Audio Systems: cd player and factory amp problems., external amplifier, long jumpers

Question
i just had a question that i have been trying to figure out for some time now. I have a 93 toyota camry that has had a system in it for awhile, like a year. everything worked fine. then my car broke down, sat for about 5 months then i got it fixed. i took out my cd player so it wouldnt get stolen. when i fixed my car i put the cd player in and it worked. then i put my subs in and then nothing worked at all. well my cd player worked and said it was playin but i had no sound at all. all the wires are hooked up fine. im not even worried about my subs right now. i just cannot stand driving without any music cause i am a huge music fan. so if you have any ideas or any information that might help me out i would appreciate that very much. thank you for you time.

Answer
I suspect the external amp is out of order.  Did you pull the amplifier when you removed the radio?  Or just the head unit was pulled out?

Probably this unit uses an external amplifier buried somewhere in the car:  under the passenger seat, in the trunk area, under the dash. It maybe has blown a fuse or has quit working for some reason.  Do you know how to check it out?

And, are you sure the head unit is working as it should.  Just because the lights come on does not mean it is working properly.  You can test it by pulling it out and powering it with long jumpers off the battery and connecting a known-good speaker to one of the outputs.  Similarly the external amplifier can be tested - if you can find it.  

The external amp can be fed the output of a portable player such as an MP3 or iPod or cd player and speaker connected to it, also.

Once you have verified the units are working you must check out all the wiring to make sure there are no shorts or miswiring between amp and speakers.

Look it over, check as much as you can and get back to me if there is more to the story.

C