No Sound!!! Radio Out??

[Jhawker23]

I've had it up to here with my dealership and my radio situation. So, I turn to the pros here...

Since I purchased my truck in December every once in a while (it seemed to correlate with moisture) my radio would stop working. To clarify, there was no sound. XM was receiving signals, FM,AM CD, nothing. No sound. It would vary, but sometimes it was out for an hour, sometimes 5 hours. At this point the vehicle is completely stock. In the beginning this was very rare. It happened once and then did not happen again for 2 months.

Around the end of February I swapped out the stock speakers with the popular JL audios. Everything was fine. Again after awhile it would stop working.

I called the dealership to have them replace the radio. I am not near my dealership or I would have had this doon sooner. Anyway, I drop it off and I get a call about 4 days later saying they will have to order a new radio and it will be in sometime. Sometime was the best I could. So after another week I get a call and the service tech asked me if I had swapped out the speakers. (why was the tech in the doors?) He then tells me that the speakers void the warranty on the radio and that the speakers are what caused this. He could not seem to understand that this was happening prior to the speaker change.

After beating my head against a wall with this guy he told me that they went ahead and "did me a favor" and switched out the radio this one time, but they didn't have to because of the warranty.

I get in the truck and turn on the radio. Only one speaker works. I go back to talk to the tech. He very simply says we did all we are going to do. This is my problem for changing the speakers. I feel 99.9% certain that they did not in fact change out the radio. Every single one of my presets on every function, XM, FM, AM were all still set. Would a tech actually write down every one of my presets??

Knowing that the tech was obviously in the doors I just took off one of the panels and pulled a speaker to see if they had done anything. Everything was perfect except for the fact the speaker was SOAKED. There was water everywhere.

I have read in past posts that there is going to be water in there no matter what you do. There was no standing water in the bottom. (side note, I could not find any hole on the bottom of the door for drainage).

So, with this information, would you believe that this could be caused by the water and therefore no sound until it was dry? If so, isn't it highly unlikely that all speakers would start working at the same time if that was the case? Wouldn't other speakers work if one had a bad connection due to moisture? Also, the speaker upgrade appears to be very very popular and I have not heard of anyone else having any problems.

Do I infact void the warranty of the radio chaning out the speakers? Do you think from this information that they actually changed the radio?

It's to the point now I don't know from one start to the other if the radio is going to work. The problem has definintely "progressed". Again, another reason it seems odd that this would be from the speakers.

I need some help here!!!

[bobpres]

Sorry to hear about this...

I can't speak to the new speakers and the warranty, but, if they DID replace the stereo, they should have given you a new card with the security code (unless it magically had the exact same number as your old one).

I suppose it is possible that a short in one speaker could take out the amplifier in the main head unit. I would think this would be very unlikely, but with electronics, anything is possible. The only thing I can think of is that the water in the door shorted between the high and low inputs to the speaker and (somehow) this shut down the amplifier. I'm not familiar with the circuitry of the head unit or it's built-in protection circuits. (I'm just guessing...)

Good luck,
bobpres

[wjr1004]

Sorry to hear about your problem....
Please keep us updated on your situation..

[Jhawker23]

As of yesterday morning there was nothing coming out of any of the speakers. Yesterday afternoon I turned off the truck, came back about 10 minutes, started it up and had the rear speakers working. About 4 hours later I start the truck and now all of them are working. Does this sound like a bad radio? Here's something too.. Why wouldn't the sub work if it was the speakers shorting out? Isn't there a sub out which would operate in spite of the front or rears not working?

[mugen1]

I would call Honda America and let them know what has happened. It sounds like the dealer is not being honest. If the radio was replaced, there should be some kind of paperwork.

How were your speakers installed? Did you use a speaker wiring adapters or did you just cut of the plug and attach the wires to the speaker terminals?

Did you take the moisture barrier out? I'm not saying these things would cause your problem, but the dealer and Honda America would see this and come to the conclusion that it might cause the problem. You say your speakers were soaked. That doesn't sound normal.

[hofffam]

First of all your dealer sucks. It sounds to me like they did NOT replace your headunit. It seems like the radio code would be the clearest way to tell. I agree that it seems highly unlikely they would have restored all your radio presets.

It is possible that replacing the speakers caused a problem as Bobpres said above. If somehow the new speakers have an erratic short it could trigger the headunit's protection circuitry and shut it down. I doubt it is water. Water is way overrated as a conductor of electricity.

We don't know how the headunit's circuitry works. It could be that if it detects a fault in any speakers all of them shut off.

I would do this:

1. Double check all wiring to the replacement speakers. I assume you used plug-in harness adapters. Check them thoroughly. If you did not use adapters check all your splices (etc.). Check that the speaker terminals are not hitting the door frame and causing a short when you mount the speakers.

2. If all is OK with the wiring, disconnect the rear speakers and run that way for awhile. If all is OK, then you may have a problem with the rear speakers. Repeat with the front if necessary.

3. If none of this works - verify your headunit was replaced or not. If not - pound on your dealer.

[shovelhd]

Great stuff, hofffam.

If I were in the OP's position, I would swap out the speakers back to stock. Then there's no way they could dispute the issue.

[ridged4herpleasure]

I had the same problem yesterday....no sound except for faint bass sound. I too have repalced my speakers when I first got the truck. I hour later...it worked fine? now what??

[hofffam]

Ridged - interesting username.....

My theory remains the same....

Something is triggering the amplifier's protection circuitry causing it to mute or turn off. Most likely cause is a wiring fault to any one speaker. Most amplifiers I have worked with (home or car) shut down all channels even if only one is at fault. These circuits want to prevent the amp from burning out.

The wiring fault would be a short between + and - leads. This could occur if the + terminal on the speaker contacts the vehicle frame - which would be a short to chassis ground. The door cutout in the RL is not large so a speaker with a bit magnet or frame might not clear the cutout properly. The problem might not happen all the time of the speaker moves around a bit in the cutout.