Bah!! So frustrating!!

[Bossman150]

yes we stated its the HU already, did you take it to the shop and do the simple wire to rca test?

I have an appointment in the morning, but I am going to insist they replace the hu, I don't want a jury rigged brand new hu. I just want to be able to show that it has to be the hu so they will replace it.

 

[Bossman150]

Well we shall see what they do. I dropped of my car and was explaining the pico fuse issue to my salesman and the manager, the manager tried to just blow it off saying that in 15 years in the business he had never heard of it, fortunately I was partially validated by another salesman standing near us that overheard the conversation. He gave a discusted look to the manager and asked him, "You seriously have never heard of the pico fuse issue with Pioneer decks?! He is right, it's a real issue, and from what I have heard he did to diagnose the issue I would bet 95% that is the problem." The manager still was acting like he didn't believe it.

I am a little concerned that the manager who supposedly has 15 years in the business has never heard of it, my salesman I can understand not knowing but not the manager that runs both the store and the installations. As good as the installer is I am hoping he does know and replaces the HU, it would certainly save him a ton of time if he does. As much confidence as I have in my installer the manager's attitude toward the situation after I have spent as much money as I have with them it makes me hesitant to do further business with them. Sigh.

 

[C1500martin 10+ year member]

Well we shall see what they do. I dropped of my car and was explaining the pico fuse issue to my salesman and the manager, the manager tried to just blow it off saying that in 15 years in the business he had never heard of it, fortunately I was partially validated by another salesman standing near us that overheard the conversation. He gave a discusted look to the manager and asked him, "You seriously have never heard of the pico fuse issue with Pioneer decks?! He is right, it's a real issue, and from what I have heard he did to diagnose the issue I would bet 95% that is the problem." The manager still was acting like he didn't believe it.
I am a little concerned that the manager who supposedly has 15 years in the business has never heard of it, my salesman I can understand not knowing but not the manager that runs both the store and the installations. As good as the installer is I am hoping he does know and replaces the HU, it would certainly save him a ton of time if he does. As much confidence as I have in my installer the manager's attitude toward the situation after I have spent as much money as I have with them it makes me hesitant to do further business with them. Sigh.

Just another wonderful "professional" stereo shop. My reason for learning how to do it myself. ***** that because of their fault now you gotta buy a mew expensive ass HU

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

dude if the manager knows less about that pico fuse than I do, and I'm a 21 year old guy with only 4-5 years of somewhat technical experience, then you need to find someone who knows what the hell they're doing.

I recently had someone set the gains on my truck with the SMD DD-1(it's pretty foolproof so hopefully he did that right), and he removed my BPF from my midrange speakers (they're run active). He didn't know what a BPF was. Guess where I'm never going again?

I'd get the headunit replaced and the noise taken care of, and then get the hell out of that place and find a better shop. Maybe that one employee knows his stuff, but you never know when that manager will jump in and tell him to do something else, you know, hot swapping RCAs? It will blow a "non-existent" pico fuse, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when and you sir are the when this time around (verify it with a new source....).

 

[Bossman150]

Yeah, its just hard to do considering I have been doing business with them since 1994. There was a owner change during the 10 years I was out of the hobby though and its looking like it was not for the better. You would think the manager, even if he was not aware of the pico fuse issue, would have just said something along the lines of ok we will look into that, instead of just blowing it off. In the last 45 days I have spent over 3 grand there including my Smart Start install. You would think they would want to keep me happy. I think at this point unless the manager admits he was wrong and appologizes when I pick up my car, and they switch out the HU, I will be looking for another shop. I don't see him doing that with the attitude he gave me this morning.

There is a shop in Lincoln, a 70 mile drive for me, that sells DD stuff. I might have to look into them, but not sure how well that would work being so far away and only having one vehicle.

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

Try to get a contact for a small local shop or even a single person who has good rep. A lot of people don't have a shop but do this kinda thing on the side, it sounds like you don't have the time or the need to do it yourself so that's what I'd do.

If I was sinking that much money into something I wouldn't hesitate to call out the manager, especially if he denies something that's a fact. However, I have a thick skin when it comes to substantial amounts of my money lol

you really should try grounding your RCAs though, it's pretty simple to do and it'll rule in/out a pico fuse issue.

 

[Bossman150]

Try to get a contact for a small local shop or even a single person who has good rep. A lot of people don't have a shop but do this kinda thing on the side, it sounds like you don't have the time or the need to do it yourself so that's what I'd do.
If I was sinking that much money into something I wouldn't hesitate to call out the manager, especially if he denies something that's a fact. However, I have a thick skin when it comes to substantial amounts of my money lol

you really should try grounding your RCAs though, it's pretty simple to do and it'll rule in/out a pico fuse issue.

I thought about suggesting that, the problem is if they do that and the noise goes away I would guess the manager would stop there and insist the issue was fixed and refuse to do anything else. Also since the manager is there today I can't work in the shop with them like I did the other afternoon, so I can't look over their shoulder and make suggestions or watch what they are doing. They have the typical insurance disclaimer that customer can't be allowed in the shop blah blah blah. They let me back there when he is not there.

Edit: And I would love to find a small local shop or someone reputable that does it on the side, I just don't know how to find that here. The shop I use is busy as hell mostly because its the one most people use in Omaha. I have a mechanic that does 90% of mine and my families work out of his house. He use to be a mechanic for a big chain and got tired of ripping people off so he does it now on weekends and charges almost nothing for labor compared to a shop. I would LOVE to find a guy like that for car audio stuff.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

All those years managing a shop, they will just know a few things

1: How to take your money

2: Making you be the bottom b*tch

3: Act cocky and misinformed while their installers are the ones with actual experience.

4: Avoid Warranties and RMAs

5: Talk sh*t on everthing else.

 

[C1500martin 10+ year member]

Pretty much^^^

Being in the automotive industry on my last job i realized there are 2 kinds of managers. The ones who know their shit and the ones who know how to get out of shit. In your case its a manager who knows to get out of shit but doesnt know shit.

 

[Bossman150]

Well it's almost 1, they had my car inside when I left @9am. So they have had 4 hours and no call yet. Either they switched the HU right away, and the manager does not want to eat crow and call(he is the one that makes the calls) or they are ignoring me and trying everything we already tried on Monday so the manager can see them do it.

 

[C1500martin 10+ year member]

Well it's almost 1, they had my car inside when I left @9am. So they have had 4 hours and no call yet. Either they switched the HU right away, and the manager does not want to eat crow and call(he is the one that makes the calls) or they are ignoring me and trying everything we already tried on Monday so the manager can see them do it.

swapping headunits from aftermarket to aftermarket to aftermarket takes an hour at most. You just pull it out cut the harness and resolder or crimp new wires together nothing to it at all. I think the manager is just wasting time. Hope they arent charging you labor because if they are hes milking the shit out of the clock.

 

[Bossman150]

swapping headunits from aftermarket to aftermarket to aftermarket takes an hour at most. You just pull it out cut the harness and resolder or crimp new wires together nothing to it at all. I think the manager is just wasting time. Hope they arent charging you labor because if they are hes milking the shit out of the clock.

Hell no, I was quoted a price for an install and I paid it. He better not try to charge me more...

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Fvck Pioneer!!! Due to this issue,Ill never buy Pioneer,and havent in almost ten years,other than a pair of tweeters about 2 years ago that couldnt even handle rms rating.Cheap chits!I do too much amp swapping to have that issue. Kenwood decks and Eclipse for me.

 

[Bossman150]

Well, I ended up being the one having to eat crow //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/blush.gif.99bc659ee2012b7d826165e26fb5eebe.gif It did end up being the amp. The reason why they never called is because the installer wanted me to be there so I could see for myself. He told me even though his manager didn't know about the pico fuse issue with Pioneer HUs he was very aware, and he insisted the d/c the battery AND the RCA's from the back of the HU before switching the amps, because he saw the issue way too much 10 years or so ago when he started installing Pioneer HUs. He also said all the installers there are quite aware, and that his manager doesn't know sh*t. He reinstalled the SS amp with me watching(while once again the battery was d/c and RCA's were unplugged from the HU) and he hooked everything back up. Started it up and I admit I was still expecting to hear the whine, but there was not a peep. Not when I revved the engine, put the windows up/down, nothing. Also I noticed the strange noise that I was hearing when the amps turned off was gone, I thought that was a kind of turn off thump from the 100.1 but it wasn't, it was the 150.4 causing it. Then he set the gains for me on the SS amp, what I didn't know before was he had the gains set at the very minimum because of the stock speakers it was powering along with the Kicker door speakers, now that it was just the Kicker's it was powering he was able to give it a lot more power. I have to admit when he was done I was f*cking amazed. Now it SOUNDS like a 3k sound system, even with that cheap $120 SS 4.500 it sounds **** good! When I go to sell this SS 4.500 someone is going to get a hell of a bargain. The installer said he already had the amps swapped twice before to make 100% certain it was the amp, but he wanted me to see/hear it too. I'm just glad I held my tongue and didn't make a big fuss over the pico fuse thing...

The only bad things are having to send the AB 150.4 back, and now I want to hear what real component speakers up front will sound like with a properly working 150.4!

 

[The Camry]

Fvck Pioneer!!! Due to this issue,Ill never buy Pioneer,and havent in almost ten years,other than a pair of tweeters about 2 years ago that couldnt even handle rms rating.Cheap chits!I do too much amp swapping to have that issue. Kenwood decks and Eclipse for me.

deh-prs80?? I did a TON of reading before i bought it. read all 105 pages of that thread on it. took abunch abunch of notes, learned about hot swapping. Havnt had a ground noise issue. I think they just more sensitive to user error.