New install... problems... need advice

[tundra06]

Hi,

Yesterday I some new equipment professionally installed in my truck, by a local shop that has been around for several decades.

Equipment:

Kenwood DPX500BT

SiriusXM SXV200V1CLC

some brackets and adapters to make it all fit

keeping stock speakers

The guys seemed alright, we had a few laughs, and I left my truck with them feeling pretty good about how this thing was going to go down.

Right away after I picked up my truck, I noticed a couple of problems:

(1) None of the 3 speakers on driver's side door are working. I set the balance all the way to left, and fade all the way to the front, and no sound comes out. All other speakers work.

(2) SiriusXM radio always cuts in and out, even when driving on an open road with no tall buildings nearby. This seemed weird, so I read the install manual on the SiriusXM web site. One of the first things it says is DO NOT install the antenna inside the vehicle, for example on the dash. Guess where these guys put the antenna... inside the truck, on the dash, right next to the driver's side windshield column!!

I think the speaker problem could be related to wiring (not connected at head unit or in driver's side door) or the left front channel in the head unit is blown. The chances of all 3 speakers blowing at once are slim to none.

As for the satellite radio, is it a common thing for pros to install the sat antennas inside vehicles, going against the install manual?? I'm now pretty pissed that I paid these guys $80/hour, for 1.5 hours, to do such a crappy job.

Please give me some advice before I go in and confront these guys.

Thanks

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[thatguy12 10+ year member]

all i can tell you is go confront them, dont be hostile. at least in the beginning. bring them out to your car and prove the stuff not working

 

[bbeljefe]

Definitely take it back and ask them to complete the install properly. Since they did no work in the doors, it's clearly a bad connection behind the head unit and for sure, the antenna needs to be located on top of the truck.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Unfortunately some people don't read the instructions. Some sat radio antennas work great inside the vehicle, but if the manufacturer advises against it then don't put it inside the vehicle. The speaker problem is a worse oversight, unless the problem did not occurr until after the vehicle left the shop. I can't imagine they would install a new head unit, especially one that also had a SiriusXM tuner added, and not listen to the vehicle.

 

[tundra06]

So last night, I took off the driver's side door trim panel, and pulled out the head unit, to see if I could troubleshoot the dead speakers.

The speakers tested fine with an ohm meter.

I beeped out the cables between the door speakers and the head unit. The factory cable going from head unit to door beeped out fine. Guess what, the ratty pig tail adapter for connecting the head unit to the truck, built by the $80/h car audio "pros" had not ONE, but TWO broken connections. Unbelievable. The wires had been poorly soldered, and each solder joint was wrapped in about a foot of electrical tape. While the guy building this mess was wrapping tape on every joint, he must have been repeatedly flexing all the other joints, breaking some of them.

I cut out the crappy soldering, resoldered everything, and put transparent heat shrink on each joint. Now the connections hold tight AND it's possible to visually inspect.

Plugged everything back in, and of course now I have sound coming out of the left side.

Lesson learned... if you want something done right, you can't even rely on the "pros" unfortunately. MF'ing monkeys.

Next up is to deal with the satellite antenna...

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

yeah my best friends dad works in buffalo and he has sirius and it never cuts out around tall buildings lol. he has his antenna installed on his trunk. as far as the speakers go. it is definitely a wiring problem.

 

[calebkhill 10+ year member]

Why did you pay them to do it to begin with

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

the sat antenna uses the car as the ground plane - so yes, it needs to be outside. but, if you had paid them to put it outside, it would have taken a lot longer.

did you talk to a sales guy or to the installer for your vehicle?

regardless, you fixed it. it is fine to politely let them know where they went wrong.

getting the antenna outside is somewhat of a chore. you have to decide how you want to route it. i've typically routed it through factory door grommets or to the trunk then made two small slits in the weatherstripping (each side) so it routes through the weatherstripping then onto the vehicle. i will stash wiring in factory channels and behind window trim so none of it is visible. lastly, i seal all penetrations and slits with silicone.

 

[tundra06]

Why did you pay them to do it to begin with

Because I was under the illusion that if I want it done right & done quickly, it makes sense to pay somebody who does it for a living. Same as if when I need the brakes fixed on my truck. Does that make sense or am I way off base here?

 

[tundra06]

the sat antenna uses the car as the ground plane - so yes, it needs to be outside. but, if you had paid them to put it outside, it would have taken a lot longer.
did you talk to a sales guy or to the installer for your vehicle?

regardless, you fixed it. it is fine to politely let them know where they went wrong.

getting the antenna outside is somewhat of a chore. you have to decide how you want to route it. i've typically routed it through factory door grommets or to the trunk then made two small slits in the weatherstripping (each side) so it routes through the weatherstripping then onto the vehicle. i will stash wiring in factory channels and behind window trim so none of it is visible. lastly, i seal all penetrations and slits with silicone.

Understood, but when professionals bill $80/hour to do an install, I expect a professional, correct and working install. In this case a correct and working install would have included putting the antenna outside the vehicle.

getting the antenna outside is somewhat of a chore

Yes, exactly. That is why I pay someone else to do it, who will do it faster and better than I could.

By the way //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif when you say "if you had paid them to put it outside" it sounds like you mean that I should have known that by default it will be installed wrong, but I could have offered to pay extra to have it done right. That's probably not what you meant //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

Good tips on the satellite antenna cable routing, thanks. I've been researching a few options here and there. Will probably get down to opening up my dash and reinstalling the antenna later this week.

 

[Beatin' 10+ year member]

lol people get upset when I say 'if you can't install car audio stuff, don't be into car audio'.

The guy doing your brakes has to do a good job because if he doesn't and you get into an accident because of his mistake, it's the mechanics ass that's going to be in legal trouble.

with car audio stuff, they don't give a shit. There's no liability.

 

[tundra06]

lol people get upset when I say 'if you can't install car audio stuff' date=' don't be into car audio'.
The guy doing your brakes has to do a good job because if he doesn't and you get into an accident because of his mistake, it's the mechanics ass that's going to be in legal trouble.

with car audio stuff, they don't give a shit. There's no liability.

LOL and well... lesson learned.

I did think about doing it myself.

But (as these things usually go, I guess) I was in a bit of a time constrained situation, and spending my whole weekend opening up trim panels and figuring out how to route cables didn't really seem productive, given the rest of my "to do" list.

This "pro shop" said they'd have it done in 1/2 a day so it seemed like a win. Knowing what I know now... hindsight is 20/20.

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

take the adapter back and ask for your $80 back.... say don't bother I got some one else to fix your **** up, this was the problem!

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

Understood, but when professionals bill $80/hour to do an install, I expect a professional, correct and working install. In this case a correct and working install would have included putting the antenna outside the vehicle.


Yes, exactly. That is why I pay someone else to do it, who will do it faster and better than I could.

By the way //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif when you say "if you had paid them to put it outside" it sounds like you mean that I should have known that by default it will be installed wrong, but I could have offered to pay extra to have it done right. That's probably not what you meant //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

Good tips on the satellite antenna cable routing, thanks. I've been researching a few options here and there. Will probably get down to opening up my dash and reinstalling the antenna later this week.

i have found that if you don't give direction, a shop will find the cheapest way to get it done so you spend the least amount of money.