4 radios blow in 2 months WTH

[southport2014 10+ year member]

I have a 2002 ford explorer and I have had 4 different radios in my car in 2 months.

Radios are Kenwood x996

Cheap Kenwood 323 or something

Alpine 9883

Kenwood x697

Kenwood 996 had the engine whine after install too.

Kenwood 323 had Engine whine after unplugging the rcas on the amp

The 9883 started to smoke after a month of use

And the x697 had the engine whine after installing my amps

I do not understand it its driving me crazy. And yes I did undo my battery in my car before install on the last 3 radios and still had the same problem

Can someone please help I can not keep spending money on radios

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[NASTY08IMPALA 5,000+ posts]

Install or operator error? Lol

were they all used?

 

[pickup1 5,000+ posts]

Bad grounds... low voltage....hard to say....

Still have the stock Radio to plug in and see if it blows that?

 

[southport2014 10+ year member]

Install or operator error? Lolwere they all used?

The x996 was brand new and I dont see how I installed it wrong ive never had this problem before this of my 4th car putting a ssystem in

 

[southport2014 10+ year member]

Bad grounds... low voltage....hard to say....Still have the stock Radio to plug in and see if it blows that?

Didnt come with a stock rsdio when I bought the car and also I have good voltage it just seems to d9 it when I hook a amp up

 

[los33 10+ year member]

Have you followed your constant wire to find a break in the wire or if the fuse is causing an issue?

Could even be someone bypassed the fuse and/or changed the wire going to the fuse.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Problem or bad ground with your amps? I can't verify but I've heard rumors that some amps will try to find ground through the RCA's if your ground for them is inadequate.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

Bad ground or dead short in the wiring harness under the dash would be my guess

 

[southport2014 10+ year member]

Bad ground or dead short in the wiring harness under the dash would be my guess

Well mt ground is on my back seat frame I sanded it down and eveeything I imagine it would be good enough. In my old 98 explorer I always swapped amps and stuff out with out undoing the battery and never had a problem.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

Back seat frame isn't a good ground ! But that won't usually blow the deck. I'd look at the cars harness for a dead short somewhere

 

[southport2014 10+ year member]

Back seat frame isn't a good ground ! But that won't usually blow the deck. I'd look at the cars harness for a dead short somewhere

How would I find it in the harness like right behind the radio or whay

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

How would I find it in the harness like right behind the radio or whay

You'll need to take it to a mechanic that deals with electrical issues

 

[southport2014 10+ year member]

You'll need to take it to a mechanic that deals with electrical issues

It just seem slike the car causes the radios to be so sensitive. In my old explorer and impala I would just always hot swap my rcas and power and ground to other amps with no problem

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

Like I said. If you have a dead short. Which is a grounded hot wire then you can have these types of problems. If may just be a bare wire that sometimes hits metal and poof

 

[CrossoverOre 10+ year member]

if you are still using the factory wires for power if there was a short the fuse would be popping. is it the factory amplified system? what kind of amp are you hooking up full range or sub or both