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Car Radio Overheats, sound go out. Second radio same problem. Need help

norza

Oct 5, 2018
3
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Oct 5, 2018
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So I replaced my rear speakers and tweeters on the same day, everything seemed fine for a week or two so I don't think it goes back to that. Then one day on the way to work the sound slowly decreased until it was completely out. Ended up taking my radio out and it was burning up. I put in a brand new Pioneer, tested the 1st radio later on a power supply and it didn't overheat. What could cause this? I checked the speaker wiring and it all seemed good. All the speakers work perfect before the radio overheats. Head unit is a pioneer, door tweeters are kicker, door speakers are Rockford fosgate, rear speakers are kicker. I used what I could of the original wiring to wire speakers, and wired in using crimps to attach wires. I just can't figure this out.
 

Audioguru

Sep 24, 2016
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An amplifier overheats if its output is shorted or if the output of one channel is shorted to the output of another channel. Most car radios use 4 ohm speakers, maybe yours is overloaded with too many speakers or 2 ohm speakers.

Maybe the original wiring had one terminal of each speaker grounded but the new amplifiers have bridged amplifier outputs (look in Google) so the speakers must not be grounded..
 

Externet

Aug 24, 2009
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Aug 24, 2009
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Disconnect all speakers at radio rear. After a while on, check if gets hot. No? --> Connect only one, any. Try for a while. Check if radio gets hot.
No? -->Then connect another. Try for a while. Repeat... The one causing overheating has bad wiring or a problem.
Are speaker lines fed differentially or on common ground ?
 

norza

Oct 5, 2018
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Oct 5, 2018
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I'm pretty sure they are all on a common ground, just factory toyota wiring. I didn't add any speakers either, just replaced the old ones. I know the speakers in the rear are 4 ohm and the door speakers have been in there for a couple years. I'm not 100% on the tweeters. When the sound cuts out one of the tweeters will come back with some sort of static. Even if I turn the volume all the way down. Do I need to disconnect the speakers at the wiring harness or could I disconnect them at the speaker itself? And could I test them using an ohm meter at the radio plug?
 

Audioguru

Sep 24, 2016
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In an old Toyota you replaced all the speakers then replaced the original car radio (that had one wire of each speaker grounded) with a modern Pioneer car radio that must not have one wire of each speaker grounded. Then half of each of its four bridged amplifiers was DC and AC shorted to ground. The half of the amplifiers that were not shorted played fine but with a little less power than normal, but the half that were DC shorted to ground got VERY hot and failed. Frequently all four amplifiers are in a single IC.
 

norza

Oct 5, 2018
3
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Oct 5, 2018
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I replaced the factory radio before I replaced the speakers, probably 4 years ago. Everything was working fine until the first radio started to overheat, that was about a month ago. It all started after I replaced the rears and the tweeters, but the rears were still aftermarket before it started over heating. I'm assuming the problem lies somewhere between the tweeters and the head unit. Just trying to get some ideas before I pull the door panels. I must have a pinched wire floating about. I appreciate the help. I'll let you know when I find the culprit. Thanks much!
 
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