Stereo cuts in and out!

[SHOnOFF]

Ok, I posted about my problem before, but this is an update. The problem started out very small but has gradually grown into a major, annoying epidemic that is giving me headaches left and right. All sound from my stereo (radio, tape, cd) cuts in and out whenever it wants to. At first, it was only when I would hit big bumps - now it does it all the time. In fact, during a 30 minute drive I took the other day (during which I had the stereo on the WHOLE time), I MIGHT have had about 2 minutes of actual music coming through!!

This is what I've done/checked so far:

1) Checked the connection (harness) in the passenger footwell. It looked okay and didn't seem to be the problem because when I jiggled it, the sound didn't cut out at the same time.

2) Checked the connection for the antenna (on the back of the head unit). It's fine. (Plus the "ST" light on the head unit that indicates if the station you're listening to is coming through in "stereo" does not flicker when the sound cuts out - it stays on the whole time.)

3) I removed the whole head unit and swapped in the (working) head unit from my other SHO. Didn't solve the problem. Then i put the original head unit back in and swapped the CD player. still no fix. THEN I swapped out BOTH the head unit and the cd player...and the sound STILL cut in and out!!

Does anyone have any ideas what it could be? It can't be the head unit, cd player, or the connection in the passenger footwell. What about something in the trunk (like the amp)? Only thing is...ALL SOUND cuts in and out, including the sub. (so that means it couldn't be just the one amp because then the sub would still work but the cabin speakers wouldn't, right?) Someone please help me...I'm getting so sick of singing to myself while driving around!!

 

[Blue-By-U]

What kind of aftermarket CD player do you have? How old is it? Let me know what other components you are running, if any. From what I understand, you have an aftermarket CD player integrated with your stock JBL system. Could be a bare wire in the back of your cd player. I need more details.
If possible, go to a local best buy or car audio shop and get the harness that bypasses that jbl amplifier. This will allow your aftermarket cd player to power your system. Just my opinion.
~Alex

 

[SHOnOFF]

LL-Cool-A:
What kind of aftermarket CD player do you have? How old is it? Let me know what other components you are running, if any. From what I understand, you have an aftermarket CD player integrated with your stock JBL system. Could be a bare wire in the back of your cd player. I need more details.

Sorry for the confusion. I'm not running any aftermarket stuff. The head unit and cd player are both the stock JBL components. The only thing I have in the car that's not stock is the sub. My stock sub blew out so I put in a 6.5" Jensen sub (in a box) that's powered by the stock sub amp. But the thing is...that was installed back in December and it was fine after that. The problem didn't really surface until this spring. So I'm led to believe that the aftermarket sub doesn't have anything to do with it since I didn't mess with the other amp (the one for the cabin speakers). correct? Lemme know what you think. Thanks.

-Brian

 

[ericwick19]

Like I said before, it is the external amp in the trunk, which is also the power supply. Probably bad internal solder connections, or corrosion.

 

[SHOnOFF]

Ok, problem solved. You're not going to BELIEVE what it was, though!! I thought I had narrowed it down to which connection in the trunk was bad by jiggling the different connections while the radio was on. This one connection seemed to be problem. So my dad & I set off to fix the problem...but with him being 54 and having a bad back, we had to take out the whole back seat, peel away the sound-deadening material, and take off the amp rack, etc. to get to it. (what fun. ) wanna know what it ended up being?!?!
Turns out...the last time we had everything apart (when I put in my aftermarket subs because my JBL one blew)...we didn't secure the GROUND enough!! The ground wire (that was attached to the connector I was jiggling earlier) was losing contact with the metal and everything was cutting in and out! nice, huh? Man that was stupid. But anyway...the problem is now solved and I feel much better. I'll be able to sleep better tonight now.