Aftermarket Stereo Installation Mystery Problem

[exilestudios]

I am completely stumped, so if anybody has any ideas or theory's I would deeply appreciate any and all input.

Short Story - Overview
The new car stereo I got and installed powered on for a very short while and all functions worked, but had no sound. The stereo then stopped powering on and hasn't worked since. All fuses are still good and the wiring checks out as far as I can tell.

I performed the steps exactly as this guide instructs: https://www.installdr.com/installdocs/gm/PDF/460011.PDF

Full Story - Details
So...I decided it was time to replace the old cube FM/AM radio in my 1990 Buick Regal Custom. I got a good deal on a JVC stereo during black friday and ordered the necessary installation kit which came with the mounting stuff, antenna adapter, and the wire harness adapter. Installation required extending the wires by about 2ft which I did using butt connectors and then finished them off by wrapping them with electrical tape. I ran an additional wire off of the ground wire, which I attached to the metal frame in the dash to serve as a secondary ground. I added the secondary ground because I wasn't sure if there was a problem with the existing ground because the old stereo had a bad squealing noise to it and had crackling every now and then and revved with the motor. Also, the wire harness adapter bypassed the old amp/brain/stereo unit that was under the glove box.

After completing the installation the stereo powered on and all functions worked perfectly except I couldn't get any sound out of it. I played around with it a bit trying to see if there was any settings preventing the sound on the stereo, but nada. I was stumped and frustrated I believe I ended up turning the ignition accessory off and back on about a couple times tinkering with the stereo in between and then it just stopped powering on.

I checked the fuse on the back of the stereo and in the glove box and the fuses are all fine. I checked the wire harness with my multi-meter and it's getting power just fine. There is no power antenna on the vehicle and there's no wire for it on the OEM wire harness, I mention this because I've seen posts saying that the wire may need hooked up. I tried pressing the reset button behind the face plate of the stereo and I left it unhooked over night and tried it again this morning and it still appears to just be dead.

 

[ryenie]

Have you checked with a volt meter to see if your getting voltage on the appropriate wires? Also do you happen to know if the stock unit was a Bose system or just standard unit? Bose system had a 4 speaker system with what look like built in amps at the speakers (power and ground wire on top of +& - wire to the speaker), standard system was a 6 speaker setup, nothing fancy looking. The speaker squeal you mentioned is, from what i understand, caused by a power wire being run to close to the speakers wire causing the interference\feedback. (not a stereo guy so please correct me if i'm wrong), but the bose system uses shielding on the speaker wires, where as there is no note if it being used on the standard system. There is also a relay for the bose stereo system, it looks like it's to turn the power on to the speaker amps (also not sure if the speakers will work if the amp isn't powered on). Are you replacing just the unit, or the speakers too and have you gone back over the butt connectors?

 

[exilestudios]

I did manage to track down a blown fuse, but I'm still puzzled as to why the no sound issue exists. As far as I can tell it's just the old standard oem stereo system that I removed nothing special like Bose. Two front and two back speakers. I'm only replacing the unit.

 

[exilestudios]

I just partially got to the bottom of it. Apparently the butt connectors in my wiring aren't creating a sufficient enough connection. I got to the bottom of it using the AA battery method of testing the speaker wiring trying to get a pop. Now I need to figure out wth to do to make these butt connectors do their job. I'm thinking it may have been just not enough of the wire stripped back on the adapter's wires that came pre-stripped. Some of them just barely had a quarter inch of wire exposed.

 

[ryenie]

First apologies about the bose info, I think i was actually viewing info from a lesabre wiring diagram even though the description said it was for a regal. After looking at a chiltons manual at the library i don't see that bose was offered in the regal. Once the new unit is powering up, as long as you have the speakers properly wired if they don't work i would suspect a bad speaker or wire. Do you a have a speaker you could use as a test speaker, you can get a cheap speaker from most parts stores for a few bucks just a little 2 or 3 inch door speaker to test it with. If i'm not mistaken the adapter bypasses the control unit and directs speaker output directly from the new unit to the speakers, if it doesn't bypass the control unit it may be bad in which case it may be easier to run new speaker wire and just run it directly to the unit.

 

[exilestudios]

Thanks for the help. It ended up being some of the butt connectors not being entirely secured onto the wire harness adapter's wires because they are so much thinner than the other wires. After rewiring it all and making sure every wire was good and secured it's now working and rocks the car. The squealing is also gone, so I assume it was in the old unit which is awesome. Thanks again!

 

[ryenie]

Glad to help, and thanks for keeping us updated.