what's wrong woth my stereo? please?

NSXnorway

NSXnorway

Registered Member
Joined
20 December 2011
Messages
45
Location
Hamar, Norway
Hi!
this has probably come up a billion times on prime, but i tried a search and i couldn't find a thread/sollution on this symptoms.
i'll try to explain;
my stereo works in every mode, both radio, casette, and the CD-changer.
although i have installed a Ipod interface instead of the CD-changer now, the issue was present before i did this.
SO... the sound is very nice at low volumes. like in 1/6 give or take.
but fron 1/4 and up, the sound goes very bad. no popping, og static-sound, but sounds like blown speakers.
the speakers is fine, i have checked them, and anyway, the same sound comes from all speakers, and i believe also the woofer (not 100% sure yet). what is the issue here?? is the main unit faulty, or is the amps in all speakers finished? i had stereo-problems on my previous NSX, and this one popped like hell out of nowhere, and suddenly worked fine a day or two, and then a serious ear-bleeding static noise before it shut down. it's nothing like that now. anyone have a clue? :redface:
 
High probability it's the amps in the doors. There is no single symptom. Some hiss .. some just lose frequencies. There are multiple capacitors on the circuit boards and some or all of them can fail .,. but no necessarily at the same time. This creates many variations in how the sound could be affected. Just have them fixed (BrianK does great work) or consider replacing with a centralized amp solution. I put mine behind the driver seat to minimize wiring issues.
Good luck.
 
NSX2398 said:
High probability it's the amps in the doors. There is no single symptom. Some hiss .. some just lose frequencies. There are multiple capacitors on the circuit boards and some or all of them can fail .,. but no necessarily at the same time. This creates many variations in how the sound could be affected. Just have them fixed (BrianK does great work) or consider replacing with a centralized amp solution. I put mine behind the driver seat to minimize wiring issues.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Yeah, i'm also leening towards the amps of two reasons;
1: It's a common problem on NSX.
2: The head unit seems to work fine.
the only thing that bugs me, is that it's the same issue on ALL speakers.
isn't it strange if it has blown the same capacitors in all amps?
maybe i just try to get them fixed anyway? or maybe install the bigger soundsystem from SOS?
Anyone else have a opinion on this issue?
 
NSXnorway said:
isn't it strange if it has blown the same capacitors in all amps?
Click to expand...
No. Capacitors leak over a period of time - typically 8-10 years. If you haven't had your amps replaced or refurbished over that period, it's time to do so.

The cheapest and easiest way to get your stereo working is to send the parts to Briank for him to repair. You'll find all the details about how to do so, including instructions on how to remove the parts from your car, on his website at nsxe-repair.com.

If you're going to do that, it might be a good idea to also send him your climate control unit at the same time.
 
Last edited:
does the climate control affect all years?
 
NSXnorway said:
Yeah, i'm also leening towards the amps of two reasons;
1: It's a common problem on NSX.
2: The head unit seems to work fine.
the only thing that bugs me, is that it's the same issue on ALL speakers.
isn't it strange if it has blown the same capacitors in all amps?
maybe i just try to get them fixed anyway? or maybe install the bigger soundsystem from SOS?
Anyone else have a opinion on this issue?
Click to expand...

All the amps do fail but I am seeing more head unit issues as the cars age. If all the speaker/amps are doing the same thing them I would suspect the head but either way the amps do need to be rebuilt.
 
Briank said:
All the amps do fail but I am seeing more head unit issues as the cars age. If all the speaker/amps are doing the same thing them I would suspect the head but either way the amps do need to be rebuilt.
Click to expand...

I understand that heat degrades or fails capacitors but are you saying that time fails them also even if the radio and climate control are almost never used. I am really curious as I have had both auto temp controller failure and complete radio failure. I've always suspected (as do the Acura people) that the car had some sort of power surge that wiped them out.
 
I have a stereo question. When I first get in my car and play the CD everything sounds fine, if I play the radio the sound is bad. when I go back to the radio after 30min. or so it sounds ok??? Both door speakers have been redone in the past few years. Anyone have this problem before?
 
vmax said:
I understand that heat degrades or fails capacitors but are you saying that time fails them also even if the radio and climate control are almost never used. I am really curious as I have had both auto temp controller failure and complete radio failure. I've always suspected (as do the Acura people) that the car had some sort of power surge that wiped them out.
Click to expand...

The amps, the stereo head and the ccu use the same crappy caps and they have about the same life span. Both the ccu and the stereo are powered all the time just the outputs and the displays are off so the amount of time they are "on" really does not count.
 
Briank said:
The amps, the stereo head and the ccu use the same crappy caps and they have about the same life span. Both the ccu and the stereo are powered all the time just the outputs and the displays are off so the amount of time they are "on" really does not count.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insights. Wouldn't it be a good idea to find a way to remove that constant power via some kind of switch or fuse pull, especially seeing that a lot of NSX'S are stored or at best run intermittently?
 
I think what Brian is talking about is that these components are not on "all the time" but rather "all the time that the key is in the ignition in the "on" position. So, you don't have to worry about it being on when in storage .. or clearly your battery would go flat very fast.
 
Is there anybody who can repair the head unit that is completely functional in every way except that it produces no sound. Assuming of course, that the amps are 100% functional?
 
hondacbx said:
I have a stereo question. When I first get in my car and play the CD everything sounds fine, if I play the radio the sound is bad. when I go back to the radio after 30min. or so it sounds ok??? Both door speakers have been redone in the past few years. Anyone have this problem before?
Click to expand...

Mine is similar. When I first start out, the sound is softer and fuzzy. Then in about 20-30 minutes it gets louder and clearer. It needs to warm up it seems.

I would also be interested in having my radio rebuilt. I have recently done all the amps (well BrianK did them), so i know that is not the problem.
 
ok, i'll try to get the amps fixed. but i have another question as well, now that we're talking about the climate-control unit. i drove it to a steetmeet yesterday. this is the first time i used it for a longer trip, and this by night so it was a bit cold outside. i didn't get the vents to blow really warm, but just a little. the temparature seemed the same anyway if i set it to 90 degrees or lower. is this a symptom of faulty climate control, or is the sollution another?
 
If your climate control can't get the car's interior sufficiently cold, chances are it's something else - most likely a low level of refrigerant caused by a leak somewhere in the system.

A faulty climate control unit caused by leaking capacitors typically results in controls not operating properly, such as fan settings, etc.

For more info click here.
 
nsxtasy said:
If your climate control can't get the car's interior sufficiently cold, chances are it's something else - most likely a low level of refrigerant caused by a leak somewhere in the system.

A faulty climate control unit caused by leaking capacitors typically results in controls not operating properly, such as fan settings, etc.

For more info click here.
Click to expand...
the problem isn't that it won't get cold, but the other way around. i can't seem to get it to really heat it. the aircon gets cold as hell.
 
Since you're having problems with the stereo and the climate control, I would send the stereo speaker-amps and the climate control unit to Briank for refurbishing. It might fix either or both problems, but even if it doesn't, both systems would probably need refurbishing soon anyway. Either way, once you replace them, you won't need to have them refurbished for another 10+ years.
 
Briank said:
The amps, the stereo head and the ccu use the same crappy caps and they have about the same life span. Both the ccu and the stereo are powered all the time just the outputs and the displays are off so the amount of time they are "on" really does not count.
Click to expand...

I looked up the wiring diagram for the radio and ccu and it appears that they are powered all the time as you said, via fuse #33. It looks like the stereo is powered for station memory and the ccu for an unspecified memory function. (any ideas here?) I am not suggesting pulling the #33 as it is also hot powering the PGM-FI (which does most everything) and clock, but wouldn't a switch cutting power from #33 at the radio and the ccu greatly extend the life of the caps. If so what would be the down side?
 

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