Let me first apologize for this post turning into a short story, but I've tried everything but throwing this car away and the story helps to diagnose and understand my problem. Thanks in advance to anyone taking the time to read this and has any suggestions!
I have a strange problem with an install I'm doing on my friends 2000 Infiniti I30 with the Bose system. I've done installs on Bose before and warned him about every option there was and advised him to tear it out cause you never know what's in store messing with Bose. I originally hooked up a sub amp to 2 Kicker Comp VR's (4ohm dvc) with a line out converter tapped into the 8" woofer in the rear deck. Everything worked fine except for the cheap amp getting hot.
A few days later, he came over with a Clarion DPX 1000.2 he bought from someone and witnessed working in their car. So I wired up the clarion and after finding out it only supports 2ohm mono and 1ohm stereo I left the subs each wired in parallel for a 2ohm stereo load - same as before. Well the amp comes on and has this 1ohm light that flashes for a while and the both lights are steady on for a few seconds. The subs sound as if they are getting really strange feedback even without the rca's plugged in! They kind of sound like ummm...static with a pulse - it's very faint until you put the rca's back in and then it just gets louder but it's not even to the music. Nothing changed but the amp. So 2 possibilities I say to myself - fried amp or Bose system interference right?
I left the amp out cause he had to run, and tried putting in a power acoustic amp a few days later cause he said the first amp had been clipping or going in protection - same result, same weird ass noise from the subs but no bass. We didn't get a head unit at first because I researched his car and nobody makes a dash kit for 2000 and up. The tech guys over at Metra say they don't plan on making one. I also searched everywhere (here, maxima.org, carstereohelp.com, sounddomain.com, etc) about the options we had with the Bose system and pretty much had to base it off what I found for the 2000 Maxima.
I decided to get the new head unit to avoid using any signal from the Bose wires. I got him a Sony CDX-F5705X and used a 2000 Maxima dash kit from Metra cause it looked like it would fit. He already had the scosche wire harness (FAINN03 I think) for Nissan 94+ vehicles with Bose and. I hooked up the HU and ran the rca's for the sub amp and the rest for a future EQ in the console and a 4ch amp for mids/highs while I had the car taken apart. The dash kit fit in but was an inch too short on the left side - Oh well for now because the radio sounded incredible with integrated with the Bose system! I think the speakers are getting output from the HU and Bose amp which can't be good for too long but it sounds good. But I'll be damned - the Clarion 1000.2 is back in and getting a signal straight from the RCA sub out on the HU and the subs still sound like in the movie "Signs" when that baby monitor is picking up Alien signals.
I knew the Bose speakers were 1 or 2ohm but the radio seemed to work with the scosche Bose adapter without the FAI-3 piece. So I spend many hours searching for answers on the internet, but of course maxima.org - where I found the most related info - was upgrading their servers then and wasn't available. I was going to hook up the scosche FAI-3 he bought but I decided on telling him we need to go ahead a replace the door speakers and run all new wires to make sure we aren't going to worry about a) the Bose amp voltages, b) the eq, c) the signal processor, or d) the ohm load going to the HU causing this problem. So we replaced them with some Sony 6.5's (if your wondering why Sony? - I buy from an electronics distributor I used to work at and they carry mostly Audiobahn and Sony) and ran all new speaker wire from the HU to each door. I was 90% positive this would solve our dilemma. Bypass all Bose, disconnect sub and sub amp, change door speakers and disconnect tweeters right? Wrong! WTF? The amp light on this Clarion comes on and some reason the 1ohm light blinks for 5-10 secs and then both stay on - then it does it 1 or 2 more times until it stays on for good. My multimeter definitely says its 2 ohms. I've re-grounded, re-wired, re-placed, re-turned, re-installed, re-checked, re-everything!
I haven't gotten to check the amp in another setup, but the power acoustic did the same thing so it's not the Clarion amp that’s the problem. He sold the first amp so I can't check that. Only thing I got left to try is maybe a new battery, a new alternator, ground, ground, ground under the hood...the cap shows a steady 13.8v or so but it could be bad, or the car is evil and Bose has a conspiracy to take over the world.
It comes down to this - What could have happened while simply changing amps when the system was working just fine with only an RCA converter and the factory Bose?
Why after replacing all components and bypassing Bose completely would this still happen? Maybe the Bose system never was causing a problem?
I used to be an alarm/stereo installer for about 6 years and I haven't come across this before. Its stuff like this reminds me why I quit in the first place. Anyone help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I just thought about that cap possibly being no good and that’s what I'm leaning towards now. I don’t want to start buying unnecessary parts but the Bose needed to get ripped out anyway! If it were me I'd sell that damn devil car right now!
Tidbits-
Sony CDX-F5705X
Clarion DPX 1000.2 -
4 Sony 6.5's (I forget the model)
2 Kicker Comp Vr's (each 4ohm dvc wired separately in parallel = (2) 2ohm stereo loads)
1 P.O.S. generic box
1 farad cap w/digital display
4 gauge power and ground to 1 farad cap
Ground is less than 12"
4 gauge to distribution blocks from cap
8 gauge from blocks to amp
New RCA's down passenger side
Power wire on driver side
Haven’t bothered hooking up Kenwood 4ch or EQ and crossover until I get this working! DIE BOSE DIE!