rx-l8

Hey Guys!

tl;dr. Car kept dying, new battery and alternator. Car died randomly, now Bose speakers not functional. Pulled fuse due to very loud constant cracking/popping. Help?

First, let me preface this the fact that I inherited a 2009 RX-8 GT two years ago, and with doing my due diligence, I couldn’t find anything that really explains my situation (I promise or I’m just dumb and I can accept that). I’m very much at a beginner’s level when it comes to very technical car knowledge and I welcome any and all advice, if y’all are so kind to help out.

So when I got this car, it had been sitting for about a year or two, so the engine was flooded, replaced the battery, spark plugs, and starter. Within a year and a half or so, I’ve gone through 2 additional batteries, and it now has a new Interstate and alternator (within the year)

Randomly, months later, my car was dead even after being driven the day prior (in the past it’d usually die over the weekend if I didn’t start it). Got it going, and now the stock Bose stereo isn’t working. The head unit functions just as it should, but there isn’t any sound. Then suddenly, it started to make this loud and constant crackling/popping out of the top small speakers (tweeters?) on both the driver and passenger side only, even if the radio was on/off and no change when adjusting the volume. It did it intermittently before, but now it’s just constant. This happened before, but the radio eventually came back on, this time I’m not so lucky. I pulled the fuse because I close to driving it into a wall if I had to drive with it any longer. I haven’t had any dead battery issues since around this time.

Soooo, I guess my questions are:

Is this a failing amp? I researched the relay fix but it doesn’t really explain what’s happening here and I can’t seem to find a thread that explains the sound. Could a new relay fix this? This could be helpful to know if it’s going to be a $10 fix or months of searching and/or a couple hundred dollar fix.

Does this mean that my radio could be the culprit in draining my battery? Or might there be a drain elsewhere? (No lights stay on after turning the vehicle off). I just bought a multimeter but time has not allowed me to check everything else.

I really appreciate any help!! And if there’s a thread I might not have come across, please link them, but it almost feels like I’ve gone through them all.

CaymanRotary

It's possible change in voltages and other things could have fried the relay. It's either that, or the amp in blown. I would replace the relay and see what happens. I think it's less than $10.