Wierd stereo problem PLEASE HELP ME!!?

Question

Okay, so my stereo is doing the wierdest thing; when it turns on, it plays fine and everything, you can see the cd track time advancing as normal, except there is no sound coming out of my speakers! When I go over bumps, sometimes i can hear a few seconds, and then it goes away. So then i swapped out the cd player with a different one, and it does the same exact thing!

It is NOT a problem with my speakers or the wiring to my speakers. I checked that already, and plus why would both speakers stop/start working at the same exact time because of the wiring to them. It's very unlikely.

So my question is, which wire could possibly deplete your sound with a bad connection (other than the obvious speaker wires)?

i don't think it's a short, because the whole time that no sound is coming out, the cd player is still on and counting seconds (which proves it's playing the song).

also, i have only two speakers and they're in the front, (the balance and fade is normal on cd player), i have no amp.

it is not a stock deck, my two speakers are MTX, my car is a 1987 Mazda 323 and the speakers are mounted on the dash, not the doors. I cut out the stock harness more than a year ago and connected the wires directly (with the necessary fuses of course). I'm sure it's a loose wire somewhere, but i can't find it. I've messed with all of them, and they all seem to be connected well.

This piece of information may or may not be useful: My problem started happening about a week ago when I replaced the cigarette lighter (the one that was in there didn't work). If i touched the voltage and ground wires for the lighter, would that have shorted anything out?

Answer 1

I have had this problem it was a wire under the dash that rubbed thru and was touching the metal frame under the dash it caused the stereo to go in to protection mode and the music would stop. just check the speaker wires all the way down or just replace them thats what I did because I couldnt find the point where they rubbed thru till I pulled them out from under the dash

Answer 2

Assuming it does the same thing with the radio as the CD player (they are seperate even though they are in the same unit)Your problem is that either
1) you are losing ground to your speakers
or
2) A short in the wiring or speakers shutting down the amplifier inside the radio. (The fact that the display is working does not mean that the amplifier section of the radio is working). Most of the time this will blow a fuse but a few radio's will shut the amp in the radio down.

Check the ground from the radio to the speaker with an ohmmeter. It's more than likely a common ground and not a floating ground and it's open (not shorted) and that's why they are both cutting out and coming on when you hit a bump. Just run a new ground wire from the radio case to the speaker if you don't know how to use an ohmmeter. The reason that I'm telling you to run a new wire is because the problem could be at the base of the connector where it plugs in to the radio and that's why you are having a hard time finding it.

If it's a dead short, disconnect the speakers and the radio from the harness and trace it down with an ohmmeter. That's really the best way to do it because it eliminates guessing.
In case you don't know the difference, an open would be a broken wire or connection, and a short would be two wires touching or a wire grounding out on the car somewhere. People often confuse the two terms and call an open a short.
IF you are sure both radios work and you have the same problem with both of them, then you have one of these two problems. If the radio works, the speakers work, and the wiring is correct then it has to work----period.

Answer 3

This could be a bad ground wire. When you hit bumps it may jostle your ground enough so that it touches metal and then it shifts away again. This could also be a loose remote wire if you are running an amp. Someone already said this but I will say it again, it could be a bare or poorly insulated wire that is touching your dash and when you hit bumps it is pulling away from the metal.

Answer 4

I dont understand in case you mentioned yet are you using a cord harness? while you're do away with it and run the gadget without the harness that could desire to be a competent step. try a try speaker, take the participant out and connect a speaker directly to the cd wires and notice?