Alright MC Owners! You guys know more than I know. I need your HELP!!! This is mind boggling compared to problems of understanding the car audio installation. The reason why I can't have no one else hook it up is because I don't have the money to invest in a to spend at a shop who will charge me CRAZY $$$ to install it when I can do it myself. Now I know me and you have been going back and fourth about "amp this and sub that...." My concern and ? is HOW DO I DO IT? The type of vehicle I have is a 2001 Red Monte Carlo SS (3.8L)

First Off, I was "attempting to install" the the following items in my car (which I feel subs are the easiest compared to interior speakers):

2 pioneer subs in my car
--TS-W1208D2
The InstallBay AK01
Sonic Sub Box: 2SL12-2.7 (Gray) (which is the perfect match for my subs)
Hifonics Brutus Amp BXi2010D (just got it repaired from CIA Engineering from Pennsylvania of $135...:-))

The order of MY INSTALLATION!!!
1. I hooked the 0 power gauge wire to the POS AUX connector that's underneath my hood with the fuse boxes.
2. Channel the wire to the rear where I had my amp located on the rear back side of my seat.
3. Connected the 0 power gauge wire to the amp
4. Connected the 4 ground gauge wire to the amp (since I already had it installed from the last installation from using 4 gauge wiring)
***Also, I tested the 4 gauge ground wire to see if the amp was going to come on and then take it off...****
5. Connected the remote wire to the amp (from a previous installation)
6. Turned the key to the "On" position in my car, then the amp turned on (WONDERFUL)
7. Started working on my subs with the new box I purchased.
-- Which I didn't know, the sub box had these connectors inside of it to where I couldn't install and crimp some new connectors to my wires from my subs for it too work. My car was disable for me to run to the store and buy it. So I said I will attack
the sub connection tomorrow properly instead of rushing.
8. I left the amp installed (my mistake) with no speaker connection but secured the wires from harms way.
9. Drove off while listening to my music from the interior speakers ONLY.
10. Made a right turn to go to the store and my speakers started hissing and the whole right side went out.
11. Then the left side went out later that night.
12. After arriving home, I waited for like an hour or so and went back out to my car (thinking the electrical problem will correct itself) and turned my radio back on, NO SOUND.
13. Went back into the garage (after reading that I could blown my factory amp, by the way I didn't tap into any wiring of it) and disconnected all the wiring.
14. Tried to replace the fuse to the radio for it to come on and it blew the 10 amp fuse over and over and over again after 5 tries.

From this point, there is no need to install anything if I can't get the radio officially back working again. That's my dilemma with the factory radio, which I don't know if the factory amp or the factory radio is blew. I can't tell!!! If you have heard of this malfunction that could of happened to anyone else then please inform me with the result. ANY HELP would be appreciated!!!

I also have the dilemma of trying to bypass the and install a aftermarket 4 channel amp to the interior speakers while STILL USING the factory head unit. Is it possible? Which my 6x9 speakers are Vibe (Black Death) rms and some regular door speakers rms don't match but matches the RMS on each channel of the amp. Is it possible?

 

Also, when I opened my trunk to get something out, I smelled something burnt, like wires or such. So more than likely I think its the amp, but still not sure.

 

***Update***

I just went out to the car and checked all my fuses and upgraded the radio fuse from 15 amp to 25 amp and now the radio comes on. The problem is that only the driver side (front and back) is working and the passenger side (front and back) is not working. So, more than likely its a short somewhere (I think)....

 

sounds like a dead short to me in the amp its self!! I would pull the fuse before you melt the wires out of the fuse block going to that amp and have a bigger problem!!
i think there are some factory amps for sale in the for sale section

 

Yeah, your right!!! I just wanted to see if the radio would come back on at all. Now that I know that the "radio" itself is not blown andf im able to get some type of sound, the thing is how can the amp go out on one side? I thought once the amp malfunctions, the whole thing wont work! I'm a beginner so help me with that one...:-)

I was thinking, maybe I can bypass the factory amp and install the aftermarket amp too the interior speakers and factory head unit....

Any suggestions?!

 

#1 is your first problem!

Your amp does 2000 watts @ 1ohm, you paid a pretty penny for that 0ga. wire with the expectation that it will give you the maximum current to your amp so you can get the maximum ouput, right? The spot you wired the 0ga. wire to gets it's power from the battery thanks to an 8ga. wire. So essentially you have a 0ga. wire spliced to an 8ga. wire to supply your amp with power. For the life of me, I don't understand why people do this! The battery is like a foot and a half away from that terminal on the fuse box!! ALWAYS hook your amp power wire directly to the battery.

#4 is the next big problem....your power and ground wires should be the same size. Using a 0ga. power wire which is spliced to an 8ga. wire, and then a 4ga. ground wire, and whatever size the other ground wires are under the hood is just creating alot of resistance in how the electricity flows. Think of it in terms of hooking up a fire hose to a garden hose, same principle. And realize that the power and ground wires are essentially a big loop to and from the battery. The reason the Big 3 can provide gains in voltage is because it pretty much gets rid of all the garden hoses so you're left with nothing but fire hoses connected to each other, resulting in not only more flow but less resistance in the flow as well.

The deck has no output without the amp connected since it has no onboard power supply so it would have to be a problem with the amp since that's where the output comes from.

Yes it's possible to bypass the amp and use the factory deck with an aftermarket 4ch amp. But you need to address the problems I listed above before you go any further with this install.

 

@ Milhouse: Your right about the wrong connection setup. I went ahead and bought a side post battery connector and install the 0 gauge to the battery instead of from the fuse box. Didnd't know that an 8 ga (from the battery) was supplyin the fuse box to the car...SMDH!!!

You said (well typed..lol) some good points and solutions. I ended up changing the ground wire to 0 gauge wire as well. Since I already have 4 gauge wire back there, I will leave for my next amp to power my inside speakers. The interior amp (by reading the proper connections) take as low as 4 gauge so I am set with that amp.

I just had to upgrade the 4gauge to an 0 gauge that powers my subs (since the 4 gauge wasn't powering my amp from what I was told). I will upgrade the big 3, just a little low on funds right now. But I do appreciate the knowledge you provided. One ?, is there a certain size for the remote wire to turn on the amp or its all ONE SIZE?

 

Wow, its nice giving advice to those open to taking it and learning about car audio in the process. I appreciate your appreciation! To those who are hard headed and dont want to listen, my sig quote is for you

As for the remote wire, any size between 16-22ga will due, that wire carries very little current so it'll be fine.

 

This same exact thing happened in my monte carlo. The problem is your factory amp under the trunk. Its natorious for blowing up because it way underpowers the speakers, so a new one of that would be 250 bucks but why waste that much money. Since you got 0 gauge wire in the car split the wire with a fistrabution block and have a sperate 4 channel amp run to your speaker, this is EXACTLY what I'm doing because I have the same problem. The factory amp is only 200 watts, so I bought a 400 what amp. Gives it more power and will sound better. Plus I have subs in my monte right now too so I have the amp powering my subs right next to the amp powering my speakers. LOOKS AWESOME!

 

The amp blows up because it underpowers the speakers?