minter66

iTrader: (2)

I tried the install of my Pioneer AVIC-D2 last night and it just went from bad to worse.

First off, I can't get any audio out of the unit by itself. I hooked up the smaller Metra plug (2 purple wires / 2 green wires and 1 orange wire) and saudered and heat-shrinked it to the harness...plugged it in...nada

No noise, no beeps no music. Did a "restore to factory settings" option and even did the hard reset (reset button + eject DVD NAV button)

I am getting nothing. Fearing I have a completely dead unit, I busted out a 480W Sony Xplode Amp from back when I was in the car audio craze (subs/lights..etc) and hooked some RCA's up to my RCA FRONT OUTs.

Plugged those into the amp, amp wired up to the car (grounded on chassis) and ran home theater wire from amp to the white and grey wires on the main harness..I dont carry car speaker wire normally

I GOT SOUND...but it has the horrendous buzzing noise. I can turn the volume all the way down and it just sits there and buzzes. By filtering it and adjusting settings on the amp, I can almost make it go away, but if I were sitting at a stop light with no audio, I bet I could hear it.

Any ideas?

Is there an internal fuse I can replace on the D2? I don't really want to run an external amp...

Why the buzzing? How can I get rid of it? I grounded my AVIC to the harness and not to the car or eBrake...can that be causing the buzzing?

HT speaker wire causing it instead of good car speaker wire? I could run out and get some 18 gauge wire at RadioShack or Wally world if needed.

I used to be decent at this stuff, but that is coming up on about a decade ago...so I have forgotten a lot of stuff....

Any help is appreciated.

Keeshwah

So this is a constant buzzing? It doesn't get louder or softer based on RPMs?

SquallLHeart

there should be more than one connector that you needed to connect to the vehicle.
also, the D2 doesn't need an external amp as it can push enough wattage to the stock speakers very well and would provide a lot better sound than the stock headunit.

any pictures you can take of your wiring?

minter66

iTrader: (2)

Here's a kicker: Car isn't even running. Constantly buzzing without the engine even being on.

So I should completely wire up the car first, then see if it works?

I knew the D2 didn't require an external amp, but I hooked it up with:

Yellow - Yellow
Red - Red
Ground - Ground

Then I hooked up both pairs of green and purple wires on the smaller harness and left the orange/white wire unhooked

This should have been enough to power the unit and internal amp and play sound through the speakers. But it will only play when hooked up to an amp.


I can take some photos and post them tonight. Is there a wire I haven't hooked up to let the D2 know to use its own internal amp?

Twilight2ner

iTrader: (6)

I'd wire everything properly and see what happens. I've always just wired the harnesses together inside with solder and then go install. Always works out well for me, haha.

minter66

iTrader: (2)

Everyone that reads my problem is just smacking their forehead...but I do 110% on my installs. I prioritize the wires, zip tie them based on their function (audio, power, misc) solder and heatshrink and then loom...it's a lot of effort to do that and then go in and realize there is a problem...

I will bite the bullet I guess...I hope It works after it is 100% done...because otherwise its going to be a paint in #$#@$ to unsolder and cut everything.

nitrophoenix69

yea technology sucks lol

SoCalRegulator

iTrader: (1)

My bro had a simlir problem in his M3...the buzzing was so annoying I couldnt driv with him...lol

anyways...he had taken it to a shady audio shop to get it installed and then this happened. After about 2 months of this he took it to another shop and they told him that there was a short somewhere (probably the ground) they wanted too much money to look over it so he didnt do it. He recently sold his car and never fixed it lol. I would say check your ground first...its easy to do. I always ground my wires to a factory location, so I would try that to see if anything changes.

minter66

iTrader: (2)

Factory location as in the harness itself or some physical ground on the chassis?

Edit: Contacted a local Authorized Pioneer Repair shop and while he informed me he couldn't touch it (Pioneer mandates all Nav units be serviced in Cali) he did say a good number of the early D2's had faulty ribbons that would snap and cut out all audio. He said call them and read off the serial #. If it matches...free repairs for me!!

*crosses fingers*

SoCalRegulator

iTrader: (1)

You can use either...for my HU I use the harness, but for everything else I use the chassis as a ground.

Thats good to hear though. I would still double check your wiring to make sure there is NO short anywhere.

minter66

iTrader: (2)

Okay well, I checked and double checked my wiring...cannot find a short anywhere.

I went ahead and just did it, spent 5 hours tearing my car apart and running RCA's and my speaker wire, remote wire and 2 pairs of 14gauge wire to the back where I hid an amp in the spare tire area.

Now, I can hear my car in the speakers (sounds like a supercharger whine)

I followed the advice from here:
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/scion-tc-1g-ice-interior-1647/avic-d3-installed-93895/

Where he grounded to the chassis behind his gauges. I soldered one wire into the bulk of the black wires and now it's really bad.

I have attached a picture of the mess I am having to deal with. The previous owner obviously didn't know what he was doing as he really jacked the wiring up...

My final straw will be going to RadioShack today at lunch and buying a Ground Loop Isolator (http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062214) and seeing if that will cut my audio problems in half.

EDIT: I think I know what I did...I ran my amp power line down the same section as my RCA's...I bet you anything the power cable to the amp is somehow jumping into the RCA's. I need to switch my RCA's to the other side of the car...and maybe my speaker wire too.

minter66

iTrader: (2)

Well I called a repair center in Virginia (found them on eBay) and for around $80 they are going to completely repair my unit and test my harness and maybe give me a used button for my joystick in the lower left hand corner...Pioneer was going to charge $200

I can handle $80

So screw the amp, screw the wiring, screw the RCA's...Im sending it off and when I comes back I am soldering everything into my stock harness and it will be good as new.

SoCalRegulator

iTrader: (1)

IDK if that would cause it...usually you will just get feedback from it not whining sound.

Its always best to keep remote and power on one side and speaker/sub on the other to prevent any feedback, but it sounds like you already know this.

Hope that it solves your issues once you get it back.

minter66

iTrader: (2)

Well you were right, as a test I bought a new wiring kit that included new Scosche RCA's and new 1 ft ground cable ( I was using a tiny gauge cable...like 2 gauge @ 6 feet) and ran the rca's and speakers down the middle of the car ( just over the seats and stuff) and left the power alone, and the whining and feedback continued, which basically confirmed my fears and is what made me pay $80 to get it repaired.

I actually talked to the company and they said it sounds like the typical internal amp blown and bad RCA connections...so I am pretty optimistic. I will report back though (for searching/archiving purposes)