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Looking for Monsoon amp for '99 Camaro

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Old 09-11-2014, 10:06 PM
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Default Looking for Monsoon amp for '99 Camaro

Does anyone have a working Monsoon amp they want to sell for a '99 Camaro SS? Mine is no good and Im trying to keep the car as stock as possible.
Old 09-11-2014, 10:16 PM
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I have one I just took out of my 98 Z28.
Old 09-11-2014, 10:24 PM
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How much do you want for it? All of the channels work?
Old 09-11-2014, 10:32 PM
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$30 shipped. As far as I know all the channels worked when it was in the car 3 years ago.

It's been in my closet ever sense, I have a BIG system Iv'e been planning for years going in very soon. I can take pics of the internals if you wan't me to?
Old 09-11-2014, 10:45 PM
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I'm taking the amplifier apart right now to look at the internals for you. Will take pics if their good to go.
Old 09-12-2014, 07:05 AM
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I would like to buy the amp.
Old 09-12-2014, 07:25 AM
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Just playing devil's advocate here... how do you know you have a bad amp? I ask because they very seldom fail. Usually the problems are with speakers, wiring, etc.
Old 09-12-2014, 07:44 AM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
Just playing devil's advocate here... how do you know you have a bad amp? I ask because they very seldom fail. Usually the problems are with speakers, wiring, etc.
I don't know for sure that I have a bad amp yet. I have a little more testing to do on it, but for $30 it cant hurt to have a spare if the original one is good. None of the speakers powered by the amp work. The fuse is good. When I got the car, the amp was unplugged. I need to test for power going to the amp, but I lost patience yesterday between this car and my Mustang.

What is the best way to test for signal at a speaker? I took one speaker out that didn't work and connected a new speaker and it doesn't work either.
Old 09-12-2014, 08:12 AM
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The best way to test for speaker signal is exactly what you did - connect a known good speaker and see if you get output.

Every speaker in the Camaro is powered through the Monsoon amp (unlike Firebirds). Did you check the #4 RADIO ACCY fuse? The amp is powered through that fuse and not the #17 RADIO fuse. (Use a tester or replace with a known good fuse since old fuses can look fine but still be blown.) You can also test whether you have battery (constant) power on the two orange wires at the amp connector... see the Monsoon FAQ sticky for the connector configuration.

You may not want to replace your '99 amp with a '98 amp depending on whether the '98 is early or late production. Early '98s came with a smaller 200W (peak) amp while late '98s and all '99s came with a larger 200W RMS amp.
Old 09-12-2014, 08:19 AM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
The best way to test for speaker signal is exactly what you did - connect a known good speaker and see if you get output.

I just about positive I checked the RADIO ACCY fuse. Its the 25 amp one, correct?

Every speaker in the Camaro is powered through the Monsoon amp (unlike Firebirds). Did you check the #4 RADIO ACCY fuse? The amp is powered through that fuse and not the #17 RADIO fuse. (Use a tester or replace with a known good fuse since old fuses can look fine but still be blown.) You can also test whether you have battery (constant) power on the two orange wires at the amp connector... see the Monsoon FAQ sticky for the connector configuration.

You may not want to replace your '99 amp with a '98 amp depending on whether the '98 is early or late production. Early '98s came with a smaller 200W (peak) amp while late '98s and all '99s came with a larger 200W RMS amp.
Damn. I thought the diagram I was looking at showed the tweeters powered by the radio. The only speakers that work are the driver's tweeter and the two speakers behind the front seats. It seems these speakers aren't powered by the amp since they work with the amp unplugged. The driver's mid, passenger front and two speakers in the trunk wont work. The wiring all looked factory and all of the speakers are stock. I checked the speaker wiring connections at the radio and they are all connected.
Old 09-12-2014, 08:24 AM
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Firebirds have the tweeters powered by the head unit with all other speakers powered by the amp. Camaros have all speakers powered by the amp.

The fact that any speakers work when the amp is unplugged indicates that something has been done to modify the factory wiring. At this point I would not suspect the amp (it's still possible that the amp is bad but you can't know because apparently it is not connected to the speakers).
Old 09-12-2014, 08:35 AM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
Firebirds have the tweeters powered by the head unit with all other speakers powered by the amp. Camaros have all speakers powered by the amp.

The fact that any speakers work when the amp is unplugged indicates that something has been done to modify the factory wiring. At this point I would not suspect the amp (it's still possible that the amp is bad but you can't know because apparently it is not connected to the speakers).
Is there a way to use a test light or multi meter at the speaker connections to see if there is any signal? Then I will have a way to test if anything is going in to the amp and if anything is coming out of it.
Old 09-12-2014, 10:05 AM
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No, not really. There is a low current, low voltage signal on the speaker wires but you risk damaging the output section of the amp or head unit if you test with a multimeter. If you have an oscilloscope, you can test with that.

The input to the amp is speaker-level signal so you can still test using a good speaker. Just connect jumper wires from the appropriate signal input wires at the amp connector to your test speaker and see what you get. You will find all of the connection wires identified in the Monsoon FAQ sticky.
Old 09-12-2014, 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
You may not want to replace your '99 amp with a '98 amp depending on whether the '98 is early or late production. Early '98s came with a smaller 200W (peak) amp while late '98s and all '99s came with a larger 200W RMS amp.
I think my car was built in july of 98. I have no idea if it has the smaller or larger amp, heres the numbers off of it.

The Model # is 16257161
The Serial # is 281491188

My amp works for sure on the front and rear channels but after I put an Alpine 9887 head unit in the middle sub channels never worked, but I'm almost 100% positive the subs channels worked with the stock head unit. Hope this helps.

Last edited by TX98Z28; 09-12-2014 at 11:41 AM. Reason: Posting more info.
Old 09-15-2014, 08:59 PM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
Firebirds have the tweeters powered by the head unit with all other speakers powered by the amp. Camaros have all speakers powered by the amp.

The fact that any speakers work when the amp is unplugged indicates that something has been done to modify the factory wiring. At this point I would not suspect the amp (it's still possible that the amp is bad but you can't know because apparently it is not connected to the speakers).
I found out someone bypassed the amp. Im not sure why. I fixed almost all of the wiring and have the speakers running off the amp now. The passenger front speaker and passenger sub work work. There is no signal for them. Do you know of any common places that the wires break or get damaged? I checked the wiring harness from the dash up to the back seat and didnt find any damage or modifications. I tested at the back of the radio and it is putting out signal for the two speakers not working.
Old 09-26-2014, 01:12 AM
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Originally Posted by TX98Z28
I think my car was built in july of 98. I have no idea if it has the smaller or larger amp, heres the numbers off of it.

The Model # is 16257161
The Serial # is 281491188

My amp works for sure on the front and rear channels but after I put an Alpine 9887 head unit in the middle sub channels never worked, but I'm almost 100% positive the subs channels worked with the stock head unit. Hope this helps.
I have no idea when my 98 was built, but I can grab the number from my amp tomorrow if it helps. I've always thought the sail panel subs haven't had much power. 200 peak, vs 200RMS power would make a big difference. I'm assuming the connectors are the same, the only difference being the power rating? If anything, does anyone know what numbers ARE 99-up and compatible? I may have to order the newer amp online as 4th gens seem to be getting rarer and rarer at local junk yards.
Old 09-26-2014, 07:19 AM
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Originally Posted by TX98Z28
I think my car was built in july of 98. I have no idea if it has the smaller or larger amp, heres the numbers off of it.

The Model # is 16257161
The Serial # is 281491188

My amp works for sure on the front and rear channels but after I put an Alpine 9887 head unit in the middle sub channels never worked, but I'm almost 100% positive the subs channels worked with the stock head unit. Hope this helps.
That model number is actually the part number (I had been wondering why it looked familiar). The smaller early model amp is part number 16218061. The later larger amp is part number 16257161.

So you have the same amp that was used from mid-'98 all the way through '02 (rated by GM as 500W ILS, really about 200-240W RMS).

BTW, those part numbers apply to Camaro only... the Firebird amp is quite different.
Old 09-26-2014, 07:23 AM
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Originally Posted by cam94z28
I have no idea when my 98 was built, but I can grab the number from my amp tomorrow if it helps. I've always thought the sail panel subs haven't had much power. 200 peak, vs 200RMS power would make a big difference. I'm assuming the connectors are the same, the only difference being the power rating? If anything, does anyone know what numbers ARE 99-up and compatible? I may have to order the newer amp online as 4th gens seem to be getting rarer and rarer at local junk yards.
The early and late amps are plug compatible. The later amp is physically bigger but should still fit the same bracket.



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