Kenwood Headunit major problem - Help

[ady_glanza]

Hello all

I had my Kenwood head unit replaced today in place of the Alpine one in there before. The main reason for this being that the Kenwood one has USB input.

It was fitted by a professional who has installed hundreds of headunits into various cars without any problems including my previous cars. However after approximately 5 minutes the head unit went into protect mode. I've checked this in the manual and the following it stated:-

Protect - The speaker wire has a short-circuitor touches the chassis of the vehicle and then the protection function is activated. Wire and insulate the speaker cable properly and press the reset button. If the PROTECT code does not disappear, consult your nearest service center.

The installer then came out again and checked all the wiring behind the headunit and everything is fine. The stereo seems to cut out when any of the speaker wires are in, however when i had my Alpine in there it was absolutely fine and i never got any dodgy smells or flickering of the head unit. Surely if there was a speaker problem then some sort of problem would have been noticed. Surely all the speaker wires can't be having the problem as stated in the paragraph above. The installer feels like the speaker is having too much strain on the headunit which is 50w x 4 and hence it is cutting out.

I took the stereo back to the outlet where i purchased it from and he connected it to 3 speakers and it never went into protect mode. He said that the problem is with the speaker wiring, but as i mentioned why wasn't anything sensed with the Alpine headunit and nothing has changed with regards to the speaker wiring. They refused to test another stereo as my connection would possibly damage the new headunit they test.

I don't know what to do as i've just paid for the stereo to be installed but now have a big gap there without. It could get quite expensive if all the doors need to be stripped down to find a problem.

Any help or info much appreciated.
Many thanks

 

[dac69er]

the new headunit could simply be more sensitive to a shorted connection.

your only option is to either check all the wiring from the back of the headunit to the speakers, or run new wires.

have you tried fitting the old headunit back in? its only a case of removing a plug.


p.s. ive seen a few 'professional' stereo installations and from what ive seen i think some would struggle to tie their own shoelaces, let alone wire in a stereo. i wouldnt just assume the installer hasnt made a fuckup.

 

[ady_glanza]

the new headunit could simply be more sensitive to a shorted connection.

your only option is to either check all the wiring from the back of the headunit to the speakers, or run new wires.

have you tried fitting the old headunit back in? its only a case of removing a plug.


p.s. ive seen a few 'professional' stereo installations and from what ive seen i think some would struggle to tie their own shoelaces, let alone wire in a stereo. i wouldnt just assume the installer hasnt made a fuckup.

hi mate
to put the old head unit back in would mean cutting the wires again so they match the original wires and i would have to pay for it again.

Anymore suggestions as i'm currently left with a big hole and potential cost of having to strip down the doors in order to find out if the all the wires are ok.

Thanks

 

[dac69er]

well if he cut the wires then he is a pikey. would have been so much easier just to buy the correct adapter cable for about £10 then you can always swap everything back.

there really is no other way of doing it mate. you have to check or replace the speaker wiring.

 

[glanzanut]

well if he cut the wires then he is a pikey. would have been so much easier just to buy the correct adapter cable for about £10 then you can always swap everything back.

there really is no other way of doing it mate. you have to check or replace the speaker wiring.

X2 A pro wouldnt cut and splice the loom, bet he has done something daft like mix up a +&- terminal on one of the speakers

 

[AdDaMan]

defo one of the speaker wires.
I used to have a kenwood double din in one of my old glanzas and the clutch pedal had worn through the carpet and into one of the speaker wires causing this.

 

[ady_glanza]

thanks for all the replies

however as i've mentioned before, when i had the Alpine in there it was absolutely fine, surely a loose connection or similar would have caused some sort of problem i.e. strange smell, flickering head unit etc

 

[ady_glanza]

X2 A pro wouldnt cut and splice the loom, bet he has done something daft like mix up a +&- terminal on one of the speakers

That is highly unlikely as he's done hundreds of heat unit including using the same approach in my last imported japanese car and it was fine.
thanks

 

[glanzanut]

Yeah bud vitas said if he was that gd he would not have cut the loom he would have used the proper plug, if those
kenwoods have a surge protector then reversed polarity on one of the terminals would trip it

 

[ady_glanza]

I've just rang the guy again who installed it for me and he's saying the head unit is at all, however the shop is saying the wiring is at fault.

How am i supposed to know who is right and who is wrong???

Any suggestions on what i could do now to make sure whether it is one or the other??
I've never done electrics myself so can't do anything complex.

Thanks

 

[J25GTi]

Connect each speaker in turn, see what one causes the problem.

Then do a continuity test on that cable between the cable and a part on the chassis, you shouldn't get a reading.

If not, disconnect the cable, from the head unit. And speakers and complete an insulation resistance test on the cable. Any electrician can complete that.

That will tell you if there is a short

 

[ady_glanza]

Connect each speaker in turn, see what one causes the problem.

Then do a continuity test on that cable between the cable and a part on the chassis, you shouldn't get a reading.

If not, disconnect the cable, from the head unit. And speakers and complete an insulation resistance test on the cable. Any electrician can complete that.

That will tell you if there is a short

hi mate
thanks for this recommendation, it is appreciated
the thing that confuses me is that when he did a speaker test by testing each speaker the headunit was going into Protect mode for all of them, surely every speaker wire can't have a short.
is it possible for a speaker wire to have a short at any point in the wire or will it just be at the point where it is connected to the headunit or speaker?
thanks

 

[dac69er]

will most likely be at either wnd when its connected, but if it has worn through somewhere else along the line then it could be anywhere.

how did the bloke join the wires together after cutting them? are there any bare waires that could touch anywhere??

 

[ady_glanza]

will most likely be at either wnd when its connected, but if it has worn through somewhere else along the line then it could be anywhere.

how did the bloke join the wires together after cutting them? are there any bare waires that could touch anywhere??

hi mate
he took the coloured bits of the wire off so the bear copper type wire is showing and he joint the one which corresponds with the correct colour together and then put some black tape around the copper areas that have been tied together. Like i said he's done this in hundreds of imported japanese cars and never had a problem before. He feels confident its the head unit thats at fault as that when it connects to any speaker the head unit can't take the load for some reason.

I spent £150 on this head unit and the shop won't take it back as they've tested it and said its fine, but they only plugged 3 speakers to it but he said he's happy to connect more if he had them. It's could be a potential waste as i may have to buy another head unit now and could have the same problem again