Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Got a boot install done recently - I supplied the amp and sub, which are a few years old. Everything was working great until about 2-3 weeks after the install. I was driving along and heard a random "pop" sound every few seconds. I thought it was my exhaust popping, but when I got home and switched off the engine I could still hear it.

Opened the boot and my sub is lightly "doofing" every 5 seconds...even with car completely switched off. Only way to get it to stop was to pull the fuse on my Kicker monoblock. Took my car to the place who did the boot install and he blames the amp, says I need to replace it.

I guess what I'm asking is, what could cause this? I don't want to spend $250 on another amp if it won't solve the issue or if there's an underlying issue that could ruin the replacement amp. All wiring looks secure...and it seems odd that the system should work fine for a couple weeks and suddenly crap itself. The amp and sub are still functional so to speak, as I can still get bass from music...but it will also do it's pulse every 5 seconds while music is playing.

The only thing I could put it down to, is that it did rain heavily the night it started doing this, so maybe a bit of water got inside the boot and shorted something?

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/411606-help-weird-amplifier-troubles/
Share on other sites

Get a spare amp and test it.

If you don't have one find someone who does or ask where you got it installed if they can hook it up to a spare amp to see if it will fix it. Hope it wasn't the rain, don't it happening again :(

What is the amp doing ? Lights blinking ??

Does the sub move free with amp off or feel like it grinds when pushed smooth and gentle ?

Amp blue trigger wire crossed with power wire ?

Which is why its stuck on or below

Those kicker amps had issues and failed a fair bit but water entry is instant problem on any amp

And the short is internal

What is the amp doing ? Lights blinking ??

Does the sub move free with amp off or feel like it grinds when pushed smooth and gentle ?

Amp blue trigger wire crossed with power wire ?

Which is why its stuck on or below

Those kicker amps had issues and failed a fair bit but water entry is instant problem on any amp

And the short is internal

Okay I put the fuse back in so I could do some more diagnosis based on your questions. It is actually a ZX200.2 amp bridged into a single channel. Subwoofer cone moves freely and smoothly. Here's what happens:

Car completely off:

- No amp light on

- Subwoofer pulses every 5 seconds

Turned to accessories:

- Amp light dimly lit as per first picture

- Subwoofer pulses every 5 seconds

- Amp light brightens on pulse, as per second picture, then fades slowly back to dim

AP5WnE5j_original.png

87yTn9N5_original.png

Also, contrary to what I said before...music bass is NOT coming through the sub at all.

Disconnect all sub wires and rcas

Remove power wires use care the wires will have power still unless you pull the fuse first

Hook up power and ground only

What happens now?

nothing ? Good thats what it should do

Now take a small trigger wire and jump it from power on amp to trigger on connection

Amp should come on ? Yes ? Is it fluctuating at all

like before ? no ? Good now reconnect the radio trigger wire like before , turn on deck does it turn on ok and behave like proper ? yes good , turn off everything and hook up rcas , turn on again , all good still? Good , turn off and rewire up the sub ,

Retest ? Any changes ?

Also check the bolt on amp ground it should be tight , paint free

Didnt need amp model I know those are bad models lol sorry , high failure rates on those

Your amp shouldnt come on without radio on ? Is that what its doing ? its fried if so

Or wired wrong

With sub speaker wires off the amp take a 1.5 v aa battery and put power to the sub speaker wires , it should move in and out if not its disconnected or fried too

Warning

Do not put a bigger battery then 1.5 v unless you know what your doing , a 12v battery could launch your speaker cone depending on model

If you have access to a multimeter that could be used as well

Edited by Carbon 34
  • 2 months later...

Thanks for your help with this one guys. I took my car past the place that did the boot install, who were adamant it must be an amp issue. So I finally got around to getting a replacement amp - picked up a Kicker ZX300.1 for $110, which was a bargain (it had two blown fuses, so I'm guessing seller thought it was stuffed lol) and more than enough power for my 12" Type S. After some quick electrical work and finger crossing, I now have bass!

Which means my old Kicker amp was most likely farked...

Bass sounds much better than before too - either a much better amp or I've just gone too long without my doof!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • If it dies, then bypass. The task isn't difficult. I have one running on a standard R32 FPCM. That's after nearly 20 years of it running an 040, which pull substantially more current than the Walbro. They're not the same module, but I'd hope it indicates that the R33 one should be man enough for the job. I think people kill them when putting proper sized pumps on them, not these little toy pumps we're talking about here.
    • Silicone spray won't hurt anything. And if it does, that's an opportunity to put some solid steel spherical bushings in, so you can really learn what suspension noise sounds like, If you're going to try it, just spray one bush at a time, so you can work out which one is actually noisy. My best guess is that if the noise started only since putting the coilovers in, then it is just noise being transmitted up through the top mounts of the struts, and not necessarily "new" noise from bushes. But it's almost impossible to know.
    • Are you saying the 34 is SUV height, and not that we're talking about an SUV here? (because if we're talking about an SUV, you don't fix them. You just replace them when something breaks. Not worth establishing sufficient emotional connection with an SUV to warrant doing any work on one). I wouldn't jack my car up on a short little loop of 10mm steel rod poking out through a hole in the bumper bar, front or rear end. I realise that we're probably not talking about that type of loop at the front, being the one under/behind the bar on a Skyline.... but even for that one, trying to jack up on what amounts to a thin piece of steel, designed purely for withstanding a horizontal tension force, not a vertical compressive force (and so would be prone to buckling/crushing) and, my most particular bitch about it - located RIGHT AT THE EXTREME FRONT OF THE CAR, applying a load up through the radiator support panel, etc, with almost the entire mass of the car cantilevered between there and the rear wheels? Nope. Not doing that. Not on the regular. That structure out there in front of the front crossmember is not designed to carry load in the vertical direction. Not really designed to carry any load at all, really. The chassis rail that the tow point is connected to would be fine loaded in tension, as per towing. Not intended to carry the mass of the whole car, especially loaded all on one rail, with twisting and all sorts of shitty load distribution going on. No, I will happily drive up on some pieces of wood, thanks. That can only happen on driven wheels, and they are at the other end of the car, and this problem does not exist at that end of the car. And even then, I have been known to drive up on at least 1x piece of 2x8 each side at the rear, simply to reduce the amount of jack pumping necessary to get the car up high enough for the jack stands. What really really shits me about Skylines is the lack of decent places for chassis stands at either end of the car. You'd think they'd be designed into the crossmembers.
    • I've got MCA Blues on my V36 Skyline, and while I've managed to sort out issues with scrubbing/bottoming out by raising it a smidge and increasing the damping hardness, the rear end still sounds *super* noisy when driving on anything other than the flattest surface imaginable. It sounds like a small party of flamingos are just chatting away in the back, which makes me think there are several link points in the suspension contributing to the noise. Am I hearing dried out/worn bushings? None of it sounds like metal-on-metal, it sounds more like hard rubber squeaking on metal. It's been suggested that a bit of silicon spray on each bushing might quiet them down, but I'm not sure what material the current bushings are made of (probably factory, I imagine) and whether silicon spray will degrade that material.
    • The obvious answer here is get a ND2/3 RF with the Targa top. The red is nicer, too!
×
×
  • Create New...