My brother and I just ran wires to go to 2 10' MTX Magnum subs, they were going to be powered by the stock ____ty amp they came with. The amp wouldn't turn on even though we checked to see that it was getting power, so I figured the amp was just a dud. I got a new Alpine 500 watt mono amp, and it is having the same problem. Power is getting to it but it won't turn on, we've tried it with the remote lead and without it. Any suggestions?

 

Did you change the headunit setting to sub on?

 

Can you please refresh me on how to do that? I didn't see anything that said i needed to, I turned on the Sub control though.?

 

the amp needs 3 things. a +, -, and remote. positive direct to the battery, negative to the ground, and remote is when you turn the key on, the power comes on. if you were local i would help.

 

Yeah, we have all of that. We've pretty much narrowed it down that it's the remote lead, just not sure if it's the wire or what we tapped into

 

didn't you use a tester for that?

 

We tested to make sure it wasn't the power wire. As far as testing the wire we tapped into, we have and it was putting out power.. Idk

 

The white wire pin 9 on the 10 pin plug is the one you need to tap into for remote. It should be the only solid white wire on the deck.

Aside from that just make sure you are getting constant 12v from the battery and remote wire. You're ground is solid and secure to an unpainted section and the RCA's are secure and connected.

 

We did exactly that, we tapped into the white wire and we weren't drawing enough power from it. It hardly registered. Are you sure that's the right one for a 2012 head unit? Has any of the wiring changed with the headunits?

 

Some amps have an on/off switch check that, or
Check all the fuses on the amp and that lead to the head unit cuz chances are you blew a fuse somewhere. Also, maybe check that your grounded wire is actually secure. I find that when my battery dies, my amp wont turn on until I pull out and put back the fuses...I don't know why it does this but it is an old amp.

 

If you have a buddy with a working amp/sub set up you could take yours and test it in his/her car to see if the equipment is good. Troubleshooting is fun but can be a headache.

 

We checked it with my brothers and it still didn't work. I know that the problem has to be that I'm not tapped in the right wire for the remote lead. I can't find any charts/diagrams etc. on the 2012 tc pioneer headunit though.

 

I tapped into a yellow wire as I could not figure out which of the 3 or 4 white wires everyone was talking about. It is a constant 12v source if the key is on, turn key off and amp turns off. The only problem is the amp is on as soon as you turn the key. It's not a real problem, just a heads up. I always have the stereo on anyways.. Mine has been in for a year now, no issues.

 

go into the audio controlls and check to make sure your sub is on then make sure they are turned up... im guessing the amp on light isnt even coming on... can you take a picture of the settings on the back of the amp.. there may be one that changes how the amp turns on as i state below

actually most amps dont need a remote wire they have a setting that turns it on either via a remote or via the signal recieved through the signal (rca) wires..

 

The audio wiring hasn't changed in the 2012.
In fact, Toyota has used the same audio wiring layout since the late 80's on most of their cars.

 

for the most part yes

 

So your brothers set up was not working either? I was suggesting you take your equipment and put it in a car that you know has functioning wiring.

 

Hmm I wanted to do that, but he didnt want to cut the ends off of his wires. Im going to see if I can take it to a car audio place here in Houston and just have them check to see if im getting enough power, etc.

 

Probably not a bad idea. I guess depending on the equipment he might have to cut wires but I doubt it. Pretty much all the amp's I have seen use either a phillips or allen head set up on a terminal that is either a hole for the bare end of the wire to be inserted then secured with the set screw. Or a terminal with a flat washer and a screw that would sandwich a spade terminal crimped to the end of the wire instead of bare wire.

 

True, on his setup he had gold connectors (forgot what they're called) and mine was just bare wire. The other reason we couldn't test it though is because he has 8 gauge wire and not 4 like what my amp requires.