Hello everyone, new member here. Yesterday I purchased a 2003 Monte Carlo SS. I'm in love with the car. So much so that I bought it knowing the radio wasn't working. So here's my issue. I have an aftermarket head unit, it turns on, changes stations, plays CD's, and basically functions completely normal. But I have no sound what so ever, no static when its turned all the way up,nothing. I checked radio fuse which I realized is obviously good because without it the head unit won't turn on. What should I look for? Is there a fuse for the amp in the trunk? If so where? I have avionics experience, so I can check voltage, resistance, amps etc. Also there is ablue/white wire coming from head unit spliced into a white wire on the passenger side, can anyone tell me what that is? Thanks in advance!

 

Um did you say you have no sound at all? Have you checked the speakers? A simple check with an OHM meter can tell you if they are good or bad.

 

Nothing, no door chimes, beeps, music, nothing. How many OHM's would be considered normal? I haven't checked that. It seems like there's either no input to amp or no output from amp.

 

I always just connected an OHM meter to each terminal on the speaker and if the needle sweeps its a good speaker. I'm no electrician by any means and I think that's only checking continuity but every "bad" speaker I have checked that way has had no continuity.

As far as how many OHM's go most car audio is 4 OHM and home stereo stuff is usually 8 OHM.

 

I found this. Really hoping its my problem. Has anyone done this repair or know how common it is? I'm driving an hour one way, everyday, and without my morning talk show or afternoon music. I'm just sitting there like... <that guy.

 

look around with a mirror and flashlight for butchered wiring and electric tape.

you didnt get the car in kentucky did you?

 

Actually, when I checked the voltage on those orange wires I got 12v but I noticed one of the harnesses has electrical tape wrapped around it. Is that normal? Anyone have pictures of untouched factory amps? Or an amp for sale if mine has gone?

 

Update. Eureka! Poked around with my multimeter today during my lunch break to find that my power and grounds to the amp are fine. Amp looks to have been replaced with a new one. But one flaw came forward, no power to the remote wire. Now can anyone tell me why? Or where the wire goes? Should it go to the head unit or somewhere else? This cars audio system is different than basically all the others I've worked on.

 

i bet you checked that wire with the radio on and off. soooo

i think the docs say the wire you are talking about should be pink. a lot of systems piggybacked onto the antenna motor lead to turn on external gear.

the front unit probly has wires for antenna, external amps, display dimmer and the trigger wire could have come loose since we now have electrical tape convicted for being at the scene.

since you checked the wire and 12 volts never shows up on it no matter what, you could be cautious and take like a 200 ohm resistor and apply 12 volts through it to the remote wire and see if it starts making noise.

use the ohm meter to see if that wire is shorted to chassis first.

i have an 04 with the factory am fm cd front end and the amp in the kaboose.
so i can look around but i dont think im able to post pictures.

 

Well I looked into it a little further, the white wire is my trigger wire. I get power to it when the radio is on. I found a wire that was run from behind the dash to the wiring harness on the passenger side going back to the amp. It was spliced into a black wire with a white stripe. I am not sure why it was there or why it was spliced to that wire. I have stock amp and an aftermarket HU, I bought a factory HU I'm going to put it in and see if theres any wires back there that are loose or disconnected. My mother in law has the same year/ model MC so I'm going to see if I can use her amp to see if it'll work when changed. I'll post an update after this weekend. Thank you for all the help everyone!