Kenwood deck prob

[Ra1d]

I threw an old kenwood deck (mp333 i think) into the gfs barina. The deck works fine for a bout 10 or so mins when the volume creeps down until its silent. Display is still on, but the only way to get the sound to return is to turn the engine off.... any ideas?

[VrWagz1]

Sounds like the volume knob/button is internally sticking on and thus you cant turn it back up while its constantly turning down.
Given a bit lite on info, it could also be a dodgy amp having issues and slowly shorting out and turing off.
Could be a burned coil in a speaker and the deck is protecting itself

[Ra1d]

yeah ok. well the volume numbers will go up and down but with no effect on the actual volume after it has shut down. it will play fine for 10 or so mins after which the music will go a bit crackly and then slowly reduce in volume until its silent, irrespective of what you do. as said the only way to get the music back is to shut the car down.

had this deck in my vs and it worked fine. so dodgy amp u reckon?

[holdenboy]

It could be a speaker in the barina thats causing this, but it could also be a headunit problem. How old is the unit?

[Ra1d]

It could be a speaker in the barina thats causing this, but it could also be a headunit problem. How old is the unit?

was in my commodore when i bought it, but a google reckons its a 2006 model. as i said, it never missed a beat in my vs and probably only sat for 4-5 months until i threw it in the barina.

the main drama is figuring out whether its a speaker/ connection problem, or an internal problem

[holdenboy]

Disconnect all the speakers and with a multimeter on ohms check each speaker, they should sit on around 3.5-4 ohm each. If so then its more than likely an internal fault.

Another way to test the unit / speakers is to wire one speaker up at a time and turn the unit on for 10 or so minutes to see whether you can narrow it down to a particular speaker.

Was the previous unit in the barina working fine?

[rcnugget]

hrm sounds like an overheat protection to me have you got lots of room for airflow behind the deck?

[Ra1d]

hrm sounds like an overheat protection to me have you got lots of room for airflow behind the deck?

yeah i considered this as its quite a snug fit back there. i thought that it would have a readout if it went into protection etc though.

Was the previous unit in the barina working fine?

well the factory deck locked out after her battery went flat, and the code wouldnt reactivate it.

only other thing i can think to mention that may be problematic is that i had to run all 4 speakers off the front channels of the deck, as the factory speakers were running a common earth setup. that sounds really dodgy now that i think of it, but i guessed they wouldnt work at all if there was going to be a problem with wiring it in that way...

[holdenboy]

only other thing i can think to mention that may be problematic is that i had to run all 4 speakers off the front channels of the deck, as the factory speakers were running a common earth setup. that sounds really dodgy now that i think of it, but i guessed they wouldnt work at all if there was going to be a problem with wiring it in that way...

Theres your problem...you have to rewire the speakers to a positive and negative for each speaker...also running 4 x 4ohm speakers off the front 2 channels will give you a 2 ohm load on the headunits amplifier, causing it to overheat and shut down. I dont think there will be a display on the unit saying its in protect or not.

Never ever run an aftermarket headunit on common earth...hopefully no permanent damage has occured.

[rcnugget]

as above, that is your problem 2 speakers on the same channel depending how they are wired will give you a 2 ohm or 8 ohm load, most headunits will only support 3.4-4.5 ohm load on each channel.

either buy a new headunit that supports 4 outputs or run an amplifier via rcas, problem solved

[holdenboy]

The headunit he has will support 4 speakers, he needs to rewire the stock speakers.

By the way, what model barina is it? cos' i cant remember ever doing a barina with common earth speaker wiring......

[Ra1d]

yeah ok well i thought that may have been the prob but was hoping i wouldnt have to rip the bastard out again. its an 01 barina swing i think. so i will have to rewire all the speakers? if thats the case i may as well throw in some aftermarket jobs i spose.

thanks for the help

[holdenboy]

If its an 01 barina then i can guarantee the speaker wiring is not common earth.

Are you sure there is only one speaker wire for each speaker and an earth for all the speakers?
There should be 2 wires for each speaker in the loom behind the stereo. A good way to find out which wire goes where is to solder 2 wires to each end of an AA or similar battery and touch them against the wires that you think are the speaker wires behind the stereo, if its the correct wires then the speaker will "pop" or make a crackling sound. That way you know which wires go to which speaker.

[Ra1d]

yeah i used a battery to suss it out mate. just asked the mrs and its a 98, my mistake. will have to have a few beers and pull the pos out again and have a fiddle at the weekend. much obliged

[holdenboy]

No probs...if you still have trouble i hate to say it but you may have to pull off the door interiors or dash panels (depending on where the speakers are mounted) and have a look at the speaker wiring for each one, either write down or take note of the colouring and these wires should be in the loom behind the head-unit.

Yep its definately not common earth, i think they stopped that about 1980 or so.