So I'm hoping somebody on here can provide some insight. I'm replacing my Bose head unit with a Pioneer AVH-X490BS and bought the to interface with the Bose setup. I got everything wired up and then turned on the car but had no sound from the speaker. I original had just matched the colors in the wires so I was going from a standard speaker connections. I then switched to do the low-level and also tried high-level connections. While messing with all of those, I can occasionally get the right rear speaker to play just fine but in order to do that, I touch any of the other speaker wires and then touch the Purple/Red (Right Rear Low Level) to head unit itself. However, this only works with the right rear. Touching any of the other Low Level speaker wires from the PAC results in nothing. I also had one other time where I managed to get audio out of the left front, however it was extremely quiet.

The fact that I can get occasionally get some audio tells me its not an amp issue. I also do have the Blue/White wire hooked up which I frequently read in forums as being the issue. I was watching this YouTube video and at he mentions having to run a ground although he did not have a Bose setup. I did not do this. Is that my problem? If so where is the ground run? He only shows where he screwed it down but I am unclear where that wire is coming from.

A couple other things to note, I did not hook up the Blue wire since I do not have a Power Antenna. I also did not hook up the Parking Brake wire. Would either of these cause my issue?

After spending multiple hours trying to figure this out yesterday, I'm kind of annoyed as I've done multiple head unit installs before and they were a breeze. Yet Bose makes this a PITA. Hoping I can end my weekend on a positive not by getting this thing working.

 

Let's start with the Ground. Do you have a meter you can use to measure the resistance from the ground at the radio to the vehicle ground - is it almost 0 Ohms? If not, you have to make that ground connection.

 

I replaced my Bose head unit with a Pioneer AVH-X3800BHS and I initially didn't connect the blue wire for the same reason - I didn't have a power antenna. I was having problems with either low volume or weak FM signal, or both(can't remember) but they went away when I connected the blue wire. The parking brake wire is only required to view DVD movies, otherwise it's not needed. You definitely need to connect the ground from the head unit.

 

The issue with the intermittent sound - is it only when the source is FM? If so, it sounds like the signal booster amplifier is the culprit.

Another member had a similar recent problem with the FM signal. The thread is here which shows the wire that needs to be connected:
https://my350z.com/forum/audio-and-v...t-problem.html

As far as the ground, I always make a new ground from the aftermarket HU direct to the chassis.

 

Hey,
I see several posts complaining about the BOSE setup, I don't agree to it, but that is only my opinion.
Connect the blue cable and also the ground to a point in the chassis. There are a couple of screws under the AC control unit I believe you can use.
A suggestion is for you to test it in parts, go speaker by speaker, I like to do that when I'm in trouble; check part by part.
I have the AV service manual, and can e-mail it to you, send me a PM!

br,
Al

 

And this seems, unfortunately, to be another thread where good information and ideas are being shared in an effort to help the OP (for whom this was their first post here at My350Z), but the OP does not return to provide an update on their progress.