[droppedcrxsi]

Hi, I purchased a sony xplod head unit, and installed it myself, I bought the harness, and it went in real easy. I used a kinda crappy ground, and just put it in a piece of metal behind my deck. It started to just shut off randomlly. It will be cool, then all the sudden go blank, then start beeping like when you open the door, and shutt off the engine. Basically it just spazes out. I sent it back to sony like 3 times, each time they sait it was fine. They said it had to be installed profesionally, I took it to a place, and for 30 bux they reinstalled it. However they used that same crappy ground, no change. Whats wrong? Is it the ground? Any input is appreciated. Ryan

 

[GldCrzy]

did u use a wiring harness? if not, then i dunno then. if u did, why dont u use the ground wire on the harness?

 

[BlackEG_Si]

Yeah, I just used the ground wire on the harness. That will be more than enough. It is supposedly better to ground it yourself, but it won't matter unless you have a million components grounded in the same location (can't remember why, something about a ground loop, but it was a good source anyway). If you want to ground it yourself, you should find a metal spot that has a screw in it. Get a ring terminal from Radio Shack or somewhere and solder (you can crimp too, but I prefer solder) that to the ground lead from your head unit. Then sand the ground location a little bit to make sure you have a good connection, wipe it off, and screw it in.

That should take care of the ground, but it still doesn't explain why your unit shuts off and beeps. That means it's still getting power, but thinks you took your key out. I suspect that you may have messed up the connections when doing the wiring harness. Check the Accessory (ACC) or Ignition (IGN?) wires because they are the wires that tell your unit that the car is on. When it is properly wired, as you know, the unit will beep when you turn key to OFF while face is still on. So, that's why I am thinking that one of those signal wires is faulty.

I'm afraid that the $30 may not have encouraged them to check wiring harness. Did they?

If you have a soldering iron, try that. It is the best way to connect electronics. Very strong, and very good electrical connection. If not, just redo the crimps.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

Also, if you have a multimeter, check continuity between head-unit side of harness, and vehicle side. That will help you diagnose your problem very very quickly. If you don't have one, find a friend, or get one at Radio Shack. You can get one pretty cheap I believe (~$20).

 

[TSM_Pikachu]

You have a grounding problem my friend.

You need to NOT use the ground on the harness.

IF you used the ground on the harness, then your ground might have gone bad for whatever reason.

If your unit cuts in and out and you put in a piece of metal behind your deck..........your ground is the problem.

Man, you are in Monterey, and if you pay some shop $30 to look at ur stereo, and they didnt fix it.........i'd be real pissed.

If you were closer to me, dang man, I would say just get me a beer and i'll come up and fix ur stuff for uh, the cost of the beer. hahahahaha.

Curious tho, how much did you buy the Sony Xplod for and which model did you get?

 

[BlackEG_Si]

TSM_Pikachu, you didn't address his problem of the unit beeping as if key was removed...

What do you think about that? He doesn't seem to be having trouble with the ground because it still gets power if it beeps.

 

[TSM_Pikachu]

It is a Sony Xplod unit correct?

BlackEG_Si[ The beeping he hears is probably coming through his stereo speakers in the car.......after he removes his key.

A series of beeps usually in sets of 3.

It is like a reminder to REMOVE the faceplate from the unit, which is why I asked what unit he got.


It WILL happen randomly because the ground is worth d*ck right now. He said he put a piece of metal back behind the unit. This is not a sufficient ground for the unit. I would suggest taking the ground wire coming off the unit and taking a crimp connector kit to make your own ground.
What is happening is the unit is having a good enough ground to function with during the time the car is closed and nothing is happening. If he turns the volume up a little too high for the ground to handle, the unit will act as though no ground is there and will either shut off, or cut in and out intermittently.

The beeps during key removal is normal. IF he hooks up an amp to the unit then the beeps will go away. It says it in the manual and I have also done this and it is true.

Another funny thing is if his ground is whacko like mine was before I fixed it, his car antenna will just go "up and down" and never stop doin that. hahahahaha


Basically, do this.

Buy crimp connector kit at Radioshack, maybe $10

Get a thick SHORT screw, maybe even 1/2 inch

Find a place out of sight, scrape all the paint away down to bare metal.

Make sure you know what is behind that metal.

Strip and crimp the end of the ground wire.....

Crimp a connector onto the wire.

Screw the connector into the bare metal.

This should give you a sufficient ground.


KEEP the ground wire as short as possible, under 1ft please.

 

[BlackEG_Si]

Yeah, you really should follow either of our pieces of advice about the ground. I missed the fact that you said you "put a piece of metal" back there. That is VERY bad. You need to put it on something that is part of the car already.

If it helps to make more sense for why you must do this and not simply connect the ground wire to a random piece of metal, here ya go: the car's wiring is setup so the battery's negative terminal is attached to the frame of the car. That makes it easier to install things. For example, say you want to install a light somewhere, you only need to find a positive wire to bring to the light, once you have that, just install the other light's wire to the frame because the frame is attached to the negative terminal of battery. See how that greatly simplifies wiring? Only one long wire instead of two.

I really think you need to get that straightened out right away, but I still don't understand why the unit will beep randomly.

I understand that this is a security feature (my Pioneer does the same thing), but it should only happen when you turn the key to OFF and/or remove the key from ignition switch. The head unit is just reminding you to remove the faceplate, right? Ok, that is what mine does, and IF your ACC (orange?) wire is not secure, and it bounces around, the head unit will think you took the key out, and it will beep cuz it thinks you're getting out and forgot the faceplate.

The head unit won't beep if the ground comes loose, because the ground is neccessary for power. When BATT (yellow), and GND (black) are connected properly, you can still get the beep. There is no other way to power the unit.

Either way, get the ground fixed, don't pay anyone $30, and check back in with us.

 

[droppedcrxsi]

Thanks for all the advice!!
I just wnt to clear up that I didnt put a piece of metal back there, I attached the ground to a piece of metal behind the unit, I think I put it on the metal console bracket. I used some washers, so I will re-do that, and check all my wires, I believe the shop soddered them when they re did it. Thanks again, Ryan