Stereo problem

gunsrule · Apr 29th, 2004, 06:06 PM

Car Type: 2004 Sentra

I have decided to put an amp and box in my car. I am keeping the stock stereo. I went to take the stereo out and see what wires are back there. I turned the car on to test the speaker wires but the stereo did not turn on at all. At that time the stereo automatically ejected my CD. So I put it back together and then the stereo worked. So, I left the stereo running. As soon as I started taking the screws out, the display went off and none of the controls on the stereo worked. The music was still playing though. So I turned the car off and turned it back on. The stereo again did not work. I tried this again. I checked all the wires and fuses. Everything is OK. The stereo seems to have some kind of security system. Does anyone know about this?
I installed the amp and box. I wanted to make sure the amp worked, so I put the stereo back together and turned the car on. Stereo and amp turned on. I then put everything back together. While putting it back together, the sound from the stereo ejecting a CD started again. I went to start the car and no display, no sound, no power. BUT, when I hit the CD eject button, that works. I took the whole damn thing apart again just to verify everything was connected properly. Nothing wrong. I checked the fuses, nothing. I disconnected the battery again to maybe think the stereo has to reset itself. Still nothing and I am pissed. Has anyone ever heard of this?
I mean I unplugged the battery while installing, so I know I didnt touch wires anywhere. Please help. Thanks.

sr20dem0n · Apr 29th, 2004, 07:02 PM

Why were you taking it apart while it was playing??

Anyway, my guess is the stock headunit gets its ground from the din that it's mounted in, the only thing that makes me think that is the ground wire in the stock harness in my car wasn't grounded to anything (or it wasn't there at all, I forgot which). Since a headunit simply can't function without a ground, the only reasonable explanation is it gets the ground through the din. By taking it out while it was playing you basically just cut the power going to the headunit completely and it turned off. Why it still isn't working I don't know, maybe cutting power completely and turning it back on repeatedly killed it.