stereo dude, will I need to re-run it from my HU or will this rigged cable do the trick? I don't want my battery draining, but if I don't have to replace the cable I'm perfectly fine leaving it the way it is

 

[Black88GTA]

Running it from the main power cable to the remote turn-on will cause your amp to be on all the time, regardless of whether or not the ignition is turned on. This will obviously be a constant battery drain.

Re-run it from the head unit.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Black88GTA
Running it from the main power cable to the remote turn-on will cause your amp to be on all the time, regardless of whether or not the ignition is turned on. This will obviously be a constant battery drain.

Re-run it from the head unit.

Makes sense *duh* I don't have enough wire to re-run it and I'm too cheap/lazy to buy more. So I hooked up a on/off switch I had laying around to the wire. All I gotta do now is remember to flip it off when I get out my car lol

 

[PM650]

Make sure that the head unit is really putting out 12v when its on. If, for whatever reason, the deck isn't putting out 12v there is little point in re-running the wire (if you plan to in the future).

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: PM650
Make sure that the head unit is really putting out 12v when its on. If, for whatever reason, the deck isn't putting out 12v there is little point in re-running the wire (if you plan to in the future).

I will do that, I do plan to run it again, having to manually flip a kill switch isn't how I want my system to run. But it will do the job for the time being.

I have another question for anyone reading this, when they stole my old amp they just ripped it out the trunk so 2 of the rca plugs have the gold colored metal peices from the old amp. Hard to explain, but basically on an amp the rca plug holes have metal pieces around them. Well, 2 of them decided to stay on the cables so now I can't plug them in the new amp. I tried some needle nose pliers, and I can't get them to budge. They seem to be damn tight, suggestions how I can get these suckers out of my plugs?

 

[Black88GTA]

You didn't attach the turn-on lead to a "power antenna" lead, did you? Some decks will only output a signal on this wire when the am/fm radio is being used, but no signal for other sources. This is great, if you actually have a power antenna on it (antenna up when radio in use, down all other times) but sucks for amplifiers, since it doesn't send the turn on signal for anything but the radio.

Make sure you have it connected to a dedicated remote lead, or one that outputs +12v for all sources. If you don't have one, you can splice it with the +12v switched lead behind the deck (red) which will energize the wire whenever the ignition is turned on.

No clue about the metal bits stuck in the RCAs, I'm having a bit of trouble picturing this actually. You're saying the RCA cables actually ripped the jacks from the old amp?

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Black88GTA
You didn't attach the turn-on lead to a "power antenna" lead, did you? Some decks will only output a signal on this wire when the am/fm radio is being used, but no signal for other sources. This is great, if you actually have a power antenna on it (antenna up when radio in use, down all other times) but sucks for amplifiers, since it doesn't send the turn on signal for anything but the radio.

Make sure you have it connected to a dedicated remote lead, or one that outputs +12v for all sources. If you don't have one, you can splice it with the +12v switched lead behind the deck (red) which will energize the wire whenever the ignition is turned on.

No clue about the metal bits stuck in the RCAs, I'm having a bit of trouble picturing this actually. You're saying the RCA cables actually ripped the jacks from the old amp?

No I dind't attach the power antenna lead, this system worked flawlessly before my car was broken into. I have to imagine when they ripped out the amp it snapped my remote wire. My Antenna isn't even powered, it's just up all the time. And about the RCAs, it ripped the metal covers off the jacks. There are 2 pieces sticking out from each connector. I tripped gripping them with my pliers but they won't budge. One of them broke clean off from me pulling too hard. There has to be a way to get them off, I just can't figure it out yet lol.

 

[PM650]

Originally posted by: Black88GTA
No clue about the metal bits stuck in the RCAs, I'm having a bit of trouble picturing this actually. You're saying the RCA cables actually ripped the jacks from the old amp?

I think he's talking about something like this.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: PM650

Originally posted by: Black88GTA
No clue about the metal bits stuck in the RCAs, I'm having a bit of trouble picturing this actually. You're saying the RCA cables actually ripped the jacks from the old amp?

I think he's talking about something like this.

that's it, the piece covering the top jack is in my plug and doesn't want to budge. So I can't hook up my rear speakers. Not sure I'm even going to use them, I think with 2 12"'s and components in the front I don't think 5x7's in the back would add much to the sound. But I'd still like to figure out how to get the covers out of my jacks.