Radio issues, any ideas?

[WillSquared]

Alright fellas, I'm stumped. I installed new dash speakers today (RF 3.5s) and some new rears (RF 6x9s) in the truck. It was a hassle. Come to find out someone had run a single din in the truck in the past and the dash was pretty hacked up. Wiring was also hacked up, antenna not even connected (explains my bad reception) and rear speakers wires just dangling back there.

Anyway, I went with a Pioneer 7500S head unit. Got it installed and sometimes it plays and sometimes it doesnt. It always lights up and shows that it is playing, but sound doesnt come out of the speakers. If I turn the truck off and back on, itll play. It's just hit or miss. Any ideas on that? Head unit seems to be fine and works as it should. I think my wiring is all connected correctly and as best I can tell I have it all wired up correctly. I'm just stumped.

 

[silverscottsk10]

When it's playing does it sound scratchy?

 

[WillSquared]

Hmm, I'm gonna say maybe? I only have the 3.5s wired up right now and I ran bass blockers to them so it's fairly tinny sounding by nature.

 

[rich weyand]

Where did you hook pin 15 (yellow)?

This has to hook to constant 12V, not to ignition and not to anything that is interrupted by the starter, or it will get confused.

 

[WillSquared]

Hooked yellow constant to the orange cig lighter wire. Took the cig lighter out and ran USB hook up there, moved the wire from there and connected it to the yellow constant.


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[rich weyand]

Hooked yellow constant to the orange cig lighter wire. Took the cig lighter out and ran USB hook up there, moved the wire from there and connected it to the yellow constant.

That isn't the problem, then, because that is always hot, as required.

 

[rich weyand]

Here's another possibility. Modern electronics is more sensitive to ground noise than the old stuff. Is the ground strap in place between the rear of the passenger side cylinder head and the firewall? Is that ground strap connection clean and tight at both ends?

 

[WillSquared]

No idea there. I'll check.


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[WillSquared]

And I'm gonna say I doubt it. It's a crate motor that was swapped in and they didn't do the cleanest job. However wouldn't that effect the whole radio and not just the sound output?


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[rich weyand]

It could do just about anything. The current will try to find its way back to the battery somehow. There are cases where the fuel gauge swings back and forth between full and empty with the turn signal flashing, where the headlight high beams turn on the brake lights, .... Just about anything can happen when the grounds are buggered or missing. The parasitic grounds that take the load are noisy, though, and that doesn't make electronics happy.

 

[rich weyand]

Here's where it goes. I hooked mine to the valve cover bolt "for now" a while back, and still haven't moved it, but it should go on a 5/16-18 bolt into one of the accessory mounting holes on the back side of the head, behind the spark plug wires in this pic.

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[WillSquared]

Yeah, that ground is there. It was covered in oil due to my recent valve cover change and not having retightened again yet. I wiped it off.

Radio is just hit or miss. You can be switching from radio to cd and it'll stop playing sound. It shows it's playing but no sound. Then if you restart it it'll work again and sometimes you can change between sources. So idk at all what it is. Head unit? Short in my wiring? Idk


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[WillSquared]

And mine is just a black wire to the accessory hole right under the valve covers on the back end of the head. It isn't flat as the one pictured.


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[rich weyand]

And mine is just a black wire to the accessory hole right under the valve covers on the back end of the head. It isn't flat as the one pictured.

Doesn't matter.

 

[WillSquared]

Alright, nix that. Found the ground you were talking about. It was barely connected to the transmission, not the head. Covered in oil. Wiped it off and snugged it down good and tight. Didn't seem to change anything.

I have been messing with the radio and I've isolated a bit more what it's doing. If you turn it on to cd, it plays fine every time. If you try and switch from cd to radio it won't play sound. If you turn it on to radio, it'll play sound. Then you can change it to cd and it'll still play sound. But if you try to go back to radio it won't play sound anymore. So basically it seems to be an issue going to the radio source unless you start it straight on radio.


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