10 Common Problems You May Encounter During The Auto Stereo Installation

Nowadays, it’s not hard to replace an Android car radio with old vehicles. After selecting the car stereo according to your own needs, determine the size of the head unit, single din or double din. All you need to do is take the old car stereo off the car and replace the new one. The auto stereo installation is not difficult. However, during the auto stereo installation process you may encounter some problems that you don't know how to deal with. In this article, we summarize some common problems and offer solutions. After reading this article, it may save an extra auto stereo installation cost for you.

1. After Installing The Car Stereo According to The Instructions, The Head Unit Cannot be Powered On.

When installing a brand new car stereo, this does not mean the car stereo is faulty or gets wrong auto stereo installation if the machine can not be turned on. More likely, your car is not compatible with the wiring harness used to install the car stereo. So how do we determine this problem? We found a way to check it.
It's very easy to operate if you have a DC power supply like this.

Connect the ground wire from the wire harness to the negative of the DC power supply. Connect the Battery+ wire and ACC wire, and then connect them to the positive of the DC power supply. It’s the same as the auto stereo installation. Once the three wires are connected correctly, the car stereo can be powered up and turned on. If the car stereo can be powered on this way but does not work when you are using the wire adapter to connect the head unit. Then the problem is that the wire adapter you used is not compatible with the car stereo. You need to find a wire adapter that fits your car.
What if you don’t have the DC power supply? No worry, it will need the battery of your car. It’s the same connection. Connect the Battery+ wire and ACC wire, and then connect them to the positive of your car battery, connect the ground wire to the negative of your car battery directly.

 

2. The Brackets that Come with The Car Stereo Do not Fit My Car.

Generally speaking, people choose the Android Car Stereo they want depending on its size or system versions, like single din/double din, 7/9/10 inch, or Android 9/Android 10. In the auto stereo installation, the brackets are used to help the car stereo to fix the car. However, some car stereos cannot be selected only through the single or double din. Like Honda Accord Car Stereo, Honda CRV Car Stereo, Toyota Camry Car Radio, and Toyota Prado Car Radio. They also need the extra dash kit to fit the car stereo. These are the car models we already know, of course, there should be more than that.
As the car model varies in the market, it’s hard to put all dash kits that fit all kinds of cars in the package. Therefore, you can search your car model dash kit online or find it at the local car audio shop.

3. Only FM Radio has Sound During Auto Stereo Installation Process, No Sound for Playing Music / Video.

 

We have had a lot of customers come in and ask about this. Usually, this problem is caused by not turning on the AMP switch on the car stereo. You can contact the car stereo seller to ask where to find the option. Or maybe people didn't know if his car had the factory AMP and wasn't connected the RCA wire harness to the car stereo. If you don't know if your car has a built-in AMP, you can contact your car dealer to find out. It is also possible that the speaker wires are not installed correctly. You can also take a picture of how you connect the wires and send it to your head unit seller to have a look at it.
In other words, it can be a variety of things during the auto stereo installation. Check every wire connection going in or out of your car stereo. If nothing is happening when you use a voltmeter or oscilloscope, then that tells you there is a problem.
It could be as simple as one bad speaker in your car. Most car stereos have a protection circuit that shuts down the amplifier part in your radio. It may not even be a bad speaker but a bad connection or a shorted-out speaker. It could also be behind the auto stereo installation.

4. The Auto Stereo Installation Says Comes With The USB Port, But It Doesn't on The Front.

 

Usually, the USB port is located in the lower-left or lower right corner of the front of the car stereo, but some models will also design the USB port as an external port due to design problems. It comes with the USB wire in the package, one end is connected to the back of the car stereo, and the other end is an external USB port. The advantage of this design is that the car stereo can offer multiple USB ports, not just one.
Binize Car Stereo is designed as an external USB port, divided into two USB ports. One is 4 pin USB wire, and another one is 6 pins USB. 4 pin USB wire is used to transfer the file like kinds of music, videos, and pictures. 6 pin USB wire is used to update the system of the car stereo. It is friendly with auto stereo installation.

 

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5. The Radio Can't Detect Any Channel After Auto Stereo Installation.

There is a radio jack on the back of the head unit, and then there will be a corresponding radio cable in your car. So please make sure that the radio cable is also connected to the head unit when connecting the wiring harness.
A small tip for the auto stereo installation：there is an ANT wire in your car stereo, that is for your car auto antenna. So if your car does have a radio auto antenna, then need to plug it carefully and tightly. If not, no need to plug it. Cause according to some Binize customer's feedback, if you connect the ANT wire but your car doesn’t have the auto antenna, then the car stereo cannot be turned off, which will harm your car battery.

6. Will I Need Other Special Wire Adapters for My Car Stereo During The Auto Stereo Installation?

 

Depending on your vehicle and its options, you may also need additional wiring adapters and ports in addition to the car stereo wire harness. A common and inexpensive antenna adapter to accommodate different antenna plugs in different car models.
Many late-model cars may require special adapters for factory functions that are built into the existing factory car stereo, such as air conditioning and steering wheel control. And you may also have a factory amplifier and other features that could require the addition of adapters to remember your factory settings.

 

7. There is Loudness With The Speaker and The Speaker Wires Getting Hot.

 

The speaker wires must be connected with one positive and the other negative, and each speaker must lead out 2 speaker wires, and so on. The speaker cables need to be connected well and protected separately, and cannot be connected in parallel or touch the iron parts on the car.

You’ll need to fasten bare wires together, and there are few ways to do it. Please avoid only taping the wires together — eventually, the tape will dry out and fall off, exposing the wires and making it only a matter of time before something shorts out.

Here are the options that will give you secure, lasting connections:
The welding creates a permanent, professional connection that ensures maximum current transfer. We strongly recommend that you use a heat-shrinkable tube and a hot air gun to insulate the solder connection. It is the safest and most conductive connection for wiring.

Crimping is fast and fairly simple. If you crimp the wires together, be sure to use the correct size crimp connector — typical in-dash stereo wires are 18-gauge, but a few use heavier gauge power and ground wires. There are several types of crimp connectors, including bullet connectors, butt connectors, or crimp caps.

 

8. How Much Power does The Car Stereo Need to Get The Best Performance out of The Car Sound System?

 

Because every car stereo is different, there is no fixed wattage formula for calculating it during the auto stereo installation. As long as you stay within the power range recommended by the speakers, increasing the power will always add richness and depth to your music. Compare the keyboard to the grand piano. The keyboard can play music clearly but upgrade to the grand piano and you'll get better timbre, more harmonious details, and more volume. The larger the instrument, the easier it is to get a powerful sound.

Here are some points to consider:

Want to add a subwoofer to the factory stereo? The subwoofer requires a lot of power to achieve the bass effect, so an external amplifier must be used. It’s better to use more power for bass than use to power all of your full-range speakers. If the receiver outputs 20 watts of RMS x 2 channels (total 40 watts), send at least 40 watts to the subwoofer. So if you use a 50-watt x 2 amp to run your components, dedicate at least 100 watts for bass.

How efficient are your speakers? The speaker has a direct impact on the whole "power" of the system. If you plan to equip the speakers with a built-in receiver, an efficient speaker (with a sensitivity of 90 decibels or higher) will give a better value for money. If you are installing high-performance component speakers, an external amplifier will yield maximum performance.

How good is your wiring? Your system's chain of components is only as strong as its weakest link, so don't use the substandard power cable and speaker wire harness during the auto stereo installation.

Think about your car and how you use it before you order a car stereo. If you drive a small car, you need much less power than an SUV driver. Speaker location, extraneous road, car noise, noise damping material, and personal taste are factors that may affect how much power you'll need in your ride.

 

9. In-dash Video — Connecting The Parking Brake Wire

 

If your new stereo has a touchscreen or video monitor, you will also need to connect a wire to your emergency/parking brake wire during the auto stereo installation. This wire acts as a switch to turn on the video monitor when the parking brake is engaged.

Depending on the brake configuration, the wires can be installed in different locations in different vehicles. The parking brake wire is usually found where your parking brake is. In a vehicle with a handbrake between the front seats, you must move the center console to reach it. In vehicles that have a foot-pedal parking brake, the stereo's wire needs to be routed to it under that dash.

10. Check your work

Slide the stereo into the dash opening, but don't fasten it down just yet. First, test the stereo to make sure everything is working properly. It's easier to fix a problem while everything is still exposed.

Note: You'll have to reattach the battery cable to test the stereo, so if you disconnected any airbag warning plugs, be sure to reattach those before reconnecting the battery.

Turn on the power and try each source (AM, FM, CD, USB, etc.). Then adjust the balance and fader settings to check that each speaker is working. Once you're sure the stereo is wired and working properly, finish securing it in the dash and reinstall any pieces of dash trim panel that you removed.