I must have the worst luck....

[Twizzler09]

because just about every audio component I buy, blows up or quits working, completely randomly.

I have a Pioneer DEH-P1300USB headunit that has completely quit working, totally out of the blue (and yes I checked fuses and wiring).

One day, it was working fine in the morning, and me and the other half are getting ready to go to the drive in movies, I go to get the truck running and...... radio no worky. I get lows through my sub, but no highs. At all. And the lows are severely mudded out compared to usual. This is not good because you need the radio to get the audio for the movie. Fast forward about a week, and the pre-amp has quit putting out anything that resembles audio at all. No low, no highs, nothing. All I get is a bit of startup noise when the HU powers up, but nothing else.

What in the world happened to this thing? Any ideas? Sounds to me like I'm going to be in the market for a new headunit.... any suggestions on finding one thats going to sound just as good as this one did for the same price or less ($139-ish)?

 

[mdn14]

I use an alpine cde-102 and it works great for me. It has a front aux cord port, a usb port, and a thing in the back so you can control your ipod through the device. I like it, and I got it on ebay for $115ish new.

 

[99rangerstd3.0]

I have that happen to me once in a while. It probably isn't anything to do with the dash: make sure that your positive wire going to the batery isn't all coroded (sp?). Just unhook your cable from the terminal connector, clean it good with a wire brush and put it back together. Or, if you want to be lazy and do the wrong thing, just wiggle it a little bit and get it to allow current a little better

 

[Skittles]

it could be quite a few things. when you checked the wiring, did you check the connections. im pretty sure you used butt connectors, because when i do headunit installs its a must. it could honestly be a little mistake. maybe when you crimped it, the insulator(sp?) didnt get the connection it needed. just go back through the wiring and possibly rewire it. i know its sounds like a pain, but it could be a simple fix

 

[Twizzler09]

I used the shrink-wrap type connectors... can't remember what they're called.

I have problems believing its a problem with wiring, because all four door speakers went down at the same time, not just one or two... and the sub was still working, then it quit, but I fixed that... was just a wire that had worked its way loose on the amp. Now heres the real kicker.......

I left the HU powered down completely for the last week, and yesterday I power it back on just to see what it'll do, and it works. Perfectly. Crystal clear highs, solid punchy lows. So far its been stable and operated without a hitch.

wth? lol...so confused.

 

[Twizzler09]

A slight update on the situation.

Occasionally the headunit will do it wierd bit, but only if the temperature in the truck cab gets too high (such as when I leave the windows up and its in the sun). If I leave the windows down a bit so it vents some and lets some wind through, it doesnt usually have a problem. But when it does I find that shutting it down, and running the A/C over it for just a couple minutes cools it down to where it functions perfectly again.

Wondering if maybe it got too hot a few times and sustained some sort of heat damage to its internal components....