I mounted my amp to the tool cover in the bottom cubby hole of the trunk and I am constantly hearing rattles. When I took my car in to get a new head unit installed this weekend I had them look at and they ended up putting some velcro under the cover to hold it more securely to the tool-holding foam. However, my amp still rattles like crazy.

I now think that my amp isn't actually catching air as I drive around, but that maybe my amp is just rattly by nature. The sounds I hear could certainly be capacitors bouncing around or something else of that nature.

Has anyone else ever heard this? Does this mean I got a bad amp (it has performed flawlessly so far)? Do you think I should try to open it up and see if anything is loose or could be fastened to the case better? Would this void the warranty?

The amp is a PPI PCX-2125, http://www.precisionpower.com/amps/pcx2125.asp .

 

can you pick the amp up and try to shake it? if you hear rattling then, there might be something internal loose... but in most cases, i would be astonished to find out that they had components rattling around inside. most amps are just circuit boards, components, heatsinks, and connectors... not stuff that's usually 'allowed' to rattle.

i'm more apt to believe it's something else rattling or a questionable install....

 

PJK3:

Good point (as always)! I'll try that at lunch and post the results. I think there is enough slack in the wiring to shake it a little.

 

you shouldn't need to shake it a lot... just a couple of inches up and down, front to back, and side to side should tell the tale...

 

I tried shaking it and you're right -- it feels and sounds rock solid. Must be some wiring jiggling in a spot that I can't see. Since I didn't do the install it's going to be hard to find it. Oh well, the hunt goes on.

After some more pondering I'm thinking that it may be the wiring for my infrared intrusion dector on my alarm since it sounds like the rattle is in the middle of the car. I think the infrared is mounted under the armrest somwhere.

 

that could easily be it... pull up the center console (easy to do, just firmly pull from the back moving forward) and see if it's loose in there. that's the typical place to hide those things.... i'd get some of that 3M double sided tape and get it securely down.

if you'd like a better idea of what i'm talking about, let me know and i'll PM you a pic.

 

I am lame. I think the problem was merely the passenger seat belt. I went looking for rattles on a drive last night with a friend to try to locate the sound and I didn't hear it a single time. I noticed some small squeaks from the passenger seat touching the plastic behind it and a few that sounded like the soft top (I was driving top down) but nothing as annoying as the original squeak.

 

hardly lame... tracking down rattles and squeaks isn't always easy, and considering how annoying a small rattle can be they can be very motivational when you get to looking -- you could have had worse though... or should i say your passenger could have had it worse... http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.p...threadid=154089

 

ROFL! That is by far the funniest thing I've read on S2Ki.com!

 

i figured you'd probably both enjoy it and appreciate the association...

still -- while very funny, my favorite 'haha' thread has to be the flying burrito thread