Kenwood Deck Cuts Out

[JRA2000TL]

I'm guessing I may already know the answer to this; did a little research. I bought a Kenwood KDC-MP145 deck for the 89 so I could replace the old Pioneer unit with one that had a front aux port.

The stereo works but at any high volume or high bass settings it cuts off automatically and will turn back on when I lower the settings. From what I've read I'm guessing I need an aftermarket amp. Older units would just distort if the unit was too much for the speakers, but I'm assuming the new ones just simply turn off. I did some reading about decks "clipping" or doing what I'm describing.

Anyone else have this problem? My focus next is on the mechanicals, not the tunes....but if I can pick up one cheap off craigslist, that'd work.

 

[93rev2sev]

That's not clipping. That's overload protection. Clipping is when bass sounds like a fart.

 

[Racer X]

It's not overload protection either, at least not in the proper sense. my Alpine did the same thing also, until I replaced all of my grounds, and replaced the battery cables. Good grounds, good power, no more brownouts.

 

[JRA2000TL]

Ok dumb question then. The display flickers with the bass hits and I just replaced the alternator too b/c I got a battery light. No more battery light but the old head unit did the same thing as this one (flickering), didn't cut out though.

How/where do I check my grounds? Battery is secure and terminal connections are good.

 

[93rev2sev]

Ground the unit yourself. Don't rely on the factory wiring. Keep the ground strap short. Solder the connector to the wire, bolt the wire to chassis. Make sure the battery is grounded right to the chassis, too.

 

[shoff22]

Is your stock amp hooked up if so unhook it and try it again

 

[JRA2000TL]

Is your stock amp hooked up if so unhook it and try it again

It's disconnected, and I tried again...same problem. I will have to run a ground at some point, I guess. I don't know how to solder though.

 

[93rev2sev]

You can use the crimp-on connectors and just add a bit of solder. Push back the jacket, solder it and then reposition the jacket.

To solder, get a cheap soldering iron, some fine flux-core solder and let the iron heat up for a long time (perhaps 15 minutes). To test it, push a little solder against the tip. It should melt instantly and make a trail of smoke as it melts. That smoke is the flux, vaporizing.

Once the iron is hot, press it against the work (maybe for 3 seconds) and then push some solder between the iron and the work. Once a little bit melts off, hold the iron in place until the solder "wicks" into the wires. Done.

Same goes for wire-to-wire connections. Twist the wires together and add solder to the twists.

 

[JRA2000TL]

I yanked the head unit out the other day to finally address this issue. From the Kenwood wiring harness diagram (the harness that goes from the Kenwood deck to the Ford connectors), the BLACK wire is the ground wire. My brother wired up the system for me; IIRC the old aftermarket deck had the same issue of cutting in/out. Butt connectors were used, so I removed the one on the black wire, trimmed it back, re-connected it, and still nothing....now it won't even turn on.

To run this extra ground as you say, should I get some radio wire from Radio Shack and splice it into the existing ground wire? Hard to explain, but I guess I need to somehow take one end of the "new extra" wire, and ground it somehow to the chassis. With the other end of the wire, should I connect/twist it to the wire that goes from the Kenwood harness to the Ford connector? In essense there will be 3 wire ends. (wire from kenwood harness, wire from ford connector, and my new "ground" that will go to somewhere on the chassis? Do I just wire nut those together?

I suck at electrical obviously.

 

[JRA2000TL]

Nevermind....I figured it out. Bad ground as I was told. I used a test light at the hot plug and it lit up, so I knew I was getting power to it. I yanked out the black ground wire from the butt connector and test "grounded" it temporarily. (I wedged it in between the cig lighter and its metal housing on the metal ash tray). Once I did that and had a good ground, it worked flawlessly.

Couldn't find a good bolt or anywhere on the metal areas to attach the ground permanently, so I'll figure something out. I found the issue though. I think I'll go to Radio Shack and get a crimp on star ring terminal and try to bolt it to something (the wire from the deck). For the other dummy wire connecting to the Ford harness, I'll just cap it off with a wire nut.

 

[johnboneske]

Clipping does not sound like a fart...clipping is when an amp runs out of power and cant make "A/C" current anymore and converts to D/C which bottoms out the voice coil and burns out the speaker... The "fart" sound you hear is from pushing a speaker to hard and going beyond its Xmas... Xmas is the distance a speaker will travel in the gap between the voice coil and magnet...

Dont forget a head unit can only produce so much power! Just cause they say the are like 50 watts x 4 doesnt truely mean it... It's more like 10 to 15 watts x 4... Make sure the power wire(red), the full time power wire(yellow) and the ground(black) are at least 14 gauge if not 12 gauge wire. The best you can do for your system is get a good 4 channel amp of a 5 channel if you want a subwoofer and hook it up proper! You dont have to spend a fortune either... I have my whole system for under $1000....and it rocks!

You already have the radio, buy a decent 5 channel amp off amazon for about $185.00 http://www.amazon.com/Soundstream-R...ef=sr_1_1?s=car&ie=UTF8&qid=1315579673&sr=1-1

Get a good 10" or 12" sub:
http://www.amazon.com/Kicker-10C104...ef=sr_1_4?s=car&ie=UTF8&qid=1315579740&sr=1-4

or

http://www.amazon.com/Kicker-10C124...ef=sr_1_1?s=car&ie=UTF8&qid=1315579770&sr=1-1

Amp install kit(dont forget to buy an extra set of RCA cords)
http://www.amazon.com/Scosche-Revop...8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315580062&sr=1-8

use the stock speakers in the doors and rear deck... and hook it all up! Building a box is easy...if you need help ask me! A typical 10" sub needs 1 cubic foot and a 12" sub needs 1.5 cubic feet... I promise if you spend a little more you will be impressed with what you have!

 

[JRA2000TL]

Back in high school, I spent $700 on my stereo system in my 93 ATX. I had a Kenwood deck and a Kenwood amp (small one with max 225 watts), and 1 10" MTX Blue Thunder sub. Sounded excellent!

I'm not spending a fortune on this as it's one of 3 cars I own, and I paid $300 for the car, lol. I will probably pick up a used amp and sub off of CL just to give it a bit better sound. I'm concentrating on spending $ to finish the mechanical stuff and the interior restoration to make it a nice DD.