Car Audio Installer

Hey AF members and readers..I am currently employed as a Car stereo and alarm installer in the North Bronx,NYC..If anyone needs help or has any questions about anything Auto electrical or ICE related..Feel free to ask..

Here's a puzzle for you. The stock radio in my '92 BMW 325I suddenly went silent, though all displays still work, the tuner tunes, etc. It's as if all the speakers front & back were just disconnected. Thinking the audio amp in the radio was shot, I bought & installed an aftermarket Kenwood 516S radio to replace the stock one. Guess what? Same symptoms with the new radio -- everything appears to work (including CD player) except that there is no audio from the speakers -- not even hiss. Could a single shorted speaker, for example, cause this? If so, how can I track it down? Are there fuses in speaker leads?

Thanks -
Rob:(

lol, that's funny I think :D

Are you sure the original deck had an amplifier built into it? A lot of newer cars have external factory amplifers. If that is shot, or the fuse is blown, then the sound won't go past it. One speaker bieng shorted won't cause this problem. One way to trouble shoot is to hook up your deck, then wire it straight to a speaker, it doesn't have to be a speaker in the car, you can use a speaker from your home stereo, or a bookshelf stereo. Or, you could hook up the original stock stereo again and hook that up to an exernal speaker and see what happens. Although that appraoch might not help much because, if that car has a factory amplifier, then the stock deck won't put out enough power to create sound in an external speaker. Hope this helps:D

Thanks, everyone -

Turns out there is indeed an external amp (situated in the trunk behind the left trim panel), and that it failed owing to water leaking into the trunk. The radio itself is probably just fine - will know for sure after finding a replacement amp in a wrecking yard and reinstalling.

Wellsit beat me too it.

Where do you install systems at?

Yes a dead shorted [grounded] speaker wire can cause all the problems you explained just start checking the connections to the speakers themselves

this same problem happened to a 98 jetta we had in our shop at one time.

good luck Jayson!

I'm sure that advice might have helped him.....3 years ago

haha, i dont care who u are, thats funny right there

any one here know the wiring for the VW Jetta radios?

I go the dealer FAX me the pinouts for the Jetta (standard, no monsoon) radio, but it's got NO detail. Can anyone help?

Michael