Ok so I finally put a system in my 2002 s2000, all Kicker with a Pioneer head unit. The system sounds amazing but get this, it cuts out for about 2 seconds then fades back in only when I'm shifting or I hit the brakes or turn my wipers on. Now here's the weird thing is that all this only happens for the first hour so when the car's cold. I don't even turn it up loud cause I wanted to see if it's from blasting it too loud. I got the store to change my sub from a 2ohm to a 4ohm and I'm on my third amp and still have that problem. I guess I might have to just do a trial of elimination but this is so annoying. Anyone here ever have this problem?

 

Hows the wiring? or How did they wire your car?

 

Interesting.....as far as the cutting on shifting, I would look for a loose connection somewhere. Sometimes when momentum changes, if a wire is loose, it will become temporarily separated / lose connection. Check the grounds on the amp. Also, what wattage are you running? If it is some insane amount, you might want a capacitor (above ~800WRMS).

Also, is it the ENTIRE system that cuts out, or just the sub / amp?

As far as the wipers go..... . There should not be anything really tied into that circuit. Only thing I can think of is if they powered the HU off that circuit, but the cutting would be blowing a fuse from overloading the circuit, and it would not come back one. I dont know on this one.

John

 

The sub and the components cut out. But the unexplaining part about all this why would does it only happen for the first hour roughly? I had it installed at my friend's store and shop, he checked the wiring and it seems fine. I work for Honda and asked some of the technicians but even they said that it'll be trial of elimination.

 

Oh and yes I do have a capacitor. The system is powered by a Kicker 3channel about 755watts and I have 6.5inch components with a L5 solo baric square sub 12inch. The system does sound amazing, very clear and crisp with no distortion, I just wished I didn't have this problem.

 

how interesting....

who did this install? can you give us a bit more detail about how this is all installed? where are wires run, what gage wires, connections, where's your ground, what specific amp, what specific HU, etc.?

here are some things to check w/ the engine running:

see if the system fades down when you raise or lower the top and/or if you raise or lower the power windows. (betting it does) try turning the AC on and off as well.

what's the voltage at your battery and at the amp when all this is going on? use a multi-meter to measure + to - DC voltage at both locations. get someone to help by pressing the brakes and/or turning on the wipers, etc. see if the voltage is jumping around or dipping low.

watch the amp when checking the voltage or do the same wiper on, brakes on, etc. are any lights coming on or going off on the amp? any obvious state change?

also, pull the cap out of the power path and see if the problem continues.

finally, check all those things again, but without the engine running (just battery power).


get back to me w/ this info. in my opinion, it definitely sounds amp related, but i don't think it's the amp itself.

 

I had a similar problem a long time ago (in a different car), and it turned out that my ground wire for the amp was slightly loose. This might show up with the brake or shifting, but the windshield wipers is a weird one.

 

The fact that you mentioned it "fades back in" makes me think it is the HU. Maybe the mute wire is getting grounded?

PJK pretty much covered everything else to check.

 

It sounds like a problem with the HU. When the sub / amps cut out, are they still getting power? Are the components also amped? If so, it sounds like a signal issue. Does the HU turn off, or just sound die? If you have a multimeter, you may want to check the signal strength leading into the amp. If it is not the minimum, the amp will cut out randomly. Same with the remote turn on....amp will turn off randomly. Also might want to check power in and ground out levels while you are at it.

None of this explains why it is happening when cold, or shifting, but more like treating symptoms. Let us know if any of this helps.

PJK3 is also really good at ferreting these ghosts out.

John

 

i'm waiting for his measurements to determine anything really firm,

but at the moment, i'm thinking he's got a loose power or ground lead somewhere on the battery to amp to ground loop, which when moved or power dipped (voltage drop) it goes below the amp's minimum voltage, the amp powers down, then the amp resets (fades in = non-thump turn-on).

it could also be a bad capacitor that's allowing the voltage to dip real low.

and of course, replace the fuses. don't visually check them, don't meter them, no... replace them. if it doesn't fix it, you've got spares. i've seen fuses do weird stuff like this and cause intermittent voltage dips...