Whats going on here?

[swiftymcfeat]

Hey guys!

First off, ive NEVER had a problem with any systems ive ever installed for myself/mates/anyone really... but this one has really got me stumped....


My girl bought one of those 2 din chinese headunits off ebay (the one with all the pretty features and stuff).... I put it in for her and it worked... for a day?!?

Here is the problem. It will work when the car is on accessories, but as soon as i switch the car ON the headunit turns off. At this stage i thought i must have got a wire or two mixed up, but after hours of checking and re-wiring, the same problem was occuring! I thought to myself, #### this, and i got a long piece of wire and ran it from the head unit, outside the drivers door and straight onto the battery... and to my surprise IT IS STILL HAPPENING??

So now im pissed, i have the ground wire grounded correctly, the power cable straight on the battery, and ive checked the ONLY other connected wires are the speakers which are ALL correctly wired up after numerous times of checking it.

I am pretty clueless as to what is going on, but the girl says it has worked while the car is on twice out of about 2 weeks of driving to work and back.

Id really like to get this working for her and i really want to know what the hell is going on haha?

Any advice would be tops...

Thanks

[holdenboy]

So even if you take the constant and acc wires and run them straight to the positive terminal it dosent work? Have you checked to make sure the unit is getting power at both the acc and constant wires (at the rear of the plug) while its connected to the battery? If its got power / earth then its internal (maybe StoneX can help out here?).

"It will work when the car is on accessories, but as soon as i switch the car ON the headunit turns off" - Thats strange, i assume you've put a multimeter on the acc wire while turning the ignition on.....and the same with the constant? Theory is the ignition switch and/or wiring is playing up.

[AmmoJammo]

oh, I know the answer.

the contact in the socket that plugs into the back of the unit has been pushed half out of the connector housing when you plugged it in.

[swiftymcfeat]

oh, I know the answer.

the contact in the socket that plugs into the back of the unit has been pushed half out of the connector housing when you plugged it in.

So your saying i just need to push the connector into the unit more securely? I still do not see why it would work when the car is off....

It seems to me it has something to do with the amount of power being used when the car is on? BEcause i connected it str8 to the battery and it STILL cut out when i turned to car on, im thinking its either not getting enoughor getting too much power?

Not sure but im puzzled...

[Vg-ute-mad]

Is it a dvd or just a cd double din?

[swiftymcfeat]

Is it a dvd or just a cd double din?

Dvd. Ill also add i have the handbrake wire grounded properly and it works lol

[Vg-ute-mad]

lol.. That's what I was about to suggest lol

[hakhawk]

what if you go straight from accesories to starting the car? it should turn off, then turn itself on again

what car is it in?

[swiftymcfeat]

what if you go straight from accesories to starting the car? it should turn off, then turn itself on again

what car is it in?

If i have it wired up using the old stereo wires with accessories and everything, it will once again work on acc and then when i switch the car on it will turn off and not turn back on....


As i said last post it must be something to do with the battery output because this happens no matter how i wire it up and it is really the only option :S
Its in a VT calais

[swiftymcfeat]

Still unsolved

[hakhawk]

can you turn it on by the power button once cars running? or does it lock up and stay turned off until you remove power?

maybe you could add a switch to the accesory wire for it, start the car, and then turn it on.

failing any of that, scrap it for a new unit, it could well be stuffed.

[swiftymcfeat]

can you turn it on by the power button once cars running? or does it lock up and stay turned off until you remove power?

maybe you could add a switch to the accesory wire for it, start the car, and then turn it on.

failing any of that, scrap it for a new unit, it could well be stuffed.

No matter how its wired, it wont work when the car is running.

[hakhawk]

failed unit then. send it back or bite the bullet and buy brand name. thats the risk you take with ebay units.

[swiftymcfeat]

failed unit then. send it back or bite the bullet and buy brand name. thats the risk you take with ebay units.

But i still wana know why it only stops working when the car is running? It works fine if the car isnt on lol???

[nstone63]

can you try putting the head unit into another car, see if it works there?

[swiftymcfeat]

can you try putting the head unit into another car, see if it works there?

Thats my next solution. Going to chuck it in my car this weekend if i get time...

[scozz76]

Have you grounded it straight to the body? I'm thinking the earth may be switching (seeing as you've connected the positive straight to the battery with no luck).

Another thought is what's the operating voltage range for the unit, and what's the output voltage of your alternator when your car is running? There may be, by some chance, voltage overload protection built in to the H/U.

Does the radio still work when the key is in the 'run' position (without the engine running)? The contacts at the rear of the key barrel may be stuffed.

Disconnect all the speaker lines, power antenna, amps etc. Just have the ground, ACC, and battery wires connected and see what happens. There may be stray volts on another line when the car is running.

[swiftymcfeat]

Have you grounded it straight to the body? I'm thinking the earth may be switching (seeing as you've connected the positive straight to the battery with no luck).

Another thought is what's the operating voltage range for the unit, and what's the output voltage of your alternator when your car is running? There may be, by some chance, voltage overload protection built in to the H/U.

Does the radio still work when the key is in the 'run' position (without the engine running)? The contacts at the rear of the key barrel may be stuffed.

Disconnect all the speaker lines, power antenna, amps etc. Just have the ground, ACC, and battery wires connected and see what happens. There may be stray volts on another line when the car is running.

I have tried hooking it up using the proper ground wire and also grounding it straight to the body, had no effect. I am also thinking there is some kind of overload...? The weird thing is, when the head unit is "off" one light stays on to indicate it has power to it (just one button) and when i say the head unit turns off when the car started, i mean it actually turns itself off, so it leaves that little indicating light on still... Im really leaning toward it being a voltage protection on the unit. Im just going to chuck it in my car and see if the same thing happens.

Ive also disconnected everything except the speaks and had the same problem. Im pretty sure there is nothing wrong with the speaker wiring as they all work...

It wouldnt matter if the contacts on the key barrel were stuffed cause it does the same thing when hooked straight up to the battery.

This really is puzzling but ill get to the problem eventually haha...