Trouble Bypassing ActiveSpeaker front amps

[bitplayer]

I've got a 93 240sx with the ActiveSpeaker system. I've had the rear amp bypassed for years, with the stock speakers up front remaining silent out of laziness/disinterest. I have the headend fader set to 0% front/100% rear, so there should have been no power going to the front speakers/amps.

I've been driving the car a lot lately and I figured that I would bypass the fronts this weekend.

I pulled the doors apart and pulled the amps out of the speaker enclosures. I mounted some new 4x6 JBLs in the enclosures. I cut the old gang connector off of the wiring harness and connected some wires:Left Side:blue with white stripe blue with yellow stripe

Right side:brown with while stripebrown with no stripe.

The other three wires (on both sides) were unused.

After hooking everything up, I powered up my headend only to watch it display it's clock for a while and then power down. No rear speakers, no power antenna noise, nothing. I didn't even have a chance to change the fader front/rear balance.

I have a Blaupunkt headend from the late nineties. It's plugged into the Nissan harness with a adapter from Crutchfield.

I'm using the existing Nissan wiring harness because I can't see any simple way to get better speaker wire (which I actually possess) through the door and into the passenger compartment without a major hassle. I know that I can't push as much current through the wiring harness, but I'm only pushing a max of around 25 watts a corner.

I'm not after a sweetasskickin' system, I just want to listen to NPR and my iPod.

Thanks in advance,

[bitplayer]

Some more information, observed today on my commute into work:

Firstly, the head unit will work if I turn the marker lights on or the headlights on. If I turn them off, the head unit instantly cuts out.

Lastly, my digital speedo goes dark a little while after starting the car. Stopping the engine and restarting the engine does not bring bring it back; it's almost like something has to cool off or time out before the speedo will turn back on.

Pulling out my trusty service manual for my departed '89, I see a reference to the "illumination control system" . What's up with that? Is it the same for my '93?

Also, am I supposed to tie one or more of the wires to the old (and removed) stock ActiveSpeaker amps to ground or something?

[Kevlar]

So basically you bypassed the stock active speaker amps and directly wired the new speakers up? you shouldn't have a problem...When i first replaced my stock 4X6 i didn't disconnect the active speaker setup and my speakers didn't work..(my headunit already had built in amp) so I just bypassed it and it worked.

Kevin

[bitplayer]

Yes, I unhooked them using the connector junction, then removed the circuit boards entirely. The power, ground and turn-on wires have been cut clear and are hanging loose while the signal lines were hooked to the new speakers.

It really feels like I've lost my grounding, somehow. Perhaps the ground on my head unit came loose? Where are people grounding their headunits to?

[Silvia2b]

Yeah most Nissan cars and trucks do not have a radio ground in the harness the factory radio plugs into. You must ground to the chassis of the vehicle some where within two feet or so is best. The ground wire of the nissan adapter may have a ground wire, but check the other side of the harness that it plugs into, I'll bet ti doesn't. The factory radio grounds thorugh ISO brackets which are bolted to the sides of the radio, this is then machine screwed into parts of the dash subframe and completeing the graound path to the chassis of the radio. Most aftermarkets also require connecting the ground wire in the harness in order to function properly. Others will work simply by pluggin in the antenna or mounting the factory brackets. Check fuses and tape up the power wires in the door to prevent a short, first then replace any blown fuses. good luck

[bitplayer]

I found the problem, or at least the direct cause. I found that the 10 amp fuse for "audio" under the kick panel by the driver's feet had blown. I replaced it with the 10 amp spare fuse thoughtfully supplied by Nissan. The fuse has held for about an hour, even with the radio turned up, so I assume that I all need to do is to acquire another spare fuse. If it blows, I'll try a 20 amp, if that blows I need to think about this again. It's funny how the system still worked even with the fuse being blown.

[Silvia2b]

Good I'm glad you found the source of the problem. If you should happen to blow the fuse again, DO NOT REPLACE WITH A FUSE OF LARGER SIZE. The reason for not upsizing is that the wiring in your vehicle is protected by the fuse, their is onlya very small margin of over engineering for the current carrying capacity for each circuit. If you were to have a dead short the fuse blows, but if you have a loaded short, the wiring can heat up due to the resistance of the extra current supplied through the large fuse. This wiring can actually get so hot that i burns an melts the insulation off. It can melt other wires in the ame harness and eventually start an electrical fire in multiple place of the vehicle. Potentialy a VERY DANGEROUS situation. Be carefull, find the short and insulate, the replace the blown fuse. Good luck