How to upgrade/make suv more luxurious?

[AudioHobbiest]

Hello guys, thank you for taking your time to read my post,

I have a 2009 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 LT, and want to make it as luxurious as possible. When I bought the car, it was beat up and i put ALOT of money into fixing/restoring it and now the interior is mint with some upgrades. For my headunit, I have a "Pioneer DMH-2660NEX", For my AMP I have a "Club A5055" 5 Channel Amplifier, and for my Sub (Soon to be dual) I have a single "S-W12D4" Alpine S Subwoofer. For speakers, I have Infinity Harman speakers that look and sound beautiful. I had a couple of questions i wanted to ask you pros about upgrading, and a couple problems i am encountering.
1) Engine noise suddenly started happening and it is very loud. The more I accelerate, the louder it gets, but sometimes the engine noise will stay quiet. Is this a bad ground? 2) Headunit keeps turning off. Almost everytime i start the car, the head unit does not turn on. I have to disconnect the battery and reconnect it for it to work again. I brought it to my friends and uncles stereo shops, and they have advised me that a small computer that signals the Headunit to turn on and off overheats in the California summer and begins to run into issues. My 3rd issue is when I'm driving the truck and listening to music with bass, now (New issue) i can smell a kind of burning plastic smell. When I go to the amp, it is on absolute fire. I cannot keep my hand on it for longer than 1-2 seconds before it feels like I'm touching fire. (btw, all of the installation was done professionally at a professional shop). The amp is not shutting down, but it is getting to flamethrower temperature. I am worried I am going to permanently destroy my AMP. I also very rarely listen with bass boost, and very rarely will crank up the bass (nothing crazy just lower bass to make the song sound good), but in my opinion the power the sub is putting out even on max should not make my amp want to literally catch on fire. I just got the system installed less than 2 months ago, and everything is brand new. 4) sometimes (with bass boost) my speakers in the back sound like they're clapping. should I just not turn bass boost on anymore?

Upgrades:
Do you guys know what audio upgrades or any upgrades in general would make the car feel premium or any cool upgrades? Price is not really an issue, and installation difficulty will not be an issue since I know very good installers. My relatives used to have all sorts of in dash screens, interior lights, custom box's, etc. What do you guy think in your opinion would look/feel/impress you guys?

I apologize for taking your time and thank you guys so much for helping me

Mack

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[HardofWhoring]

1. What kind of noise? (engine whine? if engine whine, then it's a bad ground). Do you have the big 3 done?

2. No it isn't doing that, because it's not happening to everyone in the southwest. Your head unit is supposed to turn off when you start your car. There is a power wire that handles the load, and there is an accessory wire that is a switch wire/(power button), that turns the head unit on when it's in accessory, (and turns it off when off or in crank). There is no "small computer that turns the head unit on and off", its just a switch wire.

3. Amps can get pretty hot. You shouldn't be smelling burning plastic. Is the smell coming from the amp or the wiring? How hot is the wiring? What size is the wiring, (what can you read on the wire?)

4. As far as your bass boost, is it clapping or clipping? Bass boost is adding overlap. It's increasing the voltage/making louder somewhere around your bass frequency range. Your gains might not be set well.

5. "Make it feel premium" like what, a fondue cheese fountain? Porn on the screen with a good story, blindfolds, and whip cream?

Is your friend's/uncles shop the one that installed this, and is telling you this? (So far, you have a bad ground that the installer would have noticed. The big 3? The gain. Telling you that there is a computer to turn on the head unit. The burning wire smell. - Somebody has to say it; If this wasn't what I think was your relative's shop, I'd be telling you it sounds like a bad shop did a poor install. Not sure what you want me to call it.



Do you have a multi meter to check your gains?

How is your amp grounded?

Your 5ch amp is 50w x 4 & 500w x 1. That's pretty low wattage for your speakers. Not sure about your HKs you have, but I would want more wattage to get more volume out of my speakers. That also won't play two 500w subs. I've got good news about your amp getting to hot. - I would get TWO new amps, and not even use that one. Did that same shop sell you any of this equipment?

You should post pictures of what's done.

 

[HardofWhoring]

Did you mean like the starry night, fiber-optic custom headliners?
Chilled water bottles for everyone.
Captains chairs if you have a bench.
Heated and cooled seats, (that can be aftermarket modified without too much trouble).
If you have a Tahoe, what about Escalade parts?
Nobody needs screens any more unless you're a kid. The rest of us carry em with us, with the links to watch what we want. Spend what I think is $10 a month, and make your vehicle a hotspot. (provide wifi).


If money is no object, and I wanted "Premium", then go get an airbag suspension.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

1) Engine noise suddenly started happening and it is very loud. The more I accelerate, the louder it gets, but sometimes the engine noise will stay quiet. Is this a bad ground

Pioneer radios are notorious engine whine. I would change it out, seeing as to you are having other issues with it.

2) Headunit keeps turning off. Almost everytime i start the car, the head unit does not turn on. I have to disconnect the battery and reconnect it for it to work again. I brought it to my friends and uncles stereo shops, and they have advised me that a small computer that signals the Headunit to turn on and off overheats in the California summer and begins to run into issues

I live in deep South Texas where temperatures over 100 degrees are common. I roll with no ac and have zero issues with radio overheating. It is an old Pioneer AppRadio.

My 3rd issue is when I'm driving the truck and listening to music with bass, now (New issue) i can smell a kind of burning plastic smell. When I go to the amp, it is on absolute fire. I cannot keep my hand on it for longer than 1-2 seconds before it feels like I'm touching fire. (btw, all of the installation was done professionally at a professional shop). The amp is not shutting down, but it is getting to flamethrower temperature. I am worried I am going to permanently destroy my AMP. I also very rarely listen with bass boost, and very rarely will crank up the bass (nothing crazy just lower bass to make the song sound good), but in my opinion the power the sub is putting out even on max should not make my amp want to literally catch on fire. I just got the system installed less than 2 months ago, and everything is brand new

The sub and speakers are within the amp's specifications so it is not a hardware issue. Is the amp mounted on carpet and how are the full range spekers wired to the amp?

4) sometimes (with bass boost) my speakers in the back sound like they're clapping. should I just not turn bass boost on anymore?

This may be a sign of the Gain not being set properly. Also may be the cause of the overheating. Not all pro shops hire pro installers.

 

[AudioHobbiest]

1. What kind of noise? (engine whine? if engine whine, then it's a bad ground). Do you have the big 3 done?

2. No it isn't doing that, because it's not happening to everyone in the southwest. Your head unit is supposed to turn off when you start your car. There is a power wire that handles the load, and there is an accessory wire that is a switch wire/(power button), that turns the head unit on when it's in accessory, (and turns it off when off or in crank). There is no "small computer that turns the head unit on and off", its just a switch wire.

3. Amps can get pretty hot. You shouldn't be smelling burning plastic. Is the smell coming from the amp or the wiring? How hot is the wiring? What size is the wiring, (what can you read on the wire?)

4. As far as your bass boost, is it clapping or clipping? Bass boost is adding overlap. It's increasing the voltage/making louder somewhere around your bass frequency range. Your gains might not be set well.

5. "Make it feel premium" like what, a fondue cheese fountain? Porn on the screen with a good story, blindfolds, and whip cream?

Is your friend's/uncles shop the one that installed this, and is telling you this? (So far, you have a bad ground that the installer would have noticed. The big 3? The gain. Telling you that there is a computer to turn on the head unit. The burning wire smell. - Somebody has to say it; If this wasn't what I think was your relative's shop, I'd be telling you it sounds like a bad shop did a poor install. Not sure what you want me to call it.



Do you have a multi meter to check your gains?

How is your amp grounded?

Your 5ch amp is 50w x 4 & 500w x 1. That's pretty low wattage for your speakers. Not sure about your HKs you have, but I would want more wattage to get more volume out of my speakers. That also won't play two 500w subs. I've got good news about your amp getting to hot. - I would get TWO new amps, and not even use that one. Did that same shop sell you any of this equipment?

You should post pictures of what's done.

1) The noise gets louder, and I can hear the engine shift through the speakers so i am guessing that it is a bad ground. I need to find where the installer grounded it, and try to find a better ground.
2) Yeah there was a red wire that does send power to the head unit but that is not what was causing the issue. When I brought the truck to my uncles shop and had my installer friend take it , he pulled out a small device (The size of an iPod nano) and he told me that he has to press a small button on this little device to reset it. Once he did that, it reset and it worked again until i turned the car off. He told me that these little things overheat in the summer, and that this a pretty common thing that happens in the summer. He told me that this little device regulates wether the car is being turned on or off (A computerized power wire I'm guessing?), and when it gets hot stops working. I have even figured out that when its not hot outside, I still need to disconnect the battery to get it to turn on so I guess its not an overheating issue but some issue with that tiny device. I can remove the headunit to show you guys it
3) The amp gets really hot and now after driving and listening to music for about 20 mins (This is a new problem) it smells like burning plastic. I got out the truck an tried to smell where it was coming from, but I was smelling the JBL amp but the smell did not smell like it was coming from the amplifier. I just checked and saw that I am running 4 Gauge wire. I don't have a heat gun to see how hot it is, but I'm surprised that it is not melting itself from how hot it can get.
4) it sounds like its clipping, I showed this to my other friend and he does not know where it is clapping or clipping, but to me it sounds like it is clipping.
5) hahaha I will 100% add these, people are going to love riding in it now xD

Yes my uncles shop installed this. I brought it back a couple times for things that don't work. For example since the system was installed, I have no pinging sounds for example the seatbelt, leaving the headlights on, beeping or back indicator lights that show me how close I am to backing into something. Every-time I start the car, the car prompts me with "Park Assist Unavailable" and that the rear infotainment screen stopped working also, which they said I have to install a second CD player in the glove box or buy a different headunit to make it work. I also had an alarm system installed (Viper) which is making the remote start freak the car out thinking its being hot-wired and ETC but they said that it was normal with the aftermarket alarm system.

I have a volt meter. What wires would you like me to check?

I cannot find the grounding for the amp. I am looking for it, but dont see it. It is mounted on carpet so I'm guessing the installer grounded it under the carpet.

For the speakers, they sound good but I feel like they could go louder. I felt like the stock speakers were able to go louder. Another friend was telling me that these speakers should be way louder and that they're being underpowered and that I should get a 4 channel amp for the mid and high's and speakers and a 2 channel amp just for the Bass or Subwoofers especially since I want to do dual subs. The alpine S sounds clappy at higher bass boost, but I dont know if this is normal or if I should just replace them. The sub is only 2 months old

Mack

 

[AudioHobbiest]

Here are the pictures, sorry i am on 30 KBPS internet, took a little to upload and download

 

[AudioHobbiest]

The speakers are wired with the

Pioneer radios are notorious engine whine. I would change it out, seeing as to you are having other issues with it.

I live in deep South Texas where temperatures over 100 degrees are common. I roll with no ac and have zero issues with radio overheating. It is an old Pioneer AppRadio.

The sub and speakers are within the amp's specifications so it is not a hardware issue. Is the amp mounted on carpet and how are the full range spekers wired to the amp?

This may be a sign of the Gain not being set properly. Also may be the cause of the overheating. Not all pro shops hire pro installers.

Green and Yellow wiring. Me and the other installers installed it, and for the speakers there was a what i remember to be a yellow wire with green stripe, and a yellow wire with possibly green. I had them tune the amp and the head unit about 3 times, and its still clips out on bass boost like that. In my opinion, I feel like the speakers should get way louder than they are. The amp was pretty pricey (5-600ish bucks) and i thought that it would handle it just fine but it turns out it is really struggling to do that. I was thinking of selling this amp and getting a 2 channel and maybe a 4 channel? Do you guys think thats a good idea?

Thank you
Mack

 

[AudioHobbiest]

Yep I meant luxuries exactly like this. Thank you so much for the ideas. I definitely want to install the starlight headliner, the Bucket seats, and some escalade lighting. I installed led roof lights and I am in the process of wanting to repolish the leather also. I was even looking to install a built in mini-fridge haha. Might have to upgrade the alternator for that lol.

Thank you so much for the ideas,
Mack

 

[HardofWhoring]

I have NO IDEA what that little device could be. I think he might be screwing with you. NO THAT IS NOT COMMON, and THERE IS NO WAY, that is a problem from factory equipment, that is being caused by normal summertime heat.
If it did that because of the heat in California, it would be happening all over the southwest, and happening to thousands of people. There would have been a recall, and they would have fixed that 15 years ago. I also know your vehicle, and have never heard of this issue.

Yeah lift up the carpet and see where the ground is. It's need to be connected to bare metal.

That's another red flag they used red wire for ground and power. No shop anywhere should be doing that. That is dangerous to mix them up.

You need to cut those zip ties off that bundle. What are those wires? If you combine signal and power wires like that, that can cause interference, and could also be your problem.


Use your multimeter and check the resistance of how the subwoofer is wired. You can also disconnect the wiring and check at the subwoofer enclosure. You should be getting two ohms. Can you get a picture of the wiring into the amp, and the amp settings?

 

[AudioHobbiest]

I just figured figured out that the box he was pressing the reset button on was the steering wheel control module? I have no idea what this would have to do with the unit turning on.... He took it out infront of me, pressed and held the blue button, and the unit turned right on. I have no idea what this would have to do with the unit not turning on or sometimes it randomly shutting off while driving?

I checked the wires and screwed them in more, and everything is nice and snug so its definitely not something rattling out of the pioneer.

I am going to go check the wiring ohems to the amp and to the subwoofer right now and get them back to you guys right away

Mack

 

[AudioHobbiest]

I have NO IDEA what that little device could be. I think he might be screwing with you. NO THAT IS NOT COMMON, and THERE IS NO WAY, that is a problem from factory equipment, that is being caused by normal summertime heat.
If it did that because of the heat in California, it would be happening all over the southwest, and happening to thousands of people. There would have been a recall, and they would have fixed that 15 years ago. I also know your vehicle, and have never heard of this issue.

Yeah lift up the carpet and see where the ground is. It's need to be connected to bare metal.

That's another red flag they used red wire for ground and power. No shop anywhere should be doing that. That is dangerous to mix them up.

You need to cut those zip ties off that bundle. What are those wires? If you combine signal and power wires like that, that can cause interference, and could also be your problem.


Use your multimeter and check the resistance of how the subwoofer is wired. You can also disconnect the wiring and check at the subwoofer enclosure. You should be getting two ohms. Can you get a picture of the wiring into the amp, and the amp settings?

No problem I have to go tear up the carpeting to see where he grounded it. I have no idea why he would use 2 red wires as power and ground. I also saw that the wires are run pretty close to each other, I'm not sure if this has something to do with it. I will unbundle the wires and find where they run too and send pictures.

Thank you guys so much for your help,

Mack

 

[AudioHobbiest]

I just figured out that the box he was pressing the reset button on was the steering wheel control module? I have no idea what this would have to do with the unit turning on.... He took it out infront of me, pressed and held the blue button, and the unit turned right on. I have no idea what this would have to do with the unit not turning on or sometimes it randomly shutting off while driving?

I checked the wires and screwed them in more, and everything is nice and snug so its definitely not something rattling out of the pioneer.

I am going to go check the wiring ohems to the amp and to the subwoofer right now and get them back to you guys right away

Mack

 

[HardofWhoring]

Those are common, there are several manufacturers that make those. What it does is convert the analog controls from your steering wheel to the digital input of your aftermarket head unit. Right off the bat, if you get frustrated, you should be able to just unplug it, and not have steering wheel controls, but also not have this problem. I think you should do that just to check and just to verify that's the issue.

It's the correct one for your vehicle. What I would do is check the wiring. You need to find the wiring colors for your vehicle, then compare. That exact one works for a lot of vehicle. I have never used one, but you might have a pin that is in the wrong spot for your vehicle. I feel like if that was the issue, I would have heard about that too. I think it's more likely that it's wired wrong if that's it. If it's a hardware issue.



You also might need to program it. Go through here, and read the links. Maybe they didn't program it or reassigned something. It does need programming, and if they are just holding the button, that sounds like it's going into programming mode.

ControlPRO2 - PAC

Universal Analog/CAN-Bus Steering Wheel Control Interface With Web and APP Supported Installation

catalog.pac-audio.com

Is that a new item? Any chance that pac is 15 years old, you didn't buy it, and you don't know if it's functioning correctly?

 

[AudioHobbiest]

Those are common, there are several manufacturers that make those. What it does is convert the analog controls from your steering wheel to the digital input of your aftermarket head unit. Right off the bat, if you get frustrated, you should be able to just unplug it, and not have steering wheel controls, but also not have this problem. I think you should do that just to check and just to verify that's the issue.

It's the correct one for your vehicle. What I would do is check the wiring. You need to find the wiring colors for your vehicle, then compare. That exact one works for a lot of vehicle. I have never used one, but you might have a pin that is in the wrong spot for your vehicle. I feel like if that was the issue, I would have heard about that too. I think it's more likely that it's wired wrong if that's it. If it's a hardware issue.



You also might need to program it. Go through here, and read the links. Maybe they didn't program it or reassigned something. It does need programming, and if they are just holding the button, that sounds like it's going into programming mode.

ControlPRO2 - PAC

Universal Analog/CAN-Bus Steering Wheel Control Interface With Web and APP Supported Installation

catalog.pac-audio.com

Is that a new item? Any chance that pac is 15 years old, you didn't buy it, and you don't know if it's functioning correctly?

Yes its a brand new item, I am also going to try to unplug it and see if that fixes it. Would it cause it to turn off while driving too? very rarely it will turn off, but it hasn't been happening recently. it is programmed to where a middle button on the steering wheel will activate "Siri" and the other are source, Louder, And Quieter. The only issue is that since this radio does not have a knob to quickly turn up and down the volume/mute it, and that the touch sensors on it are very very small and hard to register and find since during the day since the RGB is not bright enough for the sun (it is cloudy right now so they can be seen easily, but during the sunlight they are invisible), and that it would be a pain to quickly turn up and down the music, or having to constantly take my eyes off the road to find the tiny touch spot to turn the volume up or down. I will also take it out and check if the pins are correct on it and check if the wiring is correct.

Thank you so much,

Mack

 

[AudioHobbiest]

Also, would you like me to check every wire's ohm and take pictures/write them down also?

Mack