2003 convertible aftermarket HU issues

[sj2]

Hi,

I installed a JVC KD-G230 HU in my 2003 convertible today. For the harness I used a Metra 70-8113. First some oddities:
1. The harness did not seem to have any wires for a subwoofer. So right now the sub output from the HU goes nowhere.

2. The HU had one blue wire that said "To the remote lead of other equipment or automatic antenna, if any (200 mA max)". I connected both, the antenna power and amp power-on, to this blue wire.



Now issues:
1. There is a constant hiss in the speakers even when the HU volume is at 0. Like how a stereo sounds when you turn up the volume all the way up without playing anything on it.

2. The volume floor has gone up. At volume level 1, the stereo sounds too loud and at 0 it cuts off sound. The volume does not gradually become lower like before with the stock unit. Volume levels 1 and 0 are like on and off.

3. Where do I put in the sub out from the HU?

Any suggestions or tips for troubleshooting will be highly appreciated.

TIA,

- Siddhartha

[sj2]

Researched the hiss issue a bit. Is it because the HU output is speaker level and this goes into the amp's line level? Do I need a speaker-to-line level converter? Does this look ok for the same?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Speaker- ... 0018372115

I know I can bypass the stock amp altogether with a different harness but I would like to keep the stock amp to drive the stock sub.

Thanks,

- Siddhartha

[TRAFFICBLOWS]

The HU RCA out has to go to an amp first before it goes to any speaker.

I don't know if this will help or not, but my wife's Focus has the same volume floor problem stock... my assumption it may be a feature of your your radio.

Instead of making your decisions to use the stock amp on just what you think may be better, try bypassing the amp so you can compare the actual sound to see what's really better for you. You may be surprised.

[sj2]

I ended up using the standard Toyota aftermarket wires harness. Like the howto said, there are two connectors on the right side behind the stock HU. Everything, including the power antenna, fit onto the aftermarket Metra harness. Yes, the stock amp is bypassed but I am pretty happy with the sound quality.

Now, the issue is with the ham radio that I installed by splitting the power supply of the stereo. The ham radio receives and transmits a whine that varies with the car speed at low speeds and settles to a high (almost inaudible) whine at high speeds or at cruise. Will run the ham radio power supply directly from the battery and see how that works. I could not find the firewall on the convertible so could not do that earlier. Any help with finding the firewall on the convertible would be appreciated.

I read a few posts and looked at a few photos on this forum about the firewall. One post said, follow the hood release cable. I did and it seemed to disappear into the left body panel from behind the left front headlight.

Under the dash, I did find a thick piece of foam/sealing thru which a bunch of wires ran but I could not figure out where does that open on the hood side :( So again, help with that would be greatly appreciated.

TIA,

- Siddhartha