Amp problem please help I tried searching

[SlidnSideways]

While swapping my system from my 92 240 to my 97 240 i wired everything up before hiding the wires and everything worked fine. I then disconnected the remote wire and power wire from my amp to run them under the carpet and in the case of my power wire through the firewall. I had a hell of a time getting my power wire through the firewall so instead spliced the 8 gauge power wire on the inside of the car that the owner had already ran before me. I just cut my 8 gauge and his 8 gauge and hooked them together. Now the subs dont hit at all. The amp light came on for a period of about a minute then started a slow paced blinking. Any ideas? I rechecked all of the wires and everything seems fine. If i unhook either the power or remote wire the amp loses power completely which kinda makes me think that they arnt the problem.

Thankyou!

[zerepdivad]

While swapping my system from my 92 240 to my 97 240 i wired everything up before hiding the wires and everything worked fine. I then disconnected the remote wire and power wire from my amp to run them under the carpet and in the case of my power wire through the firewall. I had a hell of a time getting my power wire through the firewall so instead spliced the 8 gauge power wire on the inside of the car that the owner had already ran before me. I just cut my 8 gauge and his 8 gauge and hooked them together. Now the subs dont hit at all. The amp light came on for a period of about a minute then started a slow paced blinking. Any ideas? I rechecked all of the wires and everything seems fine. If i unhook either the power or remote wire the amp loses power completely which kinda makes me think that they arnt the problem.

how exactly did you "connect" your 8 gauge and his 8 gauge together? Did you actually use a good butt connector and crimp or did you just tape it up or something? the reason i ask is that i've had people at work ask me why it's messed up and not getting power and then i look and see a 4 gauge wire electrical taped together and a ground wire gonnected to a bolt that bolts on plastic........ haha well i'd say check your remote wire make sure it's not loose at all and check you impedances on the subs/speakers you have hooked up.Thankyou!

[SlidnSideways]

I used something called a "bug". Its a little metal clamp thingy my HVAC friend gave to me. I put both 8 gauge wires in it and clamped it shut then taped it up. The connections look good but the wiring was in bad shape for the most part when i got it so i guess i should go over everything again. Thanx for the help!

[jmaxima]

You should do a thorough examination of all the wiring, with DMM. But, I am pretty sure I know what is wrong. Let's just say I have seen it before, more than once. And it normally happens when an installer takes the easy route and uses pre-existing power cables. First, you could have a bad amp but I doubt it. More than likely the power cable has at least one bad connection. And, it's only 8 gauge to begin with so only good for about 25 amps of current draw. But with one or more bad connections, and who knows what condition or what length cable the resistance is greater than with a good quality short 8 gauge cable. Too much resistance in the cable results in voltage drop. When the voltage goes below about 11.0 Volts, most power amps go into protect and turn off. You have enough power to light the LED's, but too little to keep the amp running. Don't forget to triple check your ground cable too. It needs to be as short as possible, connected to a clean and paint free surface as close to the frame as possible.

- James

[SlidnSideways]

The ground is fine. Its about 2 feet in length. The power cable yes i took the easy route on. I hated to do it but i just couldnt get my original cable through the firewall. Anybody have any tips on doing this in a 97 240? The amp and subs worked shortly after writing my first post but cut in and out repeatedly. They are now perminantly not working it seems. I havnt had much time to break down the wiring and give it a good look through yet but im planning on that this weekend.

The ground is solidThe remote is solidThe power line im sceptical on because its the first time i havnt had just one wire going straight from the batt to the amp. This one is spliced in the engine bay about 8 to 10 inches from the battery but hooked onto a tiny square piece with metal prongs coming out of it for the in and out wire (sorry for the crappy explanation) and then again where i cut his wire and connected mine to it using that bug.

Could there just be to many connections for the current to travel through?

Thanx!

--Tim--

[joe603]

If you have extra wire, try and hook up another connection, not going through the FW or carpet, just as a test with a known good wire. If the amp works, then... "there's your problem"! As a rule of thumb, the more connectors in line with a circuit, the more resistance to overcome.

My money would be on that HVAC connector isn't making contact all the time, causing an interminent problem. Good luck, and let us know the result!

[SlidnSideways]

Thankyou to everyone that helped!

The problem seems to have been what u guys were telling me. I did away with the pointless connection the guy made in the engine bay and connected the part of the wire (going from the connection into the car) straight to the battery which completely did away with one of the connections and the system seems to work fine now.

Figured id post it up for future reference incase anyone else has a similar prob... Thanx again to all that helped out! NICO ROCKS!

--Tim--