No sound issue with new Android stereo

  • 3
    Participant count
  • Participants list

pashonic

CarAudio.com Newbie
I recently installed the following kit on my 2013 Toyota Camry V6 that has stock JBL:


Everything is working but after awhile the sound stopped working. If I install OEM stereo and drive around for awhile and install new stereo it starts working again but will eventually stop.

I suspect the AMP is not receiving a proper "ON" signal. I also suspect that maybe I need a different harness? I mean it could be bad head unit...but I just want to make sure I'm not missing something.

Few notes:
  • It's not the mute functionality.
  • I made sure my battery was completely full by charging it by using a wall outlet charging device.
  • I tried checking the "harness" for any loose wires or messed up terminals, but didn't see any.
 
I recently installed the following kit on my 2013 Toyota Camry V6 that has stock JBL:


Everything is working but after awhile the sound stopped working. If I install OEM stereo and drive around for awhile and install new stereo it starts working again but will eventually stop.

I suspect the AMP is not receiving a proper "ON" signal. I also suspect that maybe I need a different harness? I mean it could be bad head unit...but I just want to make sure I'm not missing something.

Few notes:
  • It's not the mute functionality.
  • I made sure my battery was completely full by charging it by using a wall outlet charging device.
  • I tried checking the "harness" for any loose wires or messed up terminals, but didn't see any.
Android units are notoriously cheaply made. Also I'm not sure why you would upgrade a newish car's OEM head unit without upgrading anything else such as the amp.

Regardless, you should figure out which wire is the amp on signal on the car's side and make sure it's matching up with the blue or blue/white wire on your unit's harness. Scrutinize the connection on that. Also what method did you use to connect these wires together? Crimp? Solder? Twist and tape? Any heatshrink? The connections seem to be the most likely issue. Does the unit only lack sound and behave completely normally otherwise?
 
Android units are notoriously cheaply made. Also I'm not sure why you would upgrade a newish car's OEM head unit without upgrading anything else such as the amp.

Regardless, you should figure out which wire is the amp on signal on the car's side and make sure it's matching up with the blue or blue/white wire on your unit's harness. Scrutinize the connection on that. Also what method did you use to connect these wires together? Crimp? Solder? Twist and tape? Any heatshrink? The connections seem to be the most likely issue. Does the unit only lack sound and behave completely normally otherwise?

Thanks for help. I'll take a look. Everything came as a kit (suppose to be plug and play) I didn't do any harness modifications.

I'm new to stereo tech but I'm learning a lot while trying to solve this problem. :)
 
Thanks for help. I'll take a look. Everything came as a kit (suppose to be plug and play) I didn't do any harness modifications.

I'm new to stereo tech but I'm learning a lot while trying to solve this problem. :)
If it came pre-assembled from the factory then it's probably not too poorly connected. It may be worth pinching the wire splice points though all the same as it's running to see if it springs to life. How exactly is it behaving when it's muted? Completely normally just no sound? Restarting the unit doesn't do anything? How long does it take for the OEM unit to work after you put it back in? That one's a bit strange that it wouldn't work immediately. Maybe someone else has heard of it and will know right off the bat from that symptom.
 
If it came pre-assembled from the factory then it's probably not too poorly connected. It may be worth pinching the wire splice points though all the same as it's running to see if it springs to life. How exactly is it behaving when it's muted? Completely normally just no sound? Restarting the unit doesn't do anything? How long does it take for the OEM unit to work after you put it back in? That one's a bit strange that it wouldn't work immediately. Maybe someone else has heard of it and will know right off the bat from that symptom.

How exactly is it behaving when it's muted? A: Mute/unmute functionality works. unmute = no sound. not a factor.
Completely normally just no sound? A: Completely no sound. Everything else works.
Restarting the unit doesn't do anything? A: Nope, doesn't fix sound issue.
How long does it take for the OEM unit to work after you put it back in? A: Right away, No issues with OEM functionality.

Other notes:
  • When the unit does work the fastest way to reproduce issue is to disconnect battery terminal and reconnect (kill all power to the car). Than sound will not work %100 of time.
PS: I wish I took some electrical engineering courses in college....
 
How exactly is it behaving when it's muted? A: Mute/unmute functionality works. unmute = no sound. not a factor.
Completely normally just no sound? A: Completely no sound. Everything else works.
Restarting the unit doesn't do anything? A: Nope, doesn't fix sound issue.
How long does it take for the OEM unit to work after you put it back in? A: Right away, No issues with OEM functionality.

Other notes:
  • When the unit does work the fastest way to reproduce issue is to disconnect battery terminal and reconnect (kill all power to the car). Than sound will not work %100 of time.
PS: I wish I took some electrical engineering courses in college....

Interesting. That last bit is a good clue, and it's probably not wiring if that's the case. I'm curious if disconnecting the battery and then shorting the wires (not the battery) would clear the memory and yield a different result? Google has a few people experiencing issues that were resolved by discharging some capacitance in the system. Just so we're clear, I'm not asking you to short the battery lol, just taking the entire - terminal off the battery post and then touching that wire to the positive terminal to allow any stored capacitance to dissipate. If that doesn't work then maybe unplugging the lead from the amplifier and plugging it back in.

That is all just based on google results.

Have you tried unplugging the unit and immediately back in without ever going to the OEM one? It seems like the aftermarket amplifier doesn't get along with the new unit. If there's an adapter module between the car harness and the back of the radio is there two slots for the same harness shape where one says amplified and one says non-amplified?

It's also worth mentioning that for specific car advice you can often find the best advice for forums devoted to that car. For Camry's there's going to be a huge community of people who have collectively modified every aspect of their car, so after a few days of answers here if you don't make a lot of progress I would definitely explore that option to see if anyone else had the same issue and was able to overcome it.
 
Interesting. That last bit is a good clue, and it's probably not wiring if that's the case. I'm curious if disconnecting the battery and then shorting the wires (not the battery) would clear the memory and yield a different result? Google has a few people experiencing issues that were resolved by discharging some capacitance in the system. Just so we're clear, I'm not asking you to short the battery lol, just taking the entire - terminal off the battery post and then touching that wire to the positive terminal to allow any stored capacitance to dissipate. If that doesn't work then maybe unplugging the lead from the amplifier and plugging it back in.

That is all just based on google results.

Have you tried unplugging the unit and immediately back in without ever going to the OEM one? It seems like the aftermarket amplifier doesn't get along with the new unit. If there's an adapter module between the car harness and the back of the radio is there two slots for the same harness shape where one says amplified and one says non-amplified?

It's also worth mentioning that for specific car advice you can often find the best advice for forums devoted to that car. For Camry's there's going to be a huge community of people who have collectively modified every aspect of their car, so after a few days of answers here if you don't make a lot of progress I would definitely explore that option to see if anyone else had the same issue and was able to overcome it.

So your talking about doing this?

Have you tried unplugging the unit and immediately back in without ever going to the OEM one? ya, didn't work.

same harness shape where one says amplified and one says non-amplified? Didn't see any such label.

~aaron
 
So your talking about doing this?

Have you tried unplugging the unit and immediately back in without ever going to the OEM one? ya, didn't work.

same harness shape where one says amplified and one says non-amplified? Didn't see any such label.

~aaron

Yes, exactly what he says in the video.

It's time to head to bed at the moment, so I'll give it some thought and check again tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get some more opinions tomorrow as well, it's slim pickings here around midnight.
 
Yes, exactly what he says in the video.

It's time to head to bed at the moment, so I'll give it some thought and check again tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get some more opinions tomorrow as well, it's slim pickings here around midnight.
thanks for help again, ya I'm going to bed too. Will give it a shot tommorrow.
 
Yes, exactly what he says in the video.

It's time to head to bed at the moment, so I'll give it some thought and check again tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get some more opinions tomorrow as well, it's slim pickings here around midnight.
Do you remember that girl that had the same issue but with an Infinity oem system? I always wondered if it had something to do with the radio antitheft programming. I did not bring it up with her because she was using the oem radio. But if disconnecting it activates the feature, reconnecting should deactivate said feature. Just like transponder keys.
Locally there are shops that "unlock" your radio. I always wondered if it is the radio "and" the vehicle that gets unlocked.
Btw, she never updated so we do not know if she resolved the issue.
 
Is there an easy way to know if the AMP is on or off? that seems to be the determinate factor to know what is going on.
You would be able to tell pretty easily using a DC current clamp on the wires coming in, or alternative you can use a multimeter to bypass the fuse if present. Some OEM amps have a light, but not all of them. Obviously if it heats up it's on as well, but they're usually class D and very efficient. Be careful with the volume since your meter probably only allows 10A, but it shouldn't use more than about 6 to support both the amp and the head unit if they're on a single fuse or 4A if it's on a separate fuse. Volume will change that. The difference of the amp being on should be about half of the amperage, so if only your oem unit sends it a signal it should be a significantly larger reading than the android on its own, even though the android HU probably uses more power than the OEM one. I'm not sure whether your car has a separate fuse for the amplifier, that would make it much easier if so.
 
Activity
No one is currently typing a reply...
Old Thread: Please note, there have been no replies in this thread for over 3 years!
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.

Similar threads

Sometimes the sound gets a bit lower, then gets normal again, only listening to FM radio. It does not do this when streaming music via wired Apple...
0
1K
Marine speakers would be Ideal as stated and Coax. Polks would work very well. First choice of mine would be...
2
153
For me.. a compact amp that wouldnt take up a whole lot of room and not real expensive for a 350-600 rms sub@2ohms or even 1 ohm load id look at...
19
802

About this thread

pashonic

CarAudio.com Newbie
Thread starter
pashonic
Joined
Location
Seattle
Start date
Participants
Who Replied
Replies
12
Views
1,320
Last reply date
Last reply from
Lasherž
Screenshot 2024-03-07 184329.png

Doxquzme

    Mar 27, 2024
  • 0
  • 0
IMG_3075.jpeg

Daniel Lee

    Mar 27, 2024
  • 0
  • 0

Latest topics

Top