intermittant wiper and no cruise control???

[bullyd]

ive got a strange one here, when i turn my stereo on i lose my cruise control and my slow wipers got to intermittent. turn the stereo off and its all back to normal! is there a possibility the stereo is drawing too much power making me lose these or can it be something ive overlooked? ideas would be great! cheers daemon

[pingu]

Weird. Is your stereo just a unit in the dash or do you have an amplifier and/or sub too? Has the stereo previously worked properly without casuing this problem or was the stero recently installed?

[bullyd]

Weird. Is your stereo just a unit in the dash or do you have an amplifier and/or sub too? Has the stereo previously worked properly without casuing this problem or was the stero recently installed?

heres whats fitted
2 x jbl 12" subs
2 x 4way 6x9s
4 x tweeters
upgraded footwell+rearshelf speakers (still pioneer)
1 x kenwood 1500 watt amp (jbl's)
2 x kenwood 200 watt amps (footwells)
1 x kenwood 100 watt amp (tweeters)
1 x splx 800 watt amp (running 6x9's)
kenwood kdc7031 cd head unit
the problems been there for a while but only realised the link the other day when i forgot my stereo front so had my stereo off for the first time since fitting it, cant remember if its only been there since fitting stereo or before?

[Scott H]

sounds like someone cocked up the install


heres whats fitted
2 x jbl 12" subs
2 x 4way 6x9s
4 x tweeters
upgraded footwell+rearshelf speakers (still pioneer)
1 x kenwood 1500 watt amp (jbl's)
2 x kenwood 200 watt amps (footwells)
1 x kenwood 100 watt amp (tweeters)
1 x splx 800 watt amp (running 6x9's)
kenwood kdc7031 cd head unit
the problems been there for a while but only realised the link the other day when i forgot my stereo front so had my stereo off for the first time since fitting it, cant remember if its only been there since fitting stereo or before?

[zygoteer]

Your problem sounds (no pun intended) like it is either a weak power supply cable or a bad common-earth problem.
I suspect the power supply from your description, but could be the earthing as well.
Either way its a bad install - if you paid for this work then get them to fix it for free.

First the supply possibility :-
At which point did you tap into the power for your (very high powered !) audio units ? ... was it shared with the other equipment ?
If so, I suspect that when you switch on, it causes a large volt drop in the supply cable, due the high current draw.
(also means your maximum power/volume achievable is reduced)
This low voltage then causes the cruise control to malfunction and the wiper speed/interval is probably voltage level sensitive too.
You need to run a new supply cable (as thick as you can buy, because 2.8kW at 12 volts is over 200 amps ! - roughly the similar to your starter motor) to each unit from as physically near to the battery terminal as possible.
Difficult to use a fuse here (but good audio units should have their own protection installed internally) or a switch/relay at this current level.

Hmmm .. you may want to check out your battery/alternator too ... oh and your ears ... hmmm

Second the earth possibility :-
If you have a 'solid' supply line then you definitely need a 'solid' earth line too !
Does the install share the earthing point with other equipment ?
If so, then at switch-on the power will find the lowest electrical resistance path to ground ... which may be via other equipment instead of the intended earth point.
This is common on older cars and VERY common on old aircraft due to corrosion causing high resistance contact with the grounding point (vehicle shell).
I would suggest simply adding extra earths (thick cable) on your audio units - if that solves or modifies its behaviour then it confirms the cause and you need to revise the full install.

[gale]

ive got a strange one here, when i turn my stereo on i lose my cruise control and my slow wipers got to intermittent. turn the stereo off and its all back to normal! is there a possibility the stereo is drawing too much power making me lose these or can it be something ive overlooked? ideas would be great! cheers daemon

Bad connection at the infamous "fusible link"?

[bullyd]

Your problem sounds (no pun intended) like it is either a weak power supply cable or a bad common-earth problem.
I suspect the power supply from your description, but could be the earthing as well.
Either way its a bad install - if you paid for this work then get them to fix it for free.

First the supply possibility :-
At which point did you tap into the power for your (very high powered !) audio units ? ... was it shared with the other equipment ?
If so, I suspect that when you switch on, it causes a large volt drop in the supply cable, due the high current draw.
(also means your maximum power/volume achievable is reduced)
This low voltage then causes the cruise control to malfunction and the wiper speed/interval is probably voltage level sensitive too.
You need to run a new supply cable (as thick as you can buy, because 2.8kW at 12 volts is over 200 amps ! - roughly the similar to your starter motor) to each unit from as physically near to the battery terminal as possible.
Difficult to use a fuse here (but good audio units should have their own protection installed internally) or a switch/relay at this current level.

Hmmm .. you may want to check out your battery/alternator too ... oh and your ears ... hmmm

Second the earth possibility :-
If you have a 'solid' supply line then you definitely need a 'solid' earth line too !
Does the install share the earthing point with other equipment ?
If so, then at switch-on the power will find the lowest electrical resistance path to ground ... which may be via other equipment instead of the intended earth point.
This is common on older cars and VERY common on old aircraft due to corrosion causing high resistance contact with the grounding point (vehicle shell).
I would suggest simply adding extra earths (thick cable) on your audio units - if that solves or modifies its behaviour then it confirms the cause and you need to revise the full install.
what did you say? couldnt quite hear you
:p
i did the complete install myself, what you say on power cables makes sense to me so ive picked up some 10mm starter cable from work and will fit as soon as i got a couple of hours spare, will post results, cheers for the ideas!

[mkovic]

My first suspect would be speed signal feed to your stereo. Check the wiring, see to what your black/white wire in stereo harness is connected to, disconnect it and I'm pretty sure your problem will disappear.

[Ross]

Low voltage can cause all sorts of goofy symptoms.You should be drawing this much juice straight from the battery and not through the vehicle wiring.If not I'll bet that's the cause. Jeez man 2600 watts thats over two horsepower I think.

[bullyd]

both positive and negative feeds are coming direct off the battery, i will do suggestions here tomorrow as i have a couple of hours free, fingers crossed will find the problem! thanks to all for their suggestions!

[pingu]

Is the problem effected at all by the volume level of your stereo? I'm wondering if perhaps the problem only occurs when the sound level is very high. Even though you've got a powerful setup, if you're on the lowest volume level then the various amplifiers will be turned on but won't be drawing much current (they'll only draw lots of current when the sound is very loud).

[bullyd]

thanks to all that helped! i had wired the little black/white wire into the phonemute on the headunit???? anyways problem solved, thanks again!