I posted this in another forum, all they said was the 10g wire was the problem... it isn't because the amp still works perfectly.
I have a really bad problem in my camry that kinda makes it retarded.
How it started:
I installed a 1000 watt amp underneath the drivers seat using a 30A inline fuse on 10g wire. The ground is connected to the front left bolt of the driver's seat. I then ran two wires to the back to power two 1000 watt 6 ohm 10" subs in the trunk.
How it happened:
The lead wires on the subs snapped off, so I had to take them out for repairs (masking tape worked well for a while, but they didnt go back in because of what happened next). I then tried to connect the amp to one of the rear 7" speakers, and there was a big spark, and the radio went silent.
The symptoms: Whenever I touch the speaker wire FROM THE AMP to the part of the frame that makes up the hole for the 7" speaker, I get a spark. If I do it enough, the radio stays on for about 5 seconds before cutting out again. When I tried to discharge the horrible static from the frame, I used 4g wire on the + side of the battery and tapped it to the silver lining on the outside bottom of the rear driver-side passenger window, I'd get a pretty good spark, and if I held it there, I would get a welding effect (the metal would turn red from heat). If I did the same with the wire on the - side of the battery, nothing would happen. Whenever my passenger or I get out of the car now, either me or the passenger gets zapped either on the calves of the legs, or on our fingers when we touch the black metal on the front doors lining the windows. None of the interior lights work anymore, the clock doesnt work, and the radio doesnt play (it'll turn on) The headlights, brake lights, reverse lights, gauge lights, horn, etc... all work. Just the basic interior lights dont work (visor lights, interior trunk light, overhead light, or the two lights just in front of the rear view mirror.)
Amp still works though. Same thing happened in my Convertible 1989 Z24 Cavalier
I'm thinking I may have killed a ground wire.
Sounds like you got a positive wire touching metal somewhere.
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take out any wiring you put in, all of it, inspect them for cuts ect ect, make sure none of the positive wiring/cable is touching any metal on the car other then the positive terminal on the battery and the positive terminal on the amp....you probably shorted out your interior lights some how, go check all the fuses after you check the all the wiring.... why would you take a 4guage wire from the positive terminal and tap it on the silver lining? you know that your not supposed to touch positive with negative right? and your whole frame / any metal on the car is negative....and your sayin you got a good spark no @!#$! its shorting out , lucky the battery didnt blow, now if you take a negative side of hte battery an put it on the frame, nothing happens duhhh the negative side is the ground, and so is the frame an rest of the car....from reading what youve typed you have no clue what your doing, so...step away from the vehicle, and take it to a professional
Egad.. where to start!?!?! At first I thought this was a joke post...
Calvin Di Bartolo wrote:The symptoms: Whenever I touch the speaker wire FROM THE AMP to the part of the frame that makes up the hole for the 7" speaker, I get a spark. If I do it enough, the radio stays on for about 5 seconds before cutting out again.
Ok... don't do that. The only place speaker wires should be... is from the terminals on the amp, to the terminals on the speaker. Hook them up when the radio and amp are OFF. Don't mess around with them when it's on. That's a sure fire way to blow the amp, and possibly more.
Quote:
When I tried to discharge the horrible static from the frame,
Please tell me you're joking. The car is not a capacitor. You do not need to discharge static. You might get a small static build up (which usually women complain about the car "shocking" them... that has NOTHING to do with the radio... but a small gauge wire attached to the bottom of the car (somewhere metal.. say.. the rear axle) and left to drag on the ground for an inch or so MAY help it... but really... hold onto the car as you step out, and the "shock" will be in your shoe and you won't feel it.
Quote:
I used 4g wire on the + side of the battery and tapped it to the silver lining on the outside bottom of the rear driver-side passenger window, I'd get a pretty good spark, and if I held it there, I would get a welding effect (the metal would turn red from heat). If I did the same with the wire on the - side of the battery, nothing would happen.
Egad. Please, step away from the car... NOW
You're grounding out the battery to the frame. Not a smart idea. A very, very bad idea. You're going to start a fire doing crap like that.
Quote:
Whenever my passenger or I get out of the car now, either me or the passenger gets zapped either on the calves of the legs, or on our fingers when we touch the black metal on the front doors lining the windows.
Read what I wrote above. All cars do that, to some extent. More in dry areas, where the 'static' doesn't dissipate as well because of less moisture in the air to carry it from the car to the ground.
Quote:
None of the interior lights work anymore, the clock doesnt work, and the radio doesnt play (it'll turn on) The headlights, brake lights, reverse lights, gauge lights, horn, etc... all work. Just the basic interior lights dont work (visor lights, interior trunk light, overhead light, or the two lights just in front of the rear view mirror.)
Amp still works though. Same thing happened in my Convertible 1989 Z24 Cavalier
I'm thinking I may have killed a ground wire.
I think you blew some fuses.
Maybe you should NOT do your own stereo installs anymore....
...j
wow i dont even know what to say to that
yeah just take lenko's advice and have some one who KNOWS what thier doing put your stuff in, if u lived close to me i would only charge u a case of beer
well, I checked all the fuses, but I guess I'll check them again (I checked them when I went to canadian tire to try to return my CD deck after all this) All the fuses were fine then.
The installation wasnt the problem, however the hole I shoved the power wire through was fairly small and the plastic did rub up against the frame pretty good. I'll check the wiring I did on my day off (tomorrow) and make sure everything I did is in line. Thanks lanman for the straightforward, helpful comment, rather than saying "get it done by a professional".
Yeah, true I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to fixing problems with cars, however I've installed around 6 amps now without any problems, including several dual-amp setups (in Z24 cav). I think its a ground wire because a friend of mine accidentally touched his ground wire to his battery + wire (for his amp) and the ground wire melted at the terminal (it turned black and bubbled)
There is enough energy stored in a car battery to seriously damage the car, you, your house, etc... if the example of you arc-welding the wire to the door wasn't enough evidence.... well, there's not much I can show you....
Just don't hurt yourself, ok? I know some people that have been very badly burned when they didn't respect the wiring in the car. And all that, at only 12 volts.... it's the 700+ amps that is in that battery that gets you.
thanks for the advice, yes, I admit I didnt realize that I was completing the circuit by touching the positive wire to the frame... Seeing as I had never tried it before, I thought it was odd that it did that. I just checked the wire under the hood, no fraying or anything, I'll have to check it through the rest of the car. I still think I may have melted a ground wire, but I could have just as easily blown a few fuses. I'll have to check. Thanks guys
I found the problem, crappy toyota put all the circuits in the "dome lamp" fuse (20A) which was under the hood, and was blown. Now EVERYTHING works again. Thanks for your suggestions guys... lol
