Added amp and subs to factory monsoon system....no sound from subs

[schim79]

So I have been ripping my hair out for the past 4 days over this. I have a 2007 G6 GT with the factory monsoon system in it. I want to retain the stock headunit and that has been the biggest mistake of the whole process. I installed a Pioneer GM-D9601 Mono Amp along with 2ea 12 inch Comp VR's. The amp has speaker level inputs, through the RCA's, so there was no need for a LOC. Well I tried to wire it before the facory amp, after it and everywhere in between with no luck at all. Then I broke down and bought a LOC and went through the same process with the same results...nothing. The 9601 is powering up with no issues at all, the light is steady blue, never red, it does not get hot nor does it have any type of burnt smell to it (neighbors thought I was crazy buried in a trunk sniffing a little black box!). I have installed many systems in the past with no issues at all but none have been in conjunction with a factory amplified system.

I don't have access to my DMM right now (it's buried in my storage shed somewhere) but I have used a test light on just about every connection I have tried. I am getting power at the wires before the factory amp as well as after it. When I test the RCA's coming from the factory harness I get nothing at all. The cables are brand new and have no damage I can see. I am about to go buy a new DMM as much as I hate to because mine is great but I am at wits end and not in the mood to go back to the storage shed until I move. I have scoured the internet for hours and tried everything I could to no avail and begging on here is my last resort. I will list some of the things I have tried just to give you an idea...

-hooked an MP3 player up to the RCA's on the Pioneer AMP.....no output to subs at all
-checked all the wiring about 20 times, it is all correct and has a solid ground
-replaced all involved fuses just for the hell of it
-tried a few sets of RCA's I had laying around
-tried an old set of subs that worked in my old setup

Also a problem in the whole mess is that I am unable to find a wiring schematic for my years system. The ones I have found were for the year prior but said to be almost identical. Well they are not but by tapping into the wires going directly into my rear deck speakers the sub should work....in theory. Well, I will end my rant here and any tips, tricks or advice are greatly appreciated.

[Chris from Washington]

So I have been ripping my hair out for the past 4 days over this. I have a 2007 G6 GT with the factory monsoon system in it. I want to retain the stock headunit and that has been the biggest mistake of the whole process. I installed a Pioneer GM-D9601 Mono Amp along with 2ea 12 inch Comp VR's. The amp has speaker level inputs, through the RCA's, so there was no need for a LOC. Well I tried to wire it before the facory amp, after it and everywhere in between with no luck at all. Then I broke down and bought a LOC and went through the same process with the same results...nothing. The 9601 is powering up with no issues at all, the light is steady blue, never red, it does not get hot nor does it have any type of burnt smell to it (neighbors thought I was crazy buried in a trunk sniffing a little black box!). I have installed many systems in the past with no issues at all but none have been in conjunction with a factory amplified system.

I don't have access to my DMM right now (it's buried in my storage shed somewhere) but I have used a test light on just about every connection I have tried. I am getting power at the wires before the factory amp as well as after it. When I test the RCA's coming from the factory harness I get nothing at all. The cables are brand new and have no damage I can see. I am about to go buy a new DMM as much as I hate to because mine is great but I am at wits end and not in the mood to go back to the storage shed until I move. I have scoured the internet for hours and tried everything I could to no avail and begging on here is my last resort. I will list some of the things I have tried just to give you an idea...

-hooked an MP3 player up to the RCA's on the Pioneer AMP.....no output to subs at all
-checked all the wiring about 20 times, it is all correct and has a solid ground
-replaced all involved fuses just for the hell of it
-tried a few sets of RCA's I had laying around
-tried an old set of subs that worked in my old setup

Also a problem in the whole mess is that I am unable to find a wiring schematic for my years system. The ones I have found were for the year prior but said to be almost identical. Well they are not but by tapping into the wires going directly into my rear deck speakers the sub should work....in theory. Well, I will end my rant here and any tips, tricks or advice are greatly appreciated.

Hi,
Welcome to the forum.

This one sounds tough, I was going to say try tapping in after the factory amp but it sounds like you already did that.
I was wondering if from the deck, to the amp it's a digital signal. That's how it is on my 4Runner.

But tapping after the factory amp, should be an analog signal. After the amp it goes directly to the speakers right?

[schim79]

Hi,
Welcome to the forum.

This one sounds tough, I was going to say try tapping in after the factory amp but it sounds like you already did that.
I was wondering if from the deck, to the amp it's a digital signal. That's how it is on my 4Runner.

But tapping after the factory amp, should be an analog signal. After the amp it goes directly to the speakers right?

Chris,
First off, thanks for the reply. You are correct, I have tapped both before and after the factory amp. The lines coming from the amp do indeed go directly to the speakers which are only about 2 feet away. As far as the signal coming from the deck I am pretty sure it is digital but not 100% certain. I am going into town tomorrow morning so I may just stop by one of the car audio places and have them test the amp. I bought it used and saw it working before I got it so have no reason to believe it is fried but stranger things have happened! If that is the case I am demanding a refund!!

[schim79]

Chris,
First off, thanks for the reply. You are correct, I have tapped both before and after the factory amp. The lines coming from the amp do indeed go directly to the speakers which are only about 2 feet away. As far as the signal coming from the deck I am pretty sure it is digital but not 100% certain. I am going into town tomorrow morning so I may just stop by one of the car audio places and have them test the amp. I bought it used and saw it working before I got it so have no reason to believe it is fried but stranger things have happened! If that is the case I am demanding a refund!!

So I wasn't able to get to an installer today but I did pick up a new sub at Best Buy, 12" CompR. I just came in from hooking it up and it worked flawlessly. I am guessing the subs were shot for one reason or another because I did nothing differently. I would have thought I would have gotten at least some distorted output from them but apparently not....strange.

The whole situation turned into a huge win though because Best Buy had the CompR priced at $150.00 on the shelf but it rung up to $250.00. When I told the cashier about the price on the shelf she went to look and noticed that the $150.00 tag was supposed to be on 10" CompS. In the end she said it was false advertising and she had to give it to me for $150.00!

[Chris from Washington]

glad you got it figured out!!