Hey guys, so, I noticed a couple days ago that the audio coming from my factory radio was completely gone. The radio, cd player, etc works fine, except, there's no audio coming from the actual speakers. I checked all the fuses, and such, but everything seems fine. I crawled in my trunk (that was a sight to see) and checked the two plugs that go into my BOSE amp, but they seem fine as well.

Also, I took out the headunit and checked all connections and made sure the radio itself has a secure connection with the actual faceplate. I did all the obvious stuff, but no cigar. Thanks.

 

The only thing that i can really think of (i have not done anything with bose however i did have a full system in my old car and did all install on it so i hope this will help)..anyway i have a few things in mind that could be wrong
1. blown speakers *but you would hear some static at least)
2 bad amp
3. something blew of messed up in radio
4. pitched wire somewhere (and some how)
5. i know you have check the fuses try to replace 1 or 2 ( i have had bad fuses that did not appear blown but were actually blown right by input to the plastic part or out put of same area
let us all know what you find..if i think of anything else i will post again

 

Do ANY work on the car before the problem? Even anything unrelated?

Check the fuses with a multimeter. As said, they can appear fine but actually be blown. Sometimes they might even partially blow.

Other than that, shouldn't be a loose connection out of nowhere. That usually only happens during an install/reinstall/screwing around. And there's no way all your speakers blew at once. lol I think I'd make sure the Bose amp is getting power AND power on the turn-on lead. If it is, then either your amp or headunit is fried.

 

yeah for sure agree with you..just throwing out ideas it is very unlikely to have all blow at once but got to check all possible problems.

 

I'm down in Murfreesboro, I can help you figure it out if you want to drive it down one day

 

What do you mean do any work on the car? And how do I check to make sure all power is getting to the amp? Also, could I use a spare fuse that is labeled a different number than the one I'm supposed to use?

I should also mention that when I turn on my car, I hear a couple pops from the speakers, but no audio at all.

 

Replaced all fuses that are related to audio and no success.

 

only thing i can think of now is the amp or something inside the radio

i have never seen or worked on a bose amp but if its like any other amp..there will be a power (12volt), and a ground and possibly a remote or control wire that will be like a 18 guage wire and that goes to the deck...with the multi meter check the power for all 3 in different combos (have the ignition on so deck is on) if you have power there then maybe on the other side is where there will be place of speakers and check power there..if you have power something is messed up in the speakers..if you dont have power then its the amp
let me know if you have any questions

 

Work on the car. Anything. Did you replace the battery. Install some go-fast parts. Do anything right before this problem happened?

NO. You cannot use a different amperage fuse than what is labeled from the factory. A fuse panel is in place for safety. One a circuit's current draw exceeds the fuse rating, it pops to prevent harming electronics or melting wires. If you install a smaller fuse, it will pop under normal current draw. Too large a fuse and you'll have a fire on your hands.

Amp is located in the trunk up next to the right rear speaker. If I remember correctly, the Bose amp's inputs are on the passenger side and the outputs face the driver's side. The main power in is on a separate white harness and the signal in from the headunit is on a larger black harness. I don't know which wires are which. I'm sure someone has that info on here.

If you have access to a tone generator, you can put a tone on one of the speaker inputs and listen for the sound to be output from the amp and to the speaker. If it does, then the amp is working properly and the headunit is not sending a signal for some reason. If it doesn't, then it's vice versa.

 

All I'm seeing at the amp is two plugs, nothing else. I looked on all sides of the amp from the trunk and I only see those two plugs.

 

Oh and yes, I took all wheels off to paint them an also replaced the fog light bulbs. That's it.

 

Maybe the Bose amp's inputs and outputs on are the same black harness. I really don't remember and don't even own an RX8 anymore to look. But did you test the power on the white harness?

I'm not an RX8 expert by any means, but I like to think I have a decent amount of troubleshooting skill/common sense. If everything was working fine, then you replaced the fog lights and now have issues, I'd point the finger in that direction. Maybe you bumped some wiring loose. Maybe you bumped some wiring which blew a fuse somewhere (there's another fuse panel under the hood FYI). Maybe you ran some new wiring for them and rigged them together. I have no idea. I've seen some people do crazy things and I've seen some random crazy things happen. But I do know from experience that any strange problems that pop up right after work on the car is usually related to the work you just did. I certainly don't see how anything related to the wheels would have caused the problem. But it's odd you did electrical work and are now having electrical problems.

Test for power at the amp, like I said earlier. You've gotta start troubleshooting the problem man...

 

Believe me I would love to find the issue but I don't have any idea as to how I test the power, I don't even understand what ypu mean by white harness/black harness etc so I don't know where to begin.

 

Oh boy. You need test equipment man. A multimeter. A tone generator. Tools!

You might think about just taking it to Mazda or using this as an excuse to go aftermarket.

 

I want to get an aftermarket double din, and the metra faceplate but I'm not positive that that will fix the problem, it could be an amp issue. Also, I wouldn't know how to install the aftermarket equipment.

 

Yeah. Time to take it to a professional.

 

... or me!

 

There ya go! Wikked knows what he's doing and I'm sure has all the testing equipment you'll need.

 

I'm going to buy a new head unit. Even if it doesn't fix the problem, I wanted a new one anyway.

 

Rock on. I'll never fault anyone for going aftermarket. Anything is better than the factory headunit. Thought about which one? Single-din? Double-din? DVD? Navigation?

 

For sure going double-din. Check this one out and tell me what you think: wow link isn't working for whatever reason. It's the Pioneer FH-P8000BT.

 

I think is the same price and twice as sexy. Still has iPod and Bluetooth control, but also plays DVDs and obviously a sick screen.

 

The same thing happened to me turned out to be a power antenna wire, the tech at Best buy removed it then it worked. Now I've got another problem though...I hate after market radios, they never look or fit right then there's always other issues you have to deal with.

 

Ok, so I took it to a car audio shop and they did a diagnosis and told me it was indeed the main amp in the trunk that went bad. They told me that they would put one of their own amps in there instead of ordering another Bose amp. I asked if it would ruin any of the sound quality and they said no, it would actually deliver more power than the previous amp. So after $350, I picked up my car from the shop and they told me that the amp they put in was delivering too much power for the two smaller amps in the doors, so they bypassed the two smaller amps and just didn't use them. Not knowing much about what that means, I payed them and left. I was extremely upset to find out that the sound quality of the music was significantly worse than before! There was much less boom, and the amazing Bose wow factor was gone. It sounds now like any average run of the mill car stereo. I'm really upset with the way it sounds and have no idea what to do. Any suggestions?

 

Yep. You can't just swap out the Bose amp for aftermarket. The Bose amp includes some Bose EQ-ing, but more importantly the impedance of the factory woofers in the door is too low for any aftermarket amp. They simply had no clue regarding any of this. And it's their fault. They're suppose to be the experts. They advised you, lead you on, told you what to purchase and told you they could do the job. You need to take the car back to them and demand your money back. Speak with the owner of the shop. That is bullshit and I wouldn't settle for anything less than a full refund. Let them take their amp back and you go on your way. Research more and go all aftermarket, or take it to WikkedOne for help.