Stereo & Electronics - stereo... I need help!!! Am I getting scamed?

Here is my story in a nut shell. I brought my car to an audio place to get new speakers put in. I just wanted new speakers, but somehow I got talked into buying an amp as well. Whatever. They rewired the the speakers to the new amp (The car had the monsoon system) and to the stock head unit. They tried talking me into buying a new head unit, I say no thanks (about 50 times), because I like the look of the stock unit. They bring me my car when it got done, and I drove home. I go start the car a few hours later and my new system is not working. The head unit turns on, I can change cd tracks, radio stations, etc.. just no sound. I bring it back and have them look at it. They said its not going to work because my stock head unit does not have enough power or something to run the amp and speakers. WTF. So now he said I can either buy some type of adapter for $150 or a new heard unit. Are these guys legit or do they have no idea whats wrong and are trying to sell me more stuff or what? :bang:

My car is a 2000 camaro ss, it has an amp powering 2 10" subs, and another amp powering the speakers.

no he is full of it, plenty of people run amps off the stock head unit, there is an adapter you need to connect to the amp, im sure the guys on here know what its called, its pac-something. But i would bitch out the guy and tell him he messed up your system.

If the amp has speaker-level inputs, then no adapter is needed. Just connect the outputs of the stock headunit to the speaker-level inputs of the amp. If the amp only has RCA inputs, then you'll need a Line Output Converter (LOC) to convert the headunit's speaker-level outputs to RCA. Its not a perfect solution, but some on here use it without a problem. To my knowledge, its much cheaper than $150.

Also, many on here use aftermarket speakers with the stock monsoon amp. Depending on which speakers you bought, you may not have needed to get an amp.

If the system was working and now its not, then something is wrong with their installation or the parts they installed. The stock headunit is not the problem unless they damaged it.

Its a $2 part, $5 if you want gold ends.

Go to partsexpress.com and search for "high to low adapter".

ugh this is a nightmare... if i buy a new headunit how do i know if it will work with my steering wheel controls?

If you want to retain the steering wheel controls with an aftermarket headunit, you need an adapter. PAC SWI-X is the universal IR adapter, but PAC also makes manufacturer-specific models as well (ex: PAC SWI-PS works with Pioneer & Sony).

If you want to retain the steering wheel controls with an aftermarket headunit, you need an adapter. PAC SWI-X is the universal IR adapter, but PAC also makes manufacturer-specific models as well (ex: PAC SWI-PS works with Pioneer & Sony).

So any head unit will work as long as I get an adapter?

Pretty much.

As long as the headunit has IR remote --or-- it has a wired remote input and PAC makes the manufacturer-specific version.

The PAC adapter costs $50-$70 depending on where you buy it.



Why do you want to get an aftermarket headunit instead of getting the stock one to work? It sounds like the shop messed up the install. An aftermarket headunit would be better, but earlier you said that you didn't want to buy one.

dont go back and give business to these guys though, it is incredibly easy to install a headunit, do it yourself.

damn. do you guys know what they would have messed up on?

That is their job to figure out. Take it back to them and do not leave until your car is working or you have your money refunded.

damn. do you guys know what they would have messed up on?
I have no clue, but like 95bat said, its their job to find and fix their screwup (or refund your money).

damn. do you guys know what they would have messed up on?

i would say they either wired up the headunit to amp wrong or the amp to speakers and the speakers pull in too much power and short out the amp for a short time. Same thing happened when i wired up my amp/sub i had it wired wrong and it would go about 15 minutes then shut off and the amp would be flaming hot. I wired it up right and the thing worked great. Take it to them to get it fixed but do not let them talk you into a new head unit, tell them you know for a fact that our headunit is more than enough to handle an aftermarket amp and there is also the fact that all the headunit does is tell the amp when to turn on, the amp gets its power from the battery, unless they didnt directly wire the amp from the battery, look under your hood and see if there is a thick red wire running from the pos on your battery to the amp, if not then the guy is dicking you around and i would go there, tell them to take their shit out and refund you the money.

where are you in cali and where did you go? theres lots of "dirty" shops around. if they wont fix it for free then you might need to hire someone to fix it, not at their shop. it might end up being an expensive lesson.

if youre in so cal then i can take a look. i can give you basic advise and not charge anything.

simply put, to run an amplifier off of the stock head unit, you need an adaptor unless the amplifier has a built in adapter( you should look on the amp or in the manual for this info), but either way, if you needed an adapter, they should have known in the first place. The sound not working has NOTHING to do with you factory deck "not having enough power." If it worked before and it does not work now, then they messed up and it is legall their responsibility to fix it. YOU DO NOT NEED A NEW HEAD UNIT. They are just trying to seel it to you because they cannot figure out what is wrong, or dont want to. INSTALLING AN APLIFIER TO A STOCK HEAD UNIT IS A FAIRLY SIMPLE JOB. If the shop messed it up, i would make them fix it, and then never give your business to them again... if they cannot figure out how to do this, then they should not be installing stereos to begine with! If it is worth it to get a lawyer, then do so... if not, just try to find a shop that knows what they are doing...
sorry to head about this whole experience... i have been installing high end system for years and i am amazed and some of the shit that comes out of other shops...garbage...

^^^He basically said it all right there!! I have fixed several systems that others have done half ass from "professional" installers. Sorry this happened to you! Might be better off taking it to a reputable shop before they really screw your car up. I'm not saying they aren't responsible but I'd be nervous about them "fixing" the problem.

where are you in cali and where did you go? theres lots of "dirty" shops around. if they wont fix it for free then you might need to hire someone to fix it, not at their shop. it might end up being an expensive lesson.

if youre in so cal then i can take a look. i can give you basic advise and not charge anything.

I'm in orange county, mission viejo area. I brought my car to west coast auto sound.

And like everyone is saying it doesn't make sense it wouldn't work they are just trying to sell me more shit. And I just found out they also F-ed up those little lights on the doors. :mad:

Does it make a difference that the monsoon speakers got swaped out for regular speakers?

None. They made you buy an aftermarket amp to power them so the aftermarket speakers would make no difference at all. They should sound better than stock to an extent. Depends on equipment used and of course...how it was installed to determine that though.
They just had no clue what they were doing.
Just out of curiousity did it ever work? You say you drove it home, did you listen to it on the way home and it worked and now it doesn't or it never worked?

Check this out: http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/audio-electrical-and-wiring/45524-west-coast-car-audio-mission-viejo/
Same guy..different post:
http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/tacoma/45495-west-coast-audio-mission-viejo-ca/

omg wtf. im going back there when i cool off and tell them to either fix it or take their shit out and give me my money back. like that other post said, it took those idiots 4 hours to do my car as well.

the stereo will work when i start my car like 1 out of 100 times.

to e honest w u it almost sounds like there is a pinched wire or its wired wrong have them fix it

well i can take a look, i live in fullerton but im down that way pretty often. just PM me if you want. its tough to explain over the internet. Ive been an installer for about 13 years, only doing high end stuff.

ive been to that shop, its the one off el paseo? they sell decent stuff, but ive never gotten a good vibe from their installers.

Ok, so I finally had a few hours off to go down and tell them to fix it. They won't fix it. AND they wouldn't give me a refund. I just called my credit card company and filed a dispute..

Honestly, you are better off in this situation learning how to do it yourself. I've been victim of a botched subwoofer install myself from a "pro" shop that did nothing more than a hack job at it. If you take your time, wiring stuff up like this isn't rocket science. Just takes some patience.

Ok, so I finally had a few hours off to go down and tell them to fix it. They won't fix it. AND they wouldn't give me a refund. I just called my credit card company and filed a dispute..

Wow, thats the sign of a horrible shop. A shop that is not willing to fix a problem that it caused. I have fixed problems for customers who didnt even get their equipment installed at our shop. Its called customer service. Usually a good shop will give you a quick 5-15 minute diagnosis for free and charge after that.

Yea i installed my old system in my 96 camaro years ago. I work all the time now so I figured it would have been nice to spoil myself and have someone else do it for once. Big mistake.

Alright, so I finally had a day off work and decided to try and troubleshoot this problem...
First I took the head unit out of the dash and took a peek around. I disconnected the adapter for a 12 disc cd changer in the trunk that I never use anyway. I also noticed a blue fuse that looked loose so i pushed that in all the way.

I turned it on and it works!

So my question now is, was it possible that the cd changer was causing it to not work?

I also noticed a blue fuse that looked loose so i pushed that in all the way.
That was most-likely the problem.

haha thats were customer service bites you in the ass when you dont give it. that would have taken that shop 5 minutes to fix if they actually cared about their customers. now they've gotten a bad rap on a very popular enthusiate site and a bad rap from all the people you know for nothing but a loose fuse.

The mischievous part is that they may have loosened the fuse to get you to come back and spend more money when it finally slipped enough for the power to cut out.

I'd hate to think they did that but unfortunately your probably right VIP.

Wait... I just re-read this.

What blue fuse?

I don't remember there being a blue fuse in the back of the Monsoon headunit. I just searched online for some pictures of the back and couldn't locate a blue fuse. Maybe it depends on the year. Do you have a picture?

it wasn't actually on the unit, but on a cord with two other fuses on it. But when then when I went to start after watching a movie it stopped working, so that wasn't the problem. I spent my whole sunday taking everything apart, debuggin it and then finally I installed a new head unit and changed out some wires.

Something I noticed that could have been the problem, was that every single wire they attached an end connector to was done poorly. Most had wire sticking out all over the place which could have been touching other wires and maybe shorting my system?

Another thing I noticed, that really pissed me off, was this huge 30 foot rockford fosgate rca cord that was used to connect the amp to some kind of adapter not even a foot away. They wrapped up the other 29 feet and shoved it behind my spare tire. I'm sure that was on the bill somewhere...

When I installed the new head unit I just kept things as simple as possible. The car already had two sets of rca cables wired from the dash to the back of the car. I wired one up to my front pre amp out on the unit and then plugged it into the amp running the speakers. The other was the sub amp and connected it to the subs. And yay it works!

Next week hopefully I can get another day off and fix my door lights that they messed up.

Definately get your money back on that. What a terrible shop. Hopefully it will continue to work for you!

Yea I hope it works too!

Wow, that was a really messed up install.

I wonder what that bundle of wires with a fuse was? :confused:

Those poorly done connections and bare wires would definitely contribute to the system not working and could also cause a fire. Check everything front-to-back to see what else they may have messed up.

Yea seriously. I work pretty much 7 days a week so I figured it would be nice to spoil myself and have someone else work on my car. BIG mistake and never going to happen again.

As for the fuses, I'll check it out next week when I fix the lights and hook up my cd changer. I have no idea what it could be, they are right behind the head unit.

Hey guys, I've had a dispute going on the past month and 1/2 and I'm trying to get as much info as I can to send to the bank. Does anyone have an objections if I send this thread along with my other paperwork?

any shop that takes your money and doesnt guarantee their work is a dump...
How the hell do they think its ok to mess someones stuff up and then say "oh you gotta spend more money for us to guarantee our work on the money you already wasted with us"....

what credit card company did u use??

yea this is so lame... I used my Bank of America Visa card. I HATE B of A.

ow about we all just show up there and tell em how fd up they are !

Way to bring back the dead..... but I would like to know if this kid ever got some/all of his money back.

A shop refusing to stand behind their work. FORCING him to spend more money before they'll even look at the screwed up job they did. THAT is why he deserves his cash back. I honestly would have called the police right then and there. Had then take statements from both parties and file a report.