HELP stereo andsubwoofer sound cuts in and out!

[Cody95k1500]

my trucks aftermarket stereo keeps cuting in and out. I checked my battery and altenator and that all checks out. I checked all of the connects behind the head unit and at the sub amp and front and rear speaker amp. on my kicker amp the prt red light is on. Is it a grounding issue or is my head unit toast thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[df2x4]

on my kicker amp the prt red light is on

PRT is short for "Protection." You've got a major issue somewhere.

You say you have amped the interior speakers and a sub, are you referring to two separate amplifiers or are you running a 5/6 channel that does all of them?

When your audio cuts out, is it all speakers at once or just part of it? Are your amp/s getting hot to the touch?

 

[Cody95k1500]

PRT is short for "Protection." You've got a major issue somewhere.

You say you have amped the interior speakers and a sub, are you referring to two separate amplifiers or are you running a 5/6 channel that does all of them?

When your audio cuts out, is it all speakers at once or just part of it? Are your amp/s getting hot to the touch?

I have one amp dedicated to all of the speakers in the truck accept my two subs which have one amp for them.

When the sound cuts in and out it its all of the speakers including the subs but when it cuts back in all of the speakers are working but the subs and that's when the prt light comes on. the amps are not hot at all they stay cool to the touch when it happens

 

[df2x4]

I'm leaning heavily towards a ground issue, then. Where are your amps grounded? They should be grounded in separate locations, bolted directly to sheet metal on the body. Make sure you grind away any paint so that the terminal makes good contact with bare metal. Also inspect your cables for any charring/blackness on the ends. You've got a wiring issue somewhere, almost certainly.

 

[Cody95k1500]

I'm leaning heavily towards a ground issue, then. Where are your amps grounded? They should be grounded in separate locations, bolted directly to sheet metal on the body. Make sure you grind away any paint so that the terminal makes good contact with bare metal. Also inspect your cables for any charring/blackness on the ends. You've got a wiring issue somewhere, almost certainly.

I checked all of the grounds and cleaned up the connections and its still doing it. I think im gonna swap the head unit to a spare one i have just to see if it fixes anything. I also played around with the line on wires. I unplugged the sub from any power just the line wire and the red light still is on. Could it still be a power issue?

 

[df2x4]

I unplugged the sub from any power just the line wire and the red light still is on. Could it still be a power issue?

If you unplugged the amp from power, the protection light (or any lights) wouldn't be on. I'm having a hard time understanding what you're trying to say here.

99% certain that a head unit swap isn't going to help you at all. Protection light means bad stuff, period. If anything equipment related I'd say maybe you have an amp going bad and causing voltage spikes or back-feeding power somewhere. My money is still on wiring, though.

Car audio stuff is really hard to diagnose over the internet. If you can't get it figured out, just take it to an audio shop. They'll have it diagnosed in an hour.

EDIT - The only way I see this being a head unit issue is if you're getting voltage spikes over the RCA cables somehow, but in all my years messing with this stuff I've never seen one fail in that manner.

 

[Cody95k1500]

If you unplugged the amp from power, the protection light (or any lights) wouldn't be on. I'm having a hard time understanding what you're trying to say here.

99% certain that a head unit swap isn't going to help you at all. Protection light means bad stuff, period. If anything equipment related I'd say maybe you have an amp going bad and causing voltage spikes or back-feeding power somewhere. My money is still on wiring, though.

Car audio stuff is really hard to diagnose over the internet. If you can't get it figured out, just take it to an audio shop. They'll have it diagnosed in an hour.

EDIT - The only way I see this being a head unit issue is if you're getting voltage spikes over the RCA cables somehow, but in all my years messing with this stuff I've never seen one fail in that manner.

Thanks for the help man! I think taking it to the audio shop will save me many sleepless nights.

 

[df2x4]

You're welcome! Sorry I couldn't quite figure it out. Good call taking it to someone, sometimes it's just the easiest way.