Speakers Blown - Need Help and Suggestions

[alex1268]

Well today I blew all my door speakers except for the pasenger side door and my aftermarket subs, at least thats what is sounds like right now. Here the specs: 03 Tahoe Z71, Big 3 Upgrade, 145 AMP Alternator, JL Audio J2 1000.1 Amplifier running at 750 RMS, two MTX Jackhammers 12", with 1 Farad Cap, and 4 gauge wiring for the power supply and ground for amp. The head unit is a Kenwood 5.5" touchscreen.

Heres the info that i need. I don't know exactly where all of the factory Bose speakers are located at in my vehicle. I know that there are 6.5" speakers in the doors front and rear Passenger and Driver, and I think that there are tweeter located at the trim molding around the windshield. What i need to know if there is an factory "amp" located elswhere in the truck and the location and sizes of any other speakers and amps. I have yet to disect the audio system at this level as of yet because of some other bigger problems with the other aftermarket components.

I also need to know any thought on why, after installing a 200AMP Alternator then blowing it, and replacing it with the current 145AMP Alternator, and after upgrading the Big 3, actually for me it was the big 4, i still have headlights dimming. Is the other factory components left on the truck sucking away at the power source or is it something else.

Any real world educated guesses are needed cause I am starting to run out of patients and money. BTW please don't suggest I take it to a local custom shop to get it looked at. Both of the "expert" custom shops have done some of the work on it and I have had to come behind them and correct that work in some form or fashion.

 

[bassxlr8r]

there should be 9 speakers total in your truck. 6.5" front doors, 5.25" rear doors, a-pillar tweeters, rear sail panel i think are 2.5-3" (not 3.5 for sure), and sub. the sub is in the front of the center console, and the amp is here as well.

as far as your lights dimming, did you have problems with the 200a alternator dimming? are there noticeable dips on the voltmeter as well? why did you decide to downsize?

the stock alternator is 105a, and your jl has a potential draw of 115a. these weren't a very efficient amplifier either, so it will tend to pull heavily on your power supply. with your 145a upgrade (which i believe was original equipment on some) you are only allowing an additional 40a for the amplifier. your 1farad cap will basically do nothing in this (or most) situations as there is no excess current available to ever re-charge.

what battery/power cell are you running? this could also be a problem if it is older, or low capacity. if it's the stock rating, i would highly recommend upgrading this.

 

[alex1268]

turns out none of the speakers are blown. I removes the factory sub and amplifier so that those componenst would be out of the equation on my original problem of the dimming lights/power drops. all of the speakers work fine.

My new problem is that i need a remote ignition wire to turn on my head unit while on and off when the key is off. Apparently GM got rid of that wire with the whole Category 2 Wireing system. So now I need to know where to hook into (i.e. what color wire behind the Head Unit, to get the stereo to turn on and off with the key. Also if you could pass along any other info on the wire scematics for the 03, especially involving the radio area i would appreciate it.

---------- Post added at 11:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:17 PM ----------

I did have the same problem with the 200 AMP alt. I also have a Optima Red top under the hood so it not a battery problem. If you tihinks it an amplifier problem then what brand of amp would you suggest that wouldn't drag my alt but be able to still push the hell out of my 2 12" Jackhammers.

Also do you have the schematics/details on the wiring harnes for the radio. like which color of wire does what.

 

[abladeafficionado]

The alt probably doesn't put out more than 130A at cruising RPM. Try sitting in a parking lot and cranking it. Slowly raise the RPM while in neutral until the dimming quits. If the dimming persists regardless of RPM, I'd check your ground.

Most installs I've seen have poor grounds, and a poor ground can cause dimming. Make sure the area the ground it attached to has had the paint removed and is clean with a solid contact patch.

 

[alex1268]

So exactly where are the best ground connections for the system. right now ive got the big 4 with the ground off the battery and the engine to the frame on the lower drivers side. The original grounding point was there. I grinded it off to bare metal so it should be good but ill get out the multimeter out and check

 

[alex1268]

checked all the grounds and they are little to no resistance. I have 0 gauge wire for BATTERY NEG TO FRAME, ENGINE TO FRAME, BATTERY NEG TO ENGINE, ALT TO BATTERY POS. all of the grounds have been tested, at least to my knowledge of how to use a multimeter, with a multimeter with little to no resistance. Checked the grounds on the amp and the same is true with those also.