adding amp to caddy with bose

I hate to sound stupid, but even though I've installed several systems in different vehicles over the years, I've never installed any in a vehicle with a Bose. And now I know why. It started out as a simple install with the power, ground and remote wires. Then, when trying to connect rca's for the amp, I've ran into several different problems. The Caddy CTS has a factory sub with just one set of wires going to it. I was told by a local shop that I can tap into these wires with a line level convertor, just twist the 2 positive leads and 2 negative leads on the convertor together and connect them to the factory wires this way, simple right? Thats what I've done and now the amp gets very hot. I'm wondering if that is the problem. The amp is an old school Fosgate Punch 500 and the sub is a Fosgate 4 ohm DVC wired in parallel, amp is bridged. That shouldn't be a problem. What else could cause the amp to get so hot?

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'85 Toy

Really need advice. Anybody?

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'85 Toy

Are you sure that amp is 2 ohm MONO stable? If it is a 2 channel amp it is not 2 ohm MONO stable.

Do the speaker terminals have Left and Right written near them?

You're probably right. I don't have the manual for the amp since it's so old. I will try wiring the sub in series and running the amp mono and see if that helps. As far as the speaker wires, if you're referring to the factory wires in the Caddy, none of them are marked. That's where I was thinking by me wiring the convertor in with the factory sub wire, it might not be right. The local shop said to take the 2 positive wires on the convertor and hook them both to the 1 positive wire going to the factory sub. The same for the 2 negative wires on the convertor to the 1 negative wire for the factory sub. Seems to me like thats putting both the left and right channel going into the convertor together, and I figured that might be causing a problem. He says he does it all of the time. I've never done one like that before, I usually go to the 2 rear factory speaker wires and tap into them.

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'85 Toy

I was asking about the speaker terminals of the Rockford amp. With that information I will be able to tell you if it is a 1 or 2 channel amplifier.

Yes, it has left and right. It's a 2 channel amp.

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'85 Toy

It is NOT 2 ohm mono stable. Either series the woofers or connect them in stereo.

I'm not using "woofer's", just 1 subwoofer. I have it wired to just the left channel of the amp now and it's still getting hot. Does the way they told me to wire the convertor have anything to do with it? Should I connect the convertor to the 2 rear speakers instead?

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'85 Toy

Power the amp up and leave it on for 5 minutes with ZERO volume. Monitor it every minute or so to see if it heats up with no sound. Is it a dual voice coil driver? What is the impedance of the voice coil(s)?

When checking to see if it is heating up, notice if one side of the amp is heating up sooner than the other.

It's a 4 ohm dual voice coil sub wired in parallel.

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'85 Toy

Connect one voice coil to the left channel and the other coil to the right channel. If you INSIST on bridging it, series the 2 coils and run it 8 ohm mono.

I'll try that, but I think it's something else.

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'85 Toy

I think the bias adjustment of the amp has become out of tolerance. You can determine if that is the case by turning the amp on with ZERO volume. If it heats up with no volume there is a good chance that is the case.

Did you remove the cover and adjust the controls inside the amp? If not, do not do it now.

If one of the controls moved on it's own, that channel will heat up before the other one. That is why I asked if one side of the amp heated up faster than the other.

I'll try these things Monday morning. The Caddy belongs to a friend. I had this amp and sub hooked up in my Grand Am and it worked perfect, no heat at all. I had 2 of these subs running on this amp, one wired to each channel, and the subs wired in parallel. That's why I can't figure why it gets hot now even with 1 sub wired to just the left channel. I knew when I bridged it, it might get a little warm. I will try what you've told me to try and do appreciate all of the help. Thanks.

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'85 Toy

Seems the problem was the gains on the convertor were too high. Turned them very low, then I was able to increase the gain on the amp and it's not getting hot.

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'85 Toy