Hey @Sasnuke et al who may like to comment - this is wrt a 2015 is350 fSport - everything associated with the stock Mark Levinson system was fine, and before leaving for a few months, I disconnected the battery. After, getting back & re-connecting the batt, can y'all think of any reasons this might have impacted "water damage" or the amp getting blown? Everything still works fine EXCEPT for sound/volume, and also getting the amp error code: B15C3. Some Qs if you'd please:
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• Has anyone experienced success after trouble-shooting the amp for water damage &/or removing any corrosion, cleaning connections, etc?
• Per the pix, I'm having a hell of a time removing all the trunk panels to access the amp - any suggestions?
• I haven't accessed the amp as yet, but as you can see in the pix it looks pretty darn clean, do y'all think it's better bang for buck to just send it in for repair?

THANKS MUCH!!

 

when you adjust your volume are you able to see your volume being changed? Dealing with the same issue of no audio, by my ability to change the volume and sound settings (bass, treble) is still intact. I have the same code as well but apparently it could mean the AMP is fine and there’s a short somewhere else. Checked my 2 amp fuses and there’s no sign of water damage around AMP.

does anyone have a diagram of all the wiring that runs through the car and where they are that are in relation to the sound system? I moved both my passenger and driver seat around a couple of days before this issue happened so I am wondering if a connection is loose or there’s a pinched wire somewhere. I looked under the seats and there didn’t seem to be anything loose.


30A amp Fuses look fine

No signs of rust or water damage.

 

Yup, ALL dials, settings, etc, "look" & work perfectly, but no sound. ALSO, tested the mic which the system recognizes.

Same, I'm new to all this (as of yesterday), but it seems like a vast majority after lotsa trouble-shooting, including checking fuses, conclude it's definitely the amp. From what I've researched so far I THINK the consensus is if everything else is operational, then checking fuses might be a moot step.

 

The only reason I’m thinking it may not be the AMP, is because it seems like most people on the forum who have had issues with the amp, also had their volume/sound settings impaired along with the no audio. It’s frustrating because it seems like the only way to diagnose if it’s truly the amp is you have to replace it.

 

Ya, also saw some of those posts but didn't know it applied to "most". Also check youTube. BTW, do you have any hints / suggestions on how & which all trunk panels to remove to get access to the amp (as per my first post)?

 

I just removed 3 or 4 of the carpet clips and moved the carpet as far as I could towards the middle as a could so I could access the bolts to remove the AMP.

 

Wondering if anyone else has been dealing with these symptoms;

• i start the car in the morning; no sound, but volume controls still work.
• then the next time I start the car it still won’t work, but on the 3rd or 4th drive of the day it will start working, also it seems like the first 1 or 2 drives must be long for it to start working.
• this seems very odd to me, like it’s a power supply issue, like the initial 1 or 2 trips “power up” the amp, but not enough to get it to work, then eventually it on the 3rd or 4th drive it reaches its threshold to start working.

does this sound like a wiring/shirt issue somewhere in the wiring harness or is it still more than likely the amp? Based on people’s reported symptoms of the amp failure it seems like most people lose their volume control and the issue isn’t intermittent, so I’m hesitant to buy a new amp.

 

On your 2nd bullet point:can you clarify what you mean by "work" / "working" - do you mean hearing sound / volume?

 

yup, the sound will start working normally, but never while in the middle of driving, the car has to be turned off then on again for there to be a chance of it working.

My volume control always works regardless if there is sound or not, in the sense that I can see the volume reading go up/down, apparently for others with amp issues, this is not the case.

Also the pattern changed today, where the sound worked on my initial drive, but then my next 3 drives afterwards it did not work.

Such an odd issue, I honestly have no idea how to tackle diagnosing the issue.

 

Since my last post everything's the same, including today. On my way to tennis, took a wrong turn into a hood wasting 1/2 hour driving time, twas around 86° in the hot sun so decided to test A/C <- this is the ONLY THING DIFFERENT.

Parked around 1.5 hours for tennis, started up again, and wtf... SOUND WAS ON!! lol

Made my way to WLMRT to pick up some stuff, and thought "damn sounds NOT gonna work starting up again" but it's still on. Left the trunk panels OFF in case sound's off again tmrw - will update later.

knock on wood *knock* *knock* *knock*

 

Nice! I think I am going to be purchasing a refurbished unit from 'oemautoaudio' on ebay for $999, they also offer a repair service for $599. I'm just praying that it is actually the AMP that is the issue.

 

See my post - have you turned on A/C? Just for the helluva it, try that first, park for an hour, hit the amp lightly with a screw driver, then start up again. WRT repair, if you read other posts, THINK United Radio repair is cheaper.

 

OK, well this SUX d big bag, POS decided to NOT WORK again today!!

@Is350Zyzz i do however now agree this MIGHT NOT be the amp, but rather an intermittent issue. "SOMETHING" is causing the system to check in & out.

 

I ended up caving and buying a new amp, luckily they do have a return policy and warranty. So if that does not fix an issue I will just end up returning. The CEO of the company I mentioned that I purchased the amp from said that it was 100% the amp causing the issues. I will report back if that fixes the issue completely. Hoping I get the unit within the next few days.

 

Like many others did you first check the cables / connections / clips on the amp?