AVIC-F900BT 2 Units Same Outcome - PRE-AMP Tragedy

[caincc]

I first received the first F900BT around the 1st week of July, it worked great for about 3 weeks except for the occasional reboot every now and then. As well as some alternator noise in the higher RPM range, tC's have a loud alternator. THe noise subsided a little with ground loop isolators. Needless to say I applied the update when it was first released so "some" problems cleared up drastically. One day I went out and BAM no sound. The pre-amp output on the unit completely died so I sent the unit back. The bass will still play so the sub out works fine, this lies just with the front and rear outputs on the unit.

 

To certify that the problem was the pre-amp I took my AVHP4000DVD that I have lying around and installed it, wiring and everything is completely the same so all I had to do was plug in the RCA's and power harness, the unit worked fine so the problem definitely lied with the F900BT.

 

I received the replacement unit on August 12th, came with a blue dot on the box so no need to perform the update. I installed the sucker and BAM DOA out of the box. Pre-amp is dead again, did not even work for a few days, a few minutes or few seconds......just dead, dead, dead. I did not even check to see if the sub output worked on this one, at that point I did not care to even check, the front and rear outputs were not working.

 

To be even more certain, I took the liberty of ordering a new RCA harness from Pioneer, tried that and still nada.

 

I just shipped it back off again yesterday. Needless to say, I purchased the unit on July 7th and have been without it for going on two weeks now. I do not know what Pioneer is doing but this is the exact same problem I run into all the time when upgrading to the latest Pioneer models when they are released.

 

I am trying to get the dealer to send me the F90 model in hopes that the different pre-amp would equate to a more functional one. I wanted to see if anyone else is experiencing the same problem or one similiar? If anyone has any suggestions that I have not tried yet or perhaps it is just my luck of the draw.

 

My system includes - minus the headunit

6.5 Polk Momo Components in the rear

5.25 Polk Momo Components in the front

1 Kicker L7 Subwoofer in a ported box w/ 2.5 cubic feet of air space, tuned to.....I forget the exact Hz

Kicker 650.4 4 Channel Amp

Kicker 750.1 Monoblock Amp

 

I work at Circuit City as an installer so that is where my install was done, like I said everything has worked fine on the first unit but it suddenly died and the second was DOA out the box. I also took it in to another install shop and they could not figure it out either. We did some searching around on Pioneer's Authorized Dealer Forum and came up blank as well. It may just be my luck with this unit or the dealer simply has a bad stock.

[VBLUE42]

Are you sure they just didn't send the same damn unit back to you? If it was a different unit then it was probably a refurb with the same problem.

[CatchMeIfYouCan631]

i had a similar problem...

 

i had a type x with a pdx amp and a 5 farad cap. i also had type R components, but they werent amped. wiring was perfect but for some odd reason whenever the sub hit hard enough, the amp would cut out the sub and it wouldnt come back on until i turned off and turned back on the car....you have amped speakers too so my situation might make sense for you, if the problem is something to do with the ams...

[caincc]

Are you sure they just didn't send the same damn unit back to you? If it was a different unit then it was probably a refurb with the same problem.

 

Same thing I was thinking at first but I kept the warranty paper out the old unit when i sent it back. They definitely had different serial numbers.

[caincc]

i had a similar problem...

 

i had a type x with a pdx amp and a 5 farad cap. i also had type R components, but they werent amped. wiring was perfect but for some odd reason whenever the sub hit hard enough, the amp would cut out the sub and it wouldnt come back on until i turned off and turned back on the car....you have amped speakers too so my situation might make sense for you, if the problem is something to do with the ams...

 

The bass will still play so the sub out works fine, this lies just with the front and rear outputs on the unit. I forgot to include that bit, i'll add it to the original post.

[CatchMeIfYouCan631]

really? so why would one out put work but others dont? that sounds like a problem with the 4 channel amp, at circuit city do you have access to other amps to try it out? or a friend with a different amp?

[caincc]

really? so why would one out put work but others dont? that sounds like a problem with the 4 channel amp, at circuit city do you have access to other amps to try it out? or a friend with a different amp?

 

Can it possibly be the amp when another unit, ran through the same 2 amplifiers, AVH-P4000DVD, lower tier of Pioneer models but works fine?

 

The only difference, connection wise, is that the AVH-P4000DVD does not have an additional harness for the RCA's, they plug directly into the back of the unit. The main harness is exactly the same as the F-Series models.

 

That is the primary reason why I cancelled the amp out. It powers on, green light on the kicker ZX series, does not go into protection mode, no red light. No blown fuses, etc. The only probable solution is the headunit. The amp would not choose to play through one headunit and not the other, I do not think they are as selective as that.

 

Not to mention with the way my amps are installed, flush mounted to the box, sub amp on the front offset from the sub and 4-channel on the back flushed as well, it would be a living nightmare to have to pull one of them out.

 

If it were the 4-channel, Circuit City, no longer carries the Kicker 4-channel in the higher tier like the one I have. I would have to send it off for service as well. For as long as I have had them, less than a year, no matter what headunit I use, the amps have always been the one reliable component of my system.

 

I just do not think it is the amp though, correct me if I am wrong on that one, any feedback is greatly appreciated.

[CatchMeIfYouCan631]

no, amps arent that smart lol. but amps do have a protect mode, where if too much power is pushed into them them will turn off and my amp didnt go into protect mode either it just stopped sending power....this is only a theory...im not an audio expert nor do i claim to be, but the chances of you getting 2 faulty 900's in a row are very unlikely....even if you dont think that could be it, try another amp for good measure. "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." -Arthur Conan Doyle

[hellodave]

It may not apply in your case, but Pioneer head units are notorious for blowing earth tracks on their preouts. This usually results in a lot of alternator whine, but I don't think it kills the preout completely (unless the F-series are different).

 

Blown earth tracks are usually caused by touching the preout or RCA ground (the outer ring of the plug) to 12v - it only needs to touch for a fraction of a second to blow the track. If you think this might be causing the problem, a simple check is to connect the ground part of the RCA plug to earth with a bit of wire and see if the problem goes away.

[caincc]

Good news is they are sending me out a F90BT model

 

Bad news is, I do not know exaclty what steps to take to make sure the problem does not persist if it is something that I am doing wrong.

 

It should not be however, these things are pretty much plug and play.

 

Not to mention for something to work, initially, for a few weeks then die and hook another up and it not output anything at all, it just seems rather odd.

 

For another unit to work perfectly with no problems I am at a loss as to what the issue is.

 

Unit or install, for another unit to work fine I would like to strike out install.

[CatchMeIfYouCan631]

hellodave's post is interesting....you tape the rca connections right? you dont leave the metal bare?

[caincc]

hellodave's post is interesting....you tape the rca connections right? you dont leave the metal bare?

 

Of course I tape everything.

 

It's lesson 3 on CCity Roadshop Installer 101

 

I never even attempt to power it on unless all connections are soldered and taped to prevent the shortages.

[CamelTowing]

Disconnect your battery when reinstalling. Contributes to blowing the microfuses too

[caincc]

Just verified that it is not the amp or RCA's.

 

I used a tone generator and both the amp w/ RCA's toned successfully.

 

I tested at both the amp and up front at the RCA's, each toned fine.

 

I am about to try out an open box radio here in store and see if I get any output, as I already have done, if it works then that narrows down the problem to the unit itself.

[TwlVoltz]

did you pull out the poor installer excuse for noise the GLI's. I have seen these backfeed to a deck before. what type of rca's did you use ???