I’ve got an aftermarket radio and I was driving along the highway when the radio started to shut off and than come back to life. I could play music for a few mins than it would shut off again. Later into the trip (maybe 30 mins) I heard a pop sound, the radio shut off and I believe a little smoke even came up. The fuse isn’t blown but when I bench test it nothing happens. I’m assuming the radio is no good but is it a radio problem or a wiring problem? I’ve put a video of me bench testing the radio to no avail. Please let me know how this happened and how I can fix it. Any help/knowledge/advice is greatly appreciated. (Ive also got 2 12s (subs) hooked up if that makes a difference)

 

I'm not an expert on electronics, but it appears that the ground used was coming undone, until it did, smoking your unit. Best I can describe it is I had an in-dash unit installed on my 02 Celica which the shop I took it to grounded it via the E-brake. I couldn't play any videos on it, so decided to ground it out on the metal dash framing. When the ground started coming loose, my head unit would start doing similar things as yours. It would cut out and restart with every bump, I ended up turning it off after 2 or 3 cycles. When I got home I pulled half my dash to the grounding point, and it was a little loose, but enough to lose constant contact. This is what I'm assuming was happening to yours, except once the grounding point came off, it grounded itself out. Don't yet understand how the fuse didn't protect it, unless it was just static shock that got it. Again these are assumptions.

 

So if I bought a new unit could I directly wire the black wire to a ground or do I have to locate the ground and fix it? I had a bad ground loop buzz so I used those isolator things on each speaker input which stops the buzz but didn’t physically fix the ground. I chose the lazy way and now I’m paying for it hahaha. I think you might be right though thanks for the opinion. I don’t want to buy another 300 radio for it to blow so if anybody here has any suggestions/advise/knowledge please share I would greatly appreciate it.

 

If you ground it properly, then you shouldn't have any problems. If you check it every now and then to ensure it still bolted down would be a good idea. You could probably get away with grounding it with the ECU ground point, that way you know it's torqued down and not going anywhere. Easy to locate and check if it's vibrated loose.

 

I know there's probably a ground point diagram out there somewhere but I can't seem to find it. Would you happen to know where the ground points are? Thanks for all your help.

 

Any exposed piece of metal would be good for grounding. I wouldn't use the ECU grounding point for any reason. I mentioned it since I'm not sure how much exposed metal is on the passenger floor there. If there is no exposed metal anywhere, sanding a spot and drilling a small hole where you're not damaging anything on the other side, Screw in a bolt with a washer and attach your grounding point there, should be good enough.

This pole on the top is what I used; this is a 2000 Celica. Dashboard framing on the center console, used a small screw with a washer for grounding.

 

U wired that straight from the radio's ground wire? If so that's exactly what I'll do. Sorry for the late reply I just got the free replacement radio today.

 

Lol. No worries, I can take a picture of the ground point I did. I'm working on it tonight, since I've pulled almost every panel off, as well as the old radio

 

Could be the amp . 2nd gen ISF are known for blown amps making the rest of the system sound like crack pop and crackle. It could be something besides a ground . The first answer the guy has a celica that’s not the same. Lexus . He might wish it was but Lexus’ have common problems one of the early gens is the stereo. The amp (isf) is located over passenger rear wheel well.Not ideal since it holds moisture and moisture and electricity aren’t milk and honey Not sure on yours but again the problems are common for all Lexus’. Like milky headlights. Rather those and have a Lexus than LED on a Celica

 

Well here is what I used. My friend helped me drill the whole and after it came loose, I ended up using the framing end as more secure connection.

 

The sc400 comes stock with an amp. If i disconnected it would the speakers sound worse? How do you test an amp? If the amp was bad could i just replace it with an aftermarket amp?

 

From my understanding if you replace the amp, you will probably need to do the whole system. If you search on here, you will find the answer.

 

If you disconnect the stock amp, you'll also have to directly wire the speakers to the head unit or else they'd get no signal.