Update: Help completing install.

  • 3
    Participant count
  • Participant list

Merc5

CarAudio.com Newbie
13
0
Florida
I had a friend helping me install my system. I have the subs and the amp in the trunk. I've got all of my wires ran and a signal converter tied in.
Everything is stock. Stock headunit and stock speakers up front. It's a 2001 mercury grand marquis. The only piece I'm missing is a distribution block which I will get tomorrow. I also have a 300 amp guse that came with the amp. I'm only needing the one amp for right now

I'll include pics later. Nothing is hooked up.
I'm trying to get this finished ASAP. Are there any wiring diagrams somewhere or could someone tell me what needs to be done now as far as hooking the wires up?

Thanks
USER_SCOPED_TEMP_DATA_MSGR_PHOTO_FOR_UPLOAD_1639005886651_6874488946406337061.jpeg
USER_SCOPED_TEMP_DATA_MSGR_PHOTO_FOR_UPLOAD_1639005876304_6874488903005729931.jpeg
USER_SCOPED_TEMP_DATA_MSGR_PHOTO_FOR_UPLOAD_1639005389317_6874486860434769311.jpeg
USER_SCOPED_TEMP_DATA_MSGR_PHOTO_FOR_UPLOAD_1639005312538_6874486538400675520.jpeg
USER_SCOPED_TEMP_DATA_MSGR_PHOTO_FOR_UPLOAD_1639005295174_6874486465570188729.jpeg
USER_SCOPED_TEMP_DATA_MSGR_PHOTO_FOR_UPLOAD_1639005244551_6874486253245410703.jpeg
USER_SCOPED_TEMP_DATA_MSGR_PHOTO_FOR_UPLOAD_1639005223791_6874486166171217998.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Specifically though. Battery connects to B+ on amp. - on amp goes to solid ground.... Instructions that came with your amps and subs should tell you everything. How did you decide where to pull wires?

Sorry. I was at work and was trying to write when I could.

A friend started the install for me, but was called out of town. He ran the power on the right side under the trim guard in the channel. A hole was drilled in the firewall and the power wire is through. Speaker wires are on the opposite side.
We were at the point of wiring the back until he realized I need a distribution block

RCA cables and headunit, which is stock by the way, were next. There is a signal converter in the trunk tied into the speakers. I also have a 300A fuse. Tomorrow I will get a distribution box.
 
Last edited:
Okay so I have everything hooked up.
Again, I have a 2001 mercury grand marquis. Stock everything with 2 12" subs rated at 2500 watt rms and an amplifier rated for 2500 watts.

I've read that the remote wire on my headunit is usually blue however, I found one article that said it could be blue with a white stripe. Mine does not have a blue, but it does have blue with the white stripe. I connected my remote wire to that blue white and when I started everything up, I had no power to my amp.
After some more searching I found that you could wrap the remote wire around one of the prongs on the fuse for the radio so I ran my remote wire to my fuse box and now my amp comes on. Green light, correct operation.

Nothing from my subs

Since my headunit is stock I had to buy an loc. I got one of the cheaper 2 channel ones from auto zone. My buddy that originally helped me with this wired that loc in the trunk off of the rear speaker wires.
I stripped some insulation off of one of those speaker wires and touched the speaker wire I have coming from my subs to it and my subs work.

So I assume it has something to do at the point of that converter.
Looking at the wiring instructions for that loc, when detailing the labels on the loc itself it tells you that the wires are for front left neg, another is front left positive and same for the front right. And it also says this is usually done at the headunit. Like I said, he wired it in the trunk off of the rear speaker wires.

When I tested the sub for sound the insulation was stripped and touched before the LOC.

Am I correct in assuming the wiring done from the rear apeakers to the loc is wrong?

Should I cut those wires and instead take it to the front and.match the wires to the wires in the headunit? Does that matter?

Thanks.

In.my original post there are pictures of the LOC and where it is connected
 
Okay so I have everything hooked up.
Again, I have a 2001 mercury grand marquis. Stock everything with 2 12" subs rated at 2500 watt rms and an amplifier rated for 2500 watts.

I've read that the remote wire on my headunit is usually blue however, I found one article that said it could be blue with a white stripe. Mine does not have a blue, but it does have blue with the white stripe. I connected my remote wire to that blue white and when I started everything up, I had no power to my amp.
After some more searching I found that you could wrap the remote wire around one of the prongs on the fuse for the radio so I ran my remote wire to my fuse box and now my amp comes on. Green light, correct operation.

Nothing from my subs

Since my headunit is stock I had to buy an loc. I got one of the cheaper 2 channel ones from auto zone. My buddy that originally helped me with this wired that loc in the trunk off of the rear speaker wires.
I stripped some insulation off of one of those speaker wires and touched the speaker wire I have coming from my subs to it and my subs work.

So I assume it has something to do at the point of that converter.
Looking at the wiring instructions for that loc, when detailing the labels on the loc itself it tells you that the wires are for front left neg, another is front left positive and same for the front right. And it also says this is usually done at the headunit. Like I said, he wired it in the trunk off of the rear speaker wires.

When I tested the sub for sound the insulation was stripped and touched before the LOC.

Am I correct in assuming the wiring done from the rear apeakers to the loc is wrong?

Should I cut those wires and instead take it to the front and.match the wires to the wires in the headunit? Does that matter?

Thanks.

In.my original post there are pictures of the LOC and where it is connected
Okay so first off. A LOC will work off front or rear signals, as long as those speakers are getting signal. It doesn't matter if you tap near the head unit or not.
Just to confirm you have good power and can confirm the amp is turning on.
You also confirmed you have signal at the input side of the line out converter by touching the vehicles speaker wire to the sub connections?
If this is all correct the only possible problems are with the line out converter or the amp.
I hate 99% of line out converters you can buy in stores. It costs more but the more expensive versions such as a audio control lc2i or a kicker keyloc will do a much better job of giving you low frequencies off stock signal. That being said, I strongly recommend a aftermarket head unit.
Do you know anyone with another LOC you can test? Make sure you have the speaker wires correctly wired for that LOC.
Ensure you have the rca wires correct from the LOC to the amp, and from the amp to the subs. Good clean connections
 
Okay so first off. A LOC will work off front or rear signals, as long as those speakers are getting signal. It doesn't matter if you tap near the head unit or not.
Just to confirm you have good power and can confirm the amp is turning on.
You also confirmed you have signal at the input side of the line out converter by touching the vehicles speaker wire to the sub connections?
If this is all correct the only possible problems are with the line out converter or the amp.
I hate 99% of line out converters you can buy in stores. It costs more but the more expensive versions such as a audio control lc2i or a kicker keyloc will do a much better job of giving you low frequencies off stock signal. That being said, I strongly recommend a aftermarket head unit.
Do you know anyone with another LOC you can test? Make sure you have the speaker wires correctly wired for that LOC.
Ensure you have the rca wires correct from the LOC to the amp, and from the amp to the subs. Good clean connections

Thanks for the response. Yes, the amp is powered on and I do have a green light on the amp that tells me it is in correct operation.
I have my Rca cables from my amp to the loc and they're snug.
I have speaker wire from my subs to my amp and they're in snug and clean. I have the power wire off of the loc in with my 0 Guage power wire in my amp and the same for the ground.

Yes, when removing the speaker wire from the amp and touching to the stock speaker wire in the back the subs do work.

I mentioned whether it is okay to wire the loc where it is because their instructions only mention wiring at the headunit or tapping into the terminals directly onto the speakers themselves or an oem amp.

I have not checked whether he wired the rear deck speaker wires to the LOC properly. I will have to do that.

Also when I was trying to tap into the remote wire at my headunit, I did not connect that wire back. Does that make a difference at all?

I definitely will be getting a headunit soon. Just too damn excited and wanted to get this up and running.

Thank you
 
Thanks for the response. Yes, the amp is powered on and I do have a green light on the amp that tells me it is in correct operation.
I have my Rca cables from my amp to the loc and they're snug.
I have speaker wire from my subs to my amp and they're in snug and clean. I have the power wire off of the loc in with my 0 Guage power wire in my amp and the same for the ground.

Yes, when removing the speaker wire from the amp and touching to the stock speaker wire in the back the subs do work.

I mentioned whether it is okay to wire the loc where it is because their instructions only mention wiring at the headunit or tapping into the terminals directly onto the speakers themselves or an oem amp.

I have not checked whether he wired the rear deck speaker wires to the LOC properly. I will have to do that.

Also when I was trying to tap into the remote wire at my headunit, I did not connect that wire back. Does that make a difference at all?

I definitely will be getting a headunit soon. Just too damn excited and wanted to get this up and running.

Thank you
Can you confirm all of your speakers are playing music as expected. I'm not sure if your vehicle has a need for the blue/white wire. Power antenna? Factory amp?
I would suspect the line out converter but couldn't be certain without isolating things. If he hooked up one of the sides opposite the other going into the line out converter, it could be crapping out. Do you have a way to test for voltage coming from the rca outputs of the line out converter? A multimeter by chance
 
Can you confirm all of your speakers are playing music as expected. I'm not sure if your vehicle has a need for the blue/white wire. Power antenna? Factory amp?
I would suspect the line out converter but couldn't be certain without isolating things. If he hooked up one of the sides opposite the other going into the line out converter, it could be crapping out. Do you have a way to test for voltage coming from the rca outputs of the line out converter? A multimeter by chance

Yes all of the speakers are working correctly. I will check that wiring tomorrow. I don't have a multimeter but I have access to one so I will do that tomorrow as well.
 
Yes all of the speakers are working correctly. I will check that wiring tomorrow. I don't have a multimeter but I have access to one so I will do that tomorrow as well.
Do some poking around on Google how to test rca voltage. You should be able to test voltage before and after the LOC to determine if this is your problem
 
Do some poking around on Google how to test rca voltage. You should be able to test voltage before and after the LOC to determine if this is your problem

Thanks again for your replies. My buddy that originally started the install with me showed up this morning to complete it. I needed to bridge the subs. I had my speaker wires in one + terminal and one - terminal and nothing in the remaining.

The wire I cut at the headunit was my front left speaker lol. So much for Google searches. We found, by accident, a wiring diagram for my vehicle. We tied the remote wire into the ignition wire.

Let me ask this, what would I need to do to wire in a Toggle switch for on and off for my amp?
I don't necessarily want it powered at all times which it is if my ignition is on and I don't really want it on when I turn my radio on because I'm stock in everything else. So if I'm interstate which is the majority of my traveling I won't really be booming I'd just have the volume at a comfortable level.

I also get some clipping at higher volume levels, but if I turn my treble down it seems to be okay. The settings on the amp were adjusted only slightly. Not maxing it out. But damn do these things thump. I've watched videos and read reviews but in person it is entirely different.

I'll start tuning it more once I do some more upgrades.

So far I don't have any dimming issues or voltage drops. Then again, I just got it up and running this morning. Will see how my battery holds up. That's another reason I'd prefer not to have the amp powered at all times. It does get hot.

Anyways, thanks again for the assistance.
 
Thanks again for your replies. My buddy that originally started the install with me showed up this morning to complete it. I needed to bridge the subs. I had my speaker wires in one + terminal and one - terminal and nothing in the remaining.

The wire I cut at the headunit was my front left speaker lol. So much for Google searches. We found, by accident, a wiring diagram for my vehicle. We tied the remote wire into the ignition wire.

Let me ask this, what would I need to do to wire in a Toggle switch for on and off for my amp?
I don't necessarily want it powered at all times which it is if my ignition is on and I don't really want it on when I turn my radio on because I'm stock in everything else. So if I'm interstate which is the majority of my traveling I won't really be booming I'd just have the volume at a comfortable level.

I also get some clipping at higher volume levels, but if I turn my treble down it seems to be okay. The settings on the amp were adjusted only slightly. Not maxing it out. But damn do these things thump. I've watched videos and read reviews but in person it is entirely different.

I'll start tuning it more once I do some more upgrades.

So far I don't have any dimming issues or voltage drops. Then again, I just got it up and running this morning. Will see how my battery holds up. That's another reason I'd prefer not to have the amp powered at all times. It does get hot.

Anyways, thanks again for the assistance.
I'm not a fan of skar amps due to their heat.
I'm glad it's functioning.
You can put a switch in line with your rem wire. Disable the rem, disable the amp.
That way even if you leave it on it'll shut off with the vehicle.
 
Activity
No one is currently typing a reply...

Similar threads

@audiobaun @Doxquzme Yall got me excited!!!!
14
668
I recently tried this stuff and it seems as good as the Duratex I've used prior. It's almost half the cost too...
1
279
I just clicked on six separate threads and they went well. Seems to have worked.👍
9
918
Hi Everyone, I just updated my 2012 Passat SEL from the Factory RDS to a Kenwood DMX7709s to enable CarPlay and install a backup Camera. I know...
0
961

About this thread

Merc5

CarAudio.com Newbie
Thread starter
Merc5
Joined
Location
Florida
Start date
Participants
Who Replied
Replies
12
Views
1,634
Last reply date
Last reply from
Deon1818
2B85C0D8-2A78-4A66-A9A5-F02CF89AA9E4.jpeg

SlugButter

    May 4, 2024
  • 0
  • 0
Image 5-2-24 at 8.16 PM (1).jpeg

slater

    May 2, 2024
  • 0
  • 0

Latest topics

Top