History:
I am an ex-S2000 owner currently with a 2006 Civc Ex coupe. Right now I have Alpine Type-S components in the front, Alpine Type-S coax in the rear. I have the Pioneer AVIC-D3 running everything. Pioneer GM-4300F powers the highs and I have just purchased a brand new Diamond D3 800.1 for the sub, a 10" D6 4 ohm DVC. The sub is wired down to 2 ohms.

Edit: I also have the PAC steering wheel control module. I forgot to mention that. It is still 100% fully functional.

The Problem:
In the process of installing the new amp, I decided to clean everything up. Pulled out the rear seats and trunk stuff and cleaned up all the wires and mounted the amps to the back of the seats. The amps are grounded together (sanded and bolted). When I hooked the amp up, my AVIC-D3 cycles through the "modes" (Ipod, radio, movie, Ipod...) and there is no sub action. When I unhooked the D3 amp RCAs, the problem seemed to stop. I pulled the headunit and tried running the D3 amp off of the front output to see if that helped (with new RCAs) and same story. Now I am convinced it is the amp. In the process of putting everything back, it does it again, without any RCAs in the D3 amp? Any ideas on what could cause the headunit to cycle through like that? I have never had ANY trouble with the headunit before. Could it be a grounding issue? I am completely baffled with this situation and appreciate any assistance!

 

UPDATE: for anyone that might have a similar problem at some point!

The PAC SWI-PS was the root of the problem. Although they are good for retaining steering wheel controls, turns out they are VERY sensitive. The additional amp caused the voltage to fluctuate in the car and made the SWI-PS flip through the modes. I rewired and re-grounded it and it is doing it much less often. I will call the company for other possible solution. Hope that maybe this will help someone in the future!

 

Change it to a Metra ASWC steering wheel control instead.

 

Is the Metra ASWC better for an application such as mine? Should it eliminate my problem? Thanks for the input!

 

What could have solved the problem is to have the steering wheel controls reprogrammed after the new amp was installed. If the new amp is causing an increase (or decrease) in power then when you push your volume up button (which say originally programed for 4.0 volts) and it doesn't see the correct voltage (or sees a voltage programmed for a different button such as the source button) it can case the radio to seem like it is acting up. So you can try that before you go and buy another steering wheel adaptor when yours still works.

 

The ASWC eliminates voltage problems and is auto programming. If you stick with the swi, program it with the engine running,

 

Thank you both for all the input. I will try your suggestions and see what happens!