Skeorx13

A few weeks ago my car got sideswiped while it was parked in front of my apartment. The fender and front bumper got crunched in but no other damage was really noticed. However, my stereo is now mildly on the fritz.

Frequently, in the morning when on my way to work (7:30ish) the left speakers have little to no sound coming out of them. The right speakers and the sub are perfectly fine. By the time I get out of work they all work fine. Once when I was leaving work on my late days (get out at 10pm) the same thing happened. These are the only times the stereo does this. Recently while on the way to work with no left speakers I hit a bump and the left speakers would crackle and drop out. Another bump they'd crackle and start working again. A couple days ago I took a sharp left turn and the speakers crackled and popped back to working again without hitting any bumps in the road. And now when I plug my ipod in when the head unit is selected to auxiliary and I press play the stereo kicks over to the tuner for no reason what-so-ever. What the hell is going on?

I've already checked and replaced the fuse for the amp. Checked the wiring behind the head unit. Nothing was wrong or loose. The only thing I can think of is maybe a wire is loose somewhere within the framework between the head unit and the fuse in the engine bay. The weird thing is I don't see how the wiring would come loose. The sideswipe couldn't have been at more than 10-15 mph and there isn't any wiring in the wheel well that I'm aware of that could be tugged on. I can only imagine that maybe when the dewpoint hits (evening and morning) the loose wires must be shorting or something. (I also drove through a downpour and the stereo worked perfectly so it would have to be dewpoint as that's the only way water would actually be able to coat the wires.) It could be something else though.

Anyone have any insight?

lil_will

If its just the one speaker... make sure the connection to the speaker is not loose. You will have to remove the door panel for this.

Skeorx13

All three left speakers die and pop back in in unison. Not just one of them.

Skeorx13

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?...

exige

test it out with a new HU in there. if it fixes stuff then you've isolated your problem. if not, run new wire to all the speakers. see if that fixes it. if not, something's real f'ed up. list out your system for me....what amp, sub, speakers, HU, etc.

Skeorx13

Um, yeah I don't have a couple hundred bucks to get a new HU to test it or new wiring. So that's not gonna happen.

Pioneer DEHP3800MP
Alpine Subwoofer SWS1022D
Alpine Amplifier MRVF450
Alpine 6 1/2 Inch Speakers SPS171A
Alpine 6 1/2 Inch Speakers SPS17C2

exige

$80 with 30 day return guarantee. http://www.crutchfield.com/S-PYKAc5U...00&I=113KDC135

until you single out each component you're not gonna get anywhere. frankly its your only option.

Skeorx13

I find it hard to believe that I have to buy new stuff just to find out if my old stuff is broken.

lbjshaq2345

Just get a walmart HU with no CD player or anything fancy. $30 tops.

exige

no he needs an HU with at least one preout to connect his amp.

skeorx, you can doubt me all you want, but the simplest and easiest way to troubleshoot a problem like this is to replace each piece of the chain until you find out what part is causing the problem. because of the wierd nature of the issue.....its very possible the head unit is the problem. its strange to have 3 speakers playing like crap without bad connections. secondly....you said earlier "when i plug my ipod in with the auxillary input selected, the stereo kicks over to the tuner for no reason what so ever".....think about it man.....ill gladly bet a couple grand that your broken left speakers arent making your head unit switch from auxillary to tuner. or that a broken amp, or broken sub, or screwd up battery, or anything else along the line is causing that problem. doubt me all you want, i frankly dont care, its not my problem....at least look at the obvious part of this though. if you dont want to buy a new HU to test stuff out and then return it for a full refund (or go find something cheap on craigslist), thats fine....come up with a better way to solve the problem then. i dont think im of any more use here considering that my advice is putting you in disbelief about your problem and/or making you angry about it. good luck.

Skeorx13

Oooor I could use a tester to see if the wires are conducting properly. Or bring it into the shop I got it put in at for free. I don't need to replace anything dude. I'm not buying equipment I'm never going to use again. This started after a car hit my tC. There should be no way that the HUD got damaged from a fender bender.

usmcpayne

dont buy anything new.

your problem sounds like a connection issue, dewpoint might play into it, but because when you hit bumps and/or you're driving and sound comes and goes that sounds to me like a connection issue.

check to make sure the pins connecting to the HU aren't bent, corroded, or broken. also check the connections to all the left and right speakers to make sure they look the same on both sides.

if you have any trouble-shooting tools (like a volt meter) use that to check for conductivity between the HU jack and the speaker.

you're right, don't spend unnecessary money to find out what's broken.