fourty03

Sorry for not posting this in the "Car Electronic" catagory


I was wondering what would be the best ground on the 1st gen?
The weirdest thing happend on sunday, I was about to check my oil, went to grab a papertowel in the trunk and noticed that my left speaker (rear) wasnt connected. I connected it - then i notice my amp wasnt grounded either (unhooked it cause it sound like crap), and the [green] light was still on?
I went ahead and grounded the amp on the trunk latch (i guess its the part where the trunk lockes itself to close?) and all of the sudden the clock came on and the radio started to blink ??!
??

I unhooked the ground wire for the amp and it still didnt go off (and the doors are lock and the key isnt even near the ignition !!!?) I just recenty installed fog lights and grounded that to the "big thick" metal loop under the car - it looks like you can have a chain on it to tow it? - I unlocked the doors and then i turned my fog lights on - they where blinking as well along with the radio? I put the key in the ignition and it acted normal? I taken the key out and the radio stayed on (without music playin) and the clock stayed on. Could that be a ground problem? This is really messin with my mind - Im afraid to start the bitch now... hehe Now im getting - i guess its the alternator whining noise.

If its a ground - where is good place to do it?

Thanks In Advance,
Earl

mazdaspeedwest

huh?
no the amp gets it's ground from the vehicle chassis, but does have a remote turn on lead from the deck, but thats a 200ma positive trigger. (some may be more than 200ma)

the latch bolt is a good ground, but not in a very practical or good looking spot. You can use a rear seat bolt at the hinge where the back seats fold down. make sure the connection is clean and bare metal.

sounds like there are a few wiring problems or loose connections to cause all you described, near impossible to diagnose in email without a good eyeball on the whole wiring scheme.

mazdaspeedwest

BTW, i'm moving this over to the Electrical forum.

fourty03

Thax for moving this :-)


I had the amp hooked through a fuse in the fuse box because the last radio i had - the remote wire didnt work.... it worked good that way though........

I installed a new radio and never paid attention to the way i wired the amp... I unhooked the remote wire from the fuse box and it quit acting up......... :-)


Thanx for the info ...... Soon enough ..... I will figure it out

Earl

fourty03

What about if i made one "main" ground connection? So I could hook everything up to one ground source? Would that be pratical or not or worth it? I've just got wires laying all around the car - underneath, inside, and the trunk ..... hehe :-)


Thanks.
Earl