DJHydrogen

I've wired plenty of stereos with Metra adapters and Crutchfield guides, and never had a problem.

I recently got a 03 SC430 with a Kenwood Double DIN head unit already installed... using the 2003 TOYOTA adapter, so sound only came out of the mids in the doors, nothing else... but sound was coming out. The previous owner somehow had wiring spliced to that adapter with heavy gauge "super bass" or some name brand wiring.... I assume going nowhere now, but I guess they had a subwoofer box in there previously with an amp.

I disconnected the Toyota adapter and cut all things it was spliced into, including the wiring for the non-existent subs....

I then wired in the ASWC-TOY-LEX in combination with the TYTO-01 harness as per instructions... somehow I forgot to take the key out of the Acc position, saw a spark, blew the 30A fuse in the engine bay.... no biggie, took burnt fuse out, disconnected the negative terminal (I KNOW I should have done that before anything else, but I was in a rush and "never had to before" yada yada...), finished up the wiring per specs clean and nice, dropped in a new fuse, and connected the battery again.

Everything lights up not and appears to function properly (including the Nav screen that wouldn't close when I got the car, weird... related? coincidence?) but no sound is coming out whatsoever.

Where do I start looking?

Thank you in advance for helping a newb.

DJHydrogen

Chatting with Crutchfield, the plot thickens on my repo monster.

Here's a synopsis of our chat:

Did you hook the Blue/white wire on the Kenwood to anything?
2/10/2017 4:21:44 p.m.
the blue white from kenwood is going to blue white on Axxess TYTO
2/10/2017 4:22:00 p.m.Jason
Ok, that should have the factory amp turned on, then.
/10/2017 4:22:11 p.m.Jason
So you were getting sound before, just not through all the speakers, right?
2/10/2017 4:22:38 p.m.Joshua C
correct
2/10/2017 4:23:02 p.m.Jason
Do you know if whomever installed the Kenwood bypassed the factory amp by any chance?
2/10/2017 4:24:04 p.m.Joshua C
I assume that's what they had done using the old Toyota adapter that I pulled.... the car was a repo before I got it (I didn't know that at the time of purchase, uggh) so there's no history.
2/10/2017 4:26:25 p.m.Joshua C
I have the Toyota adapter that I removed in hand... the amp wires were spliced into the blue and black wires coming off of that.
2/10/2017 4:27:08 p.m.Jason
I'm wondering if they didn't do something wrong at the amp that's causing a problem now.
2/10/2017 4:27:35 p.m.Jason
Unfortunately I don't have any wiring information on the amp itself to be able to say make sure X is connected to Y, etc.
2/10/2017 4:28:02 p.m.Jason
Have you replaced the speakers at all? Wondering if you have one you can connect directly to the radio and test output there, bypassing all the wiring in the vehicle.
2/10/2017 4:28:45 p.m.Joshua C
I have not replaced anything other than the Toyota adapter with the TYTO and ASWC
2/10/2017 4:30:11 p.m.Jason
Ok, give me a few minutes and let me see if I can find some wiring info on that amp.
2/10/2017 4:31:39 p.m.Joshua C
thanks. btw, on the TYTO 20 pin harness, the only things not connected to something are the Black/White wire, the Orange wire, and the Solid blue wire.
2/10/2017 4:35:25 p.m.Jason
Ok, so the midranges and tweeters were actually powered by the radio directly (except for the driver's side midrange, which was powered by the nav amp, but same difference for our purposes), and the woofers were powered by the amp.
2/10/2017 4:35:37 p.m.Jason
So if they bypassed the amp originally, I think that explains why that was all you had that was working.
2/10/2017 4:36:00 p.m.Jason
But, those same speakers should still be working now.
2/10/2017 4:36:53 p.m.Joshua C
so, where do I go from here?
2/10/2017 4:37:21 p.m.Jason
Oh wait, no I read that wrong, the mid and tweeter were powered by the amp too.
2/10/2017 4:38:06 p.m.Jason
Well, the TYTO is assuming the factory amp is still in line so it knocks the sound from the new radio down so that factory amp can re-amplify it. If you don't have the factory amp any longer, there's nothing there to boost the sound back up.
2/10/2017 4:38:19 p.m.Jason
I think step one is checking to see if they did indeed bypass the factory amp, and then undo that if possible.
2/10/2017 4:39:32 p.m.Joshua C
I have the cover off the driver door now, the factory amp and speakers are all there.
2/10/2017 4:39:53 p.m.Jason
The amp should be in the trunk, not the driver's side door.
2/10/2017 4:40:36 p.m.Jason
SC430_Amp_Access0.JPG
2/10/2017 4:40:47 p.m.Joshua C
interesting.... the mids in the door say "memphis car audio on them
2/10/2017 4:41:12 p.m.Jason
Those are aftermarkets then, and what you're thinking is the amp may be the crossover for a component system.
2/10/2017 4:43:08 p.m.Jason
Once you go through the steps in the picture I sent you the amp should be on the right hand side of the hole that opens up. If they've bypassed it, it should be obvious since there will likely be a ton of wires all spliced together right there.
2/10/2017 4:43:54 p.m.Jason
If that's the case, you've got two options: try to undo what they've done and put it back to stock, or run new wire from the radio to that location and then just use the output side, basically hooking the "new" radio directly to the speakers.
2/10/2017 4:50:25 p.m.Joshua C
the image you sent stops at step 6
2/10/2017 4:51:05 p.m.Jason
That's the last step we have, once you pull the floor panel out, you should have access to the amp and navigation module.
2/10/2017 4:51:57 p.m.Joshua C
ok, almost there
2/10/2017 4:56:05 p.m.Joshua C
I can see the stock Mark L amp and sub, gps unit, roof control, etc... nothing has a splice. I'm guessing the previous owner went with a "cheapo bass" kit where they just toss in whatever fits, run amp power right off the battery, and run sub input off the rear speaker outputs...
2/10/2017 4:56:29 p.m.Joshua C
How do I go back to stock from this?
2/10/2017 4:57:55 p.m.Joshua C
or at least enable what's in the doors? (the 6x9's are now Kicker brand, I just saw)
2/10/2017 4:59:27 p.m.Jason
If there's no splicing there then they haven't bypassed that amp. They probably just added a subwoofer to it.
2/10/2017 4:59:43 p.m.Jason
They may have cut the lines going to the factory "subs" in the doors, which would explain why only the mids were playing.
2/10/2017 5:00:25 p.m.Jason
So we're back to the fact that the mids should still be working. Do you recall which wires at the radio they had connected to and that you reconnected?
2/10/2017 5:01:16 p.m.Joshua C
let me scroll up, i mentioned that earlier
2/10/2017 5:01:49 p.m.Joshua C
"I have the Toyota adapter that I removed in hand... the amp wires were spliced into the blue and black wires coming off of that."
2/10/2017 5:02:49 p.m.Jason
That wouldn't be speaker wires, though, that's just remote turn on (blue) and ground (black). They should have tapped in to at least two other wires for speaker positive and negative.
2/10/2017 5:03:46 p.m.Joshua C
the only other two wires spliced into were the red and yellow, there's no other wires off of it, but there are 4 RCA leads.
2/10/2017 5:04:28 p.m.Joshua C
remember, that's in reference to the REMOVED Toyota adapter.
2/10/2017 5:05:21 p.m.Jason
Right, wire colors on it are the same as the TYTO for the most part. They had to pick up signal somewhere and all of those are power related. Does the wire connected to the 6x9's in the doors look stock or like something they've added?
2/10/2017 5:08:42 p.m.Joshua C
6x9's are wired into stock wiring, however... i see something else interesting.
2/10/2017 5:09:11 p.m.Joshua C
sound goes into the door into the stock tweeter, then..
.2/10/2017 5:09:34 p.m.Joshua C
down into the memphis crossover...
2/10/2017 5:09:56 p.m.Joshua C
two outputs from this crossover, one into the memphis mid, the other is cut...
2/10/2017 5:11:08 p.m.Jason
They may have just decided to leave the stock tweeters in instead of doing the mods necessary to make the Memphis tweeters work in there.
2/10/2017 5:11:18 p.m.Jason
So that's probably the tweeter output that's not being used off of the crossover.
2/10/2017 5:11:38 p.m.Jason
Was it the "Radio No 1" fuse that you blew?
2/10/2017 5:12:12 p.m.Joshua C
the 30A fuse... I'll see what it's labeled as
2/10/2017 5:13:03 p.m.Joshua C
you're correct, "Radio 1"
2/10/2017 5:13:50 p.m.Jason
Ok, that's the one that supplies power to the amp as well, so that could be bad news. When that fuse blew, it could have either been due to something wrong with the amp, or could have caused something to go wrong with the amp. Do you have a volt meter?
2/10/2017 5:16:13 p.m.Joshua C
I do not
2/10/2017 5:16:27 p.m.Joshua C
does the amp have a fuse on it?
2/10/2017 5:16:53 p.m.Jason
Nope, factory amps generally don't, they just rely on the fuse in the car.
2/10/2017 5:18:08 p.m.Jason
Two options to troubleshoot further, then: disconnect one of your speakers and hook it up directly to the back of the Kenwood, say the white and white/black wires and see what happens. If you get sound, then more than likely your factory amp has bit the dust, and if you don't then more than likely the Kenwood has.
2/10/2017 5:18:37 p.m.Jason
Second way is to get a volt meter and test the speaker wires on the Kenwood for AC voltage. If you see AC voltage, the factory amp is probably the problem, if you don't, then the Kenwood is.
2/10/2017 5:19:08 p.m.Jas
onSpeaker test is probably easier since even if you do get a meter, the AC will fluctuate with the music so some meters have a hard time reading it.
2/10/2017 5:19:36 p.m.Joshua C
is it possible anywhere in this I made a mistake in wiring?
2/10/2017 5:20:11 p.m.Jason
it's always possible, go back over your speaker wires between the Kenwood and the TYTO and make sure all the colors match: white to white, white/black to white/black, etc.
2/10/2017 5:20:29 p.m.Joshua C
I was told yesterday to connect the pinkish red TYTO switched accessory line to the normal red power line.
2/10/2017 5:20:43 p.m.Jason
And make sure none of those are shorting out in any fashion. Generally if they were the Kenwood would give you a "Check Spkr Wiring" message, but it's possible that it's in protect without giving the message.
2/10/2017 5:20:56 p.m.Jason
There's no pink on the TYTO, so that's their version of red.
2/10/2017 5:23:21 p.m.Joshua C
from the TYTO the instructions said NOT to connect six lines, Red, Brown, Light Green, Blue/Pink, Green/Purple, and Orange/ White
2/10/2017 5:23:41 p.m.Jason
On the 16 pin connector, that's correct.
2/10/2017 5:24:29 p.m.Joshua C
on the 20 pin connector, the orange, blue, and Black/white are not connected.
2/10/2017 5:25:43 p.m.Jason
You may want to connect the black/white to ground, sometimes that's a shield ground but I don't recall it being needed on the TYTO.
2/10/2017 5:26:21 p.m.Joshua C
so splice that into a solid black off the head unit?
2/10/2017 5:26:35 p.m.Jason
Yeah, or go straight to chassis ground with it, doesn't matter
2/10/2017 5:27:41 p.m.Joshua C
what would that line govern?
2/10/2017 5:28:10 p.m.Jason
Well, like I said I don't recall it being needed on the TYTO but generally it's a signal ground.
2/10/2017 5:28:38 p.m.Jason
The signal from the factory radio to the amp is a shielded cable, think like an RCA cable, and that wire provides the ground for the outer part of that cable.
2/10/2017 5:29:14 p.m.Joshua C
so if the factory amp didn't sense proper grounding, it probably wouldn't turn on....
2/10/2017 5:29:47 p.m.Jason
Well that wire doesn't have anything to do with it powering on, but it might have to do with the signal getting there.
2/10/2017 5:29:52 p.m.Jason
Signal = sound
2/10/2017 5:30:40 p.m.Joshua C
no luck
2/10/2017 5:31:00 p.m.Joshua C
I'll dig up a speaker to test the output from the head unit.
2/10/2017 5:31:35 p.m.Jason
Honestly your best case scenario is that that doesn't work, since that means you can just get another radio and wire it up to the TYTO and you should be good to go.
2/10/2017 5:32:04 p.m.Jason
If that works, that means it's the factory amp and it's either pony up whatever Lexus charges for a new one, or bypass it altogether which is going to mean running wires from the radio back to the trunk.
2/10/2017 5:32:21 p.m.Joshua C
or ebay...
2/10/2017 5:32:46 p.m.Jason
True, but the problem with those is you don't know if they work or not. Just have to trust that whoever is selling it is honest.
2/10/2017 5:33:11 p.m.Joshua C
I've had pretty good luck, barring buying this frankenstein car.
2/10/2017 5:33:28 p.m.Jason
Haha, yeah, trying to fix other people's bad installs is the worst.
2/10/2017 5:33:34 p.m.Joshua C
so you think I fried the radio myself?
2/10/2017 5:33:46 p.m.Jason
I'd rather work on the worst factory system in the world than go back through and try to figure out what somebody else was thinking and fix it.
2/10/2017 5:34:06 p.m.Jason
It's possible, for a 30 amp fuse to blow there had to be a pretty serious spike go through the system.
2/10/2017 5:34:35 p.m.Joshua C
ugggh. I feel so dumb. this is the ONLY time I've neglected to remove the negative terminal.
2/10/2017 5:35:02 p.m.Joshua C
I started installing stereos when I was 14 with my dad, 25 years ago.
2/10/2017 5:35:03 p.m.Jason
We've all been there. Can't count how many times I've done something similar.

Anyone else got any other ideas?

Bgw70

I think the amp is shot.

do you have the OEM radio?

the ML amp is the weak link in the system.

do a search on the ML amp.

DJHydrogen

I'm going out to test the head unit in a few... if it turns out the head unit is still good, I have two questions:

1: is the 86280-0W032 from the 98-05 GS Levinson system (or for that matter, even later GS systems?) the same as the 86280-0W070 from the 02-09 SC Levinson system? they definitely look the same, minus mount, maybe, and the GS can be had for less...

2: are there any other amps I can plug in in place of the ML amp? I'm down to basically just the ML Tweeters and Sub being all that's left of the stock system, AFIK, so I'll sort out impedance matching after I figure out the amp solution.

thank you!

sexusc430

Since you also saw a spark, maybe the amp shorted? Do you have a stock stereo to test with? Does the voice guidance from the navi work?

DJHydrogen

The Nav hasn't worked since I got the car.... screen lights up and says Lexus, goes to display setting, but that's it. I'm testing the head unit in the next hour or so to see if it's still good. If not, that's easier and cheaper than replacing the amp. If I have to replace the amp, I'm like to scrap all of it except the wiring, and put a 4ohm amp and sub, and wire the head unit direct to the speakers. (My goal with this project car overall is to drop weight, then bolt on a few horses, but still be a daily driver.)

DJHydrogen

Soooo.... the Kenwood the head unit is still good, line straight from it to speakers produces sound loud and clear. ...so the amp is likely bad.

I still have three questions:

1: is the 86280-0W032 from the 98-05 GS Levinson system (or for that matter, even later GS systems?) the same as the 86280-0W070 from the 02-09 SC Levinson system? they definitely look the same, minus mounting hardware, maybe, and the GS can be had for less...

2: are there any other amps I can plug in in place of the ML amp? I'm down to basically just the ML Tweeters and Sub being all that's left of the stock system, AFIK, so I'll sort out impedance matching, if necessary, after I figure out the amp solution.

3: assuming I scrap the amp, how can I use the existing wiring off of it to connect another amp and sub (I'll use the stock location for the sub and same size) and, perhaps, lines to the speakers bypassing the amp and, essentially, though a longer route, straight from head unit to doors and rear speakers? anyone know what wire goes to what?

I would really like to have steering wheel controls, if possible...

thank you so much for helping!

Harold57

You might try asking Lexus or Toyota about the compatibility of the amps. A good car stereo shop might know or be able to find out but I wouldn't hold my breath expecting them to have a good answer.

DJHydrogen

If anything, just someone that knows what color identifies which wire going in and out of the amp would be super helpful...

Harold57

I think that I've seen those schematics posted here in the forum. It might have been Retroplay in the last year or two, so you might do a search for it. (When I get the chance, I'll search my records to see if I have a copy. Maybe Bgw has one.)

DshngDaryl

I think it is interesting the Nav system and the amp both don't work. Both are located next to each other in the trunk. Could it be the fuse for the amp and nav system is blown?

Maybe you should take out the trunk carpet and visually ID the components.

Harold57

The easy way is to just grab the cable powering the units and check for power when the units should be on. (Good catch DashingDar.)

DJHydrogen

Harold57

Yes, this car has fuse panels distributed around the car. It kind of makes it difficult when chasing down power issues. I think that I've seen a diagram of all the locations but check your manual as it will tell you what fuses are associated with what and where they are located.

DshngDaryl

Actually, Yes, it has a fuse box right next to the AMP and Nav Unit.