acer0611

I own a 2008 gs350 w/o the mark levison system. I've been having intermittent issues with the amp not playing any sound. I just hear a small pop from the rear subwoofer and then no sound at all when turning the radio on. I have noticed that it only does it on humid or rainy days. After driving around for a bit and turning the radio on and off a couple of times everything starts working fine. And on nice dry days i will have no issues at all. I've narrowed the issue down to the stock Pioneer amplifier and I'm guessing that the issue has to do with humidity getting into the amplifier even though I have taken it apart and have not noticed any visible damage.

My question is, has anyone had this issue before and has anyone solved it. I was looking to get the amplifier replaced but since the issue occurs only on humid or wet days i figure that the amp is still good. Any and all recomendations will be gratefully appreciated. Thanks in advance.

acer0611

Well, this time around I didn't get much help but i'm guessing that not to many people on this forum have had this issue. I went ahead and purchased another factory amplifier from a junkyard for $225. Install was fairly simple and everything was plug-n-play. This definitely solved my problem as I'm no longer having the intermittent issues. I did notice that i was having some humidity in the vicinity of the amplifier since my old amp had signs of rust on the bottom. I even brushed the rust off with a metal brush and reinstalled and a couple of days later the rust was back. Currently the "new to me" amp is working perfectly and as far as the humidity goes i have temporarily solved it by placing a container of damp-aid in that area of the trunk. Whenever I get a chance I will be taking apart that area of the trunk to locate where the humidity is getting in through (I suspect its coming in from the screws that hold the tale lamp), and then spraying the area with some sealant.

XxGoKoUxX

thanks for coming back with a solution. I'm sure someone will find this useful.... FWIW, I would have guessed it was the subwoofer, easily diagnosable though. Take your multimeter (a $5 harbor freight one will work), set it to ohms configuration, and put the + in the + and the - with the -. Push up and down on the subwoofer to see if there's any discontinuity.

Either way, glad you got everything working though! You should paint the bottom of that amplifier lid.

*knock on wood* mine's hasn't rusted yet .

acer0611

One of the first things i checked was the factory sub since that's where I connected my hi to lo converter for my aftermarket amp and subs. I even disconnected my aftermarket system to see if there was some interference coming from it but that didn't solve the issue. I even took apart the factory amp to see if there was any visible damage inside but everything checked out with the exception of the housing which showed signs of rust.
As for painting the bottom of the amp, I plan on getting some rubber rings to go in between the amp and the chassis and therefore raising the amp to ensure that they don't make contact.
Thanks for your reply and for your suggestions and hopefully you never get any rust issues.