Wierd problem with my ICE

thegame · 16th July 2010, 13:20

I am facing a wierd problem with the ICE in my Spark lately.

Current set up:
HU - Pio 4190
Front - GTO 407
Rears - GTO 947

Issue:
The speakers are not working in the day time and they work perfectly fine in the night (I know its wierd!). If the car is parked in the shade and I drive my car in the morning, the speakers work fine for a few minutes (15 mins or so) after which they start going off intermittently. When I say intermittent, it starts by going off when I break or turn left. It comes back on as soon as I accelerate or turn right. After some time in the sunlight they go off completely. When I start the car well after dayfall it always works perfectly till about 7 AM without any issues. All the while the HU is on and reading CD/USB.

Initially i thought it was some kind of loose contact in the HU end as all four speakers have the issue. Took it to a neighbourhood ICE installer to get that sorted out (The speakers weren't coming on by that time since it had already played the hide n seek with me for a while and gone off). On a closer look the wires were intact. He checked the connections in the speaker end and at the HU end. Later he fiddled around with the wires for a while, trying to trouble shoot by disconnecting the wires to rear speakers and front speakers. At the end no sound what so ever. He didnot have a spare connector to test the HU. His guess was some IC in the HU has gone kaput. I lost patience and asked him to connect all the wires and left.

I turn it back on that night and guess what - the bugger messed up! rear left speaker doesn't work anymore, the front left and rear right speakers have same input and the just front right works.

Has anyone faced similar issues? Gurus - please advise on what might be the issue here.

navin · 16th July 2010, 15:44

Since all 4 speakers were going on and off together it must be with the HU (since you do not have an amp). Since it is intermittent it has to some sort of loose connection. Some metal part fo the HU is touching another metal part of the car/dash/behing the dash.

DerAlte · 16th July 2010, 19:02

Could be a wonky 'overload' sensor, or a critical IC contact (connection to PCB pad) behaving erratically when warm. Could be suspect IC too. Can be figured out by warming the PCB with an IR lamp, and poking around with a plastic screwdriver / cooling specific ICs with an aerosol spray.

ghpk · 17th July 2010, 04:07

If the Head Unit is in warranty, get it repaired/replaced, its certainly a HU circuit problem.

thegame · 19th July 2010, 12:31

Thanks guys! looks like a problem with the HU. Its still under warranty. Will get it checked and keep you posted with the results.

thegame · 3rd August 2010, 17:48

Finally got time to get the problem looked at. First visit was to Pio authorized service center (Autocop Ekkatuthangal). They checked the HU and found it working. The PCB connector was also tested and found to be working. The problem was isolated to OE electricals in the car.

Next visit was to to KLN motors. The SA didn't want to understand what the issue was. He was keen on getting rid of me as soon as I told him that the issue was with ICE. Few minutes later I realized that I was wasting my time with these morons, who wanted me to leave the car with them for a day, without even looking at what the issue was.

Finally visited Radio warehouse in wallajah road. The guy there knew what he was doing (finally!). He again checked the HU and confirmed its good. The guys (Kropex) who originally installed the HU didn't use a proper socket. Instead they cut some insulation in the middle of the wires and made joints to the wires from HU. We got the whole thing disconnected and taped all those wires and used a proper connector. He started connecting speakers one at a time with the HU, and when connecting the front right speaker the output to all speakers went off. Then the wire connectors to front right speaker was replaced and that fixed the issue. We also found that the nincompoops from Kropex, didn't even connect the antenna to power. I was accounting the poor radio reception to the internal atenna all the while!

After 6 hours of my time on a monday afternoon, we were back in action. Thanks again for your replies.

16th July 2010, 13:20	#1
thegame BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 76 Thanked: 5 Times View My Garage	Wierd problem with my ICE I am facing a wierd problem with the ICE in my Spark lately. Current set up: HU - Pio 4190 Front - GTO 407 Rears - GTO 947 Issue: The speakers are not working in the day time and they work perfectly fine in the night (I know its wierd!). If the car is parked in the shade and I drive my car in the morning, the speakers work fine for a few minutes (15 mins or so) after which they start going off intermittently. When I say intermittent, it starts by going off when I break or turn left. It comes back on as soon as I accelerate or turn right. After some time in the sunlight they go off completely. When I start the car well after dayfall it always works perfectly till about 7 AM without any issues. All the while the HU is on and reading CD/USB. Initially i thought it was some kind of loose contact in the HU end as all four speakers have the issue. Took it to a neighbourhood ICE installer to get that sorted out (The speakers weren't coming on by that time since it had already played the hide n seek with me for a while and gone off). On a closer look the wires were intact. He checked the connections in the speaker end and at the HU end. Later he fiddled around with the wires for a while, trying to trouble shoot by disconnecting the wires to rear speakers and front speakers. At the end no sound what so ever. He didnot have a spare connector to test the HU. His guess was some IC in the HU has gone kaput. I lost patience and asked him to connect all the wires and left. I turn it back on that night and guess what - the bugger messed up! rear left speaker doesn't work anymore, the front left and rear right speakers have same input and the just front right works. Has anyone faced similar issues? Gurus - please advise on what might be the issue here.
	() Thanks

16th July 2010, 15:44	#2
navin Team-BHP Support Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 25,199 Thanked: 9,307 Times	Since all 4 speakers were going on and off together it must be with the HU (since you do not have an amp). Since it is intermittent it has to some sort of loose connection. Some metal part fo the HU is touching another metal part of the car/dash/behing the dash.
	() Thanks

16th July 2010, 19:02	#3
DerAlte Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 8,069 Thanked: 2,919 Times	Could be a wonky 'overload' sensor, or a critical IC contact (connection to PCB pad) behaving erratically when warm. Could be suspect IC too. Can be figured out by warming the PCB with an IR lamp, and poking around with a plastic screwdriver / cooling specific ICs with an aerosol spray.
	() Thanks

17th July 2010, 04:07	#4
ghpk BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ghaziabad Posts: 870 Thanked: 211 Times	If the Head Unit is in warranty, get it repaired/replaced, its certainly a HU circuit problem.
	() Thanks

19th July 2010, 12:31	#5
thegame BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 76 Thanked: 5 Times View My Garage	Thanks guys! looks like a problem with the HU. Its still under warranty. Will get it checked and keep you posted with the results.
	() Thanks

3rd August 2010, 17:48	#6
thegame BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 76 Thanked: 5 Times View My Garage	Issue resolved Finally got time to get the problem looked at. First visit was to Pio authorized service center (Autocop Ekkatuthangal). They checked the HU and found it working. The PCB connector was also tested and found to be working. The problem was isolated to OE electricals in the car. Next visit was to to KLN motors. The SA didn't want to understand what the issue was. He was keen on getting rid of me as soon as I told him that the issue was with ICE. Few minutes later I realized that I was wasting my time with these morons, who wanted me to leave the car with them for a day, without even looking at what the issue was. Finally visited Radio warehouse in wallajah road. The guy there knew what he was doing (finally!). He again checked the HU and confirmed its good. The guys (Kropex) who originally installed the HU didn't use a proper socket. Instead they cut some insulation in the middle of the wires and made joints to the wires from HU. We got the whole thing disconnected and taped all those wires and used a proper connector. He started connecting speakers one at a time with the HU, and when connecting the front right speaker the output to all speakers went off. Then the wire connectors to front right speaker was replaced and that fixed the issue. We also found that the nincompoops from Kropex, didn't even connect the antenna to power. I was accounting the poor radio reception to the internal atenna all the while! After 6 hours of my time on a monday afternoon, we were back in action. Thanks again for your replies.
	() Thanks