car amplifier doesnt turn on..althou its plugged in right.?

Question

i have a stock radio, ( ford focus 2002 )
and i have everything plugged in, except the ignition wire ( a skiny black wire)
would tht be the problem?

i have ground and everything, and all fuses and the adapter are fine.

i need help..please...

Answer 1

Don't forget the lead that said "remote" or something...it's usually next to the + on the amp. It goes to a connection on the head unit so it turns the amp on and off with the stereo. This prevents those big thumps when you turn off they key.

If you don't have that hookup on your head unit (or don't want to run the wire) you can just jumper it to the + connection on your amp.

Answer 2

Run a fused (1 amp, 14 AWG) wire from a fuse in the fuse panel that only has power when the car is on to one side of a switch. From the other side of the switch run the same sized wire to the REM (remote) connection on the amp.

This allows for full control and you never have to worry about forgetting to turn off the amp. The switch is so you can turn off the amp at will so as not to give grandma a heart attack in the car.

You can find fuse taps at any autoparts store.

Answer 3

every amp needs:
-a "constant" power source. this is the cable going right to the battery.
-a good ground
-and a "remote" wire...this wire gets power when the radio is turned on...in your case the inginiton wire connected to the "remote" in on the amp should do the trick....as long as that wire supplies power not ground. you can trouble shoot the amp by jumping a small wire from the constant power terminal to the remote terminal...if this turns it on then everything is fine. you just need to connect a wire to the remote terminal that gets power when you radio is turned on....if you car has a power antenna, make sure you dont use that as the remote because your amp will turn off everytime you switch from radio to cd.