I own a 98 accord coupe ex v6. Headunit : pioneer 8400mp, pioneer 6.5 (doors), infinity 6x9s (rear deck).

Ok last night I was driving around and all the sudden my music went out and would not come back on. The CD player was still working but not sound came out of any of my speakers. I get home and turn the car on (engine still off) and my speakers come on ! All of them do.

The problem is that the drivers side speaker is REAL REAL low and very staticy. My other 3 speakers seem to work better than that 1, but they still arent nearly as loud as they use to be. I use to put it to volume 20 and it would be very loud, now I can put it to 20 and its not loud at all with like no bass either.

Heres another kicker. The speakers wont work if the engine is running ! I can only get sound out of them (crappy sound at that) if the car is on but not running. As soon as I turn the key and turn over the engine, theres no sound at all but the headunit is still on and playing the CD like usual.

I checked the wiring behind the headunit and it all looks fine. All the wires are still soldered and with heatshrink around them. I havent checked the speaker wires but I cant imagine that being the problem since all the speakers dont sound right anymore and wont even work if the engine is running.

Someone brought up overheating but it was night time and I had the AC on so it wasnt hot or anything.

Any suggestions would be great !

 

How was the wiring done? Did you cut the factory plug or you used a wire harness?

 

I did all the wiring myself. The wiring is fine, it was soldered and heatshrink applied. I took everything apart and wiring looks a-ok. Im thinking it maybe the built in amp in the HU. I sitll dont understand why it doesnt work when the car is running and only when the key is in the on position.

 

your speaker wire may be shorting - did you install them or re-do the runs yourself as well?

-rage

 

I was thinking it was a short aswell. But if I had a short with 1 of the speaker wires, would it effect all of my speakers?

 

it could because your shorting the internal amplifier of the HU.

I would try disconnecting the speaker harness at the HU, and then testing each run with a meter. You might want to check continuity through both pairs, and quickly also check continuity between a single wire on each speaker pair and ground (to check if one of the pairs has touched/shorted against a ground).

You could also try connecting one speaker at a time into the HU while playing (at low volumes and faded since there will be no load on the other speaker terminals = bad for your amp) and they should work until one that you plug in might cause the rest to die.

If all this STILL doesn't give results - come back..


The thinga about it only running in the ON and not in RUN is strange too - before you start all this - it might also be nice to quickly check at the HU harness if you are getting a good remote signal (12.56 or such)

-Shane

 

the speaker terminal may be grounding out in the door. (phsyically touching metal) that would cause your problem.

 

Hey guys this is all great help ! I appreciate it !

I also found something else that was weird today. When I was driving around and my shifter was in D4 the speakers would work, but they wouldnt be loud at all, like the volume is turned down but its not and its real staticy as well. But lets say I put the shifter in Park, it automatically goes mute. The cd player is still running but no sound comming out. Strange no?

Anyway, today I wll look at the door panels to make sure nothing is touching the metal. Ill be back later with the results. Ill also try to get ahold of a friends multimeter.
Again appreciate your help

 

MAN! WTF?! did you do to your car?! i STRONGLY suggest you see professional help. seriously.

 

Sounds like a textbook case of a short in the speaker wire.

Those other issue may be from the different devices that activate, affecting the short in different ways.