QuestionI drive a 98 Ford Contour SVT, I put in aftermarket headunit, speakers, wiring, subs and amps. Its been about four years, never had a problem. A few weeks ago I left my interior light on and the following morning my car needed a jump. After the jump, stereo turns on, but with no sound. It shows EQ to be working normally, I can switch from FM, AM, CD, Input, XM. I've checked all my fuses and wiring, confirmed my amps are coming on. Any help on this would be appreciated. I feel kinda stupid.
AnswerHi Jim,
Sorry for the delay in answering your question. I hope this comes in time to do you some good.
I'm not quite clear on the layout of your system: it sounds like you have multiple amps, but are the front and rear speakers driven by an amplifier or the head unit? And when you say "EQ", do you mean a separate equalizer, or one built into the head unit?
If you're not getting sound from any of the speakers or the subwoofers, then I'd probably suspect a problem with the head unit. If you do have a separate EQ, though, then that may be where the problem lies.
In a case where all your components are powering up, but you're not hearing any sound, then troubleshooting consists of tracing the audio signal chain and figuring out where it's broken. The audio signal starts with the head unit, runs through the RCA's to the EQ (if present), then through RCA cables to the amplifiers, and then through the speaker wires to the speakers and subs. If I were troubleshooting your system, I'd test the RCA outputs from the head unit to see if there's an audio signal. I use a small amplified speaker from Radio Shack for this type of testing; you can also use a digital multimeter with an AC Voltage function, looking for voltage that increases as you turn up the volume. If there's no output on the head unit's RCA plugs, then that would indicate a problem with the head unit. If I found an audio signal on the head unit outputs, I'd move on to the next component in the chain--the EQ or amplifier. If you find a component with an audio input but no audio output, that should narrow down your problem.
Unfortunately, I don't have a good guess as to what's causing the problem with your system. All I can give you are the troubleshooting tips above. If you're still having problems, please follow up with a detailed description of your audio system, including all the various components; I might be able to come up with some more specific ideas.
Hope this helps!
Brian
