What’s good yall, i’m a new ‘04 LS430 owner with a couple issues to sort out, if anyone could be kind enough to lend some input.

Im a novice at car modding so bare w me if i say something stupid or ignorant!

This post is about my stereo system:
When I bought the car it had already had an aftermarket amp, sub, and double-din head unit installed. I had planned on doing all the mods myself, but aside from the nav and rear cam not being hooked up, the AFS light blinking, and the parking sensor continuously ringing everytime it’s turned on (I figured these were simple issues to solve and found some forum info regarding them), everything electrical was fine.

One day, though, I had decided to plug my phone into a female type-A cord that was running into the back of the head unit through a hole in the glove comp, so that I could use apple carplay. When i did that, the unit froze and started doing some weird glitching ****, then next thing i know, the rear right tweeter started making this *clicking* sound. It’s a continuous noise as if someone’s repeatedly tapping on something. My initial guess was that current’s trying to run through to the tweeter but it’s not getting enough power. I don’t really know how else to describe it. I’ve taken the head unit out to see if it was the issue, replaced the fuse, to no avail. The clicking only happens when the car is on and the head unit is plugged in though, and when i play music through it the sound cuts in and out like a noise gate (imagine someone covering and uncovering a speaker with their hand while music plays lol) in rhythm w the clicking. When i initially took out the head unit, i saw the ground wire not attached to anything, so based on my readings i’m thinking that may have played a part in this - It could’ve gotten knocked loose before or after i took the double din out.

My bad if this post is too long i’m just trying to be as descriptive as possible so i can get some help lmao. I’m gonna post some pictures down below.

-Relevant specs-
amp: rockford fosgate p1000x5



head unit: pioneer avh-4100nex & MVA-24L







Idk if i’m ocd but the wiring back here is crazy. i’ve installed stereos before but never with amps or subs, some of these connections are new to me. if ANYONE can help make sense of this idk how i’d repay you












i’m in the walmart parking lot about to get a soldering iron and some silicone to secure this, when i took the unit out there was electrical tape covering it. the green wire is just wrapped around the ground wire.


not sure if that’s where the ground wire was attached to, if at all. that may not even be part of the chassis for all i know but that’s where i’d think to ground it.

As of now, my plan’s to solder that green wire to the ground wire and add silicone, try to clean off that nut and see if corrosion caused a bad ground, secure the ground wire to what i believe is part of the chassis, and finally go into the fuse box by the passenger door (which i just found out about) to see if all fuses are good!

Any advice would be of great help as i damn near have no idea what i’m doing here lmao. I’ll let you guys know how it goes

**edit: the subwoofer sounds fine, audio only cuts in/out for the rest of the car.

 

Just replaced all fuses having anything to do w audio, still the same issue. i was able to find this reddit post though, seems like it might be helpful.

**sidenote**
i forgot to to take a pic of this wire that seems to be running through the side of the glove comp, my guess is that it’s a ground wire for the amp that might’ve gotten disconnected from that green/ground wire connection i pictured earlier…

i might connect it to the ground wire when i solder the connection if all else fails. other than that i’d assume there’s a wire shortage somewhere within the whole system or just in the rear tweeter itself.

 

Disconnected the negative terminal of the battery last night hoping it would have some discharging effect, woke up to the audio issue persisting. Next troubleshooting idea is to discharge the capacitors - i have no formal mechanic experience so im going to be mindful of doing this safely & correctly 😭 hoping this goes well

found this forum post that i think kinda has a similar problem and followed some of the tips here with no luck. i also uploaded a video so that anybody who might want some reference can know what sound i’m referring to.

my only explanation after updating the pioneer firmware is that there’s some electrical issue giving either not enough or too much power to the system, which may or may not be amp-related.

 

Does the ticking increase speed with engine speed?
Is this only happening when the phone is connected with the cord, or on Bluetooth and FM/AM too?

 

Thanks for the replying,
I only notice ticking speed changes when i do anything electrical, like when i adjust the position of the wiring harness wires or when I disconnected the battery terminals. And it happens regardless of whether the phone is connected or not. All
i have to do is connect the head unit to the harness and voila, *ticktickticktick*. you think it could be the amp or the wiring ?

 

And you said it only happens when the engine is on? So in acc everything works fine and no clicking? If that’s the case then that should rule out the components.

 

my bad, it’s only when the battery is on and the head unit is plugged in. it’s not related to the engine turning over