Ive had the Z for just a week or so and have been trying to pinpoint what my problem is

Specs:
2004 Z touring
Bose w/6disc and cassette
Everything stock Bose

Here is the deal, the driver side speaker cuts out sometimes, other times i can hit a bump or slam on the brakes and it will come back
Seems simple.... but hasnt been

test#1
I pulled the HU out and pulled the plugs and re-installed, worked ok, wiggled wires on the harness to try and see if one has barely in, no luck still worked ok

test#2
Driving and hitting bumps and slamming on brakes. Found i could not consistently duplicate issues using the same technique, while doing this i figured out that it never cuts out with it on "RADIO" but does it while in "CD"

test#3
Smooth highway run in "CD" cut in and out a few times for no reason


notes:
*drivers side is the only problem
*radio seems to always work no matter what im doing
*cd cuts in and out and even when stopped at a light doesnt work
*when not working and "BALANCE" all the way on drivers side i can hear it slightly and is kind of choppy

Any help?
Hopefully i supplied a good amount of info to get some results
Thank you

 

If it were doing it for RADIO, CD, and TAPE, it would most likely one of the following:

1) wiring connection at speaker in door
2) wiring connection at Bose Speaker amplifier in back of car
3) Bose speaker amp is going out or has internal issues

However, since it sounds like it is isolated to your CD player, it sounds like you have a short or loose connection inside the HU. It would be great if you could test with a tape just to be sure. The only fix that I know would be to either:

A) replace the Bose HU with another OEM HU
B) replace everything with aftermarket

The Bose system is proprietary and its amps and speakers aren't going to work with an aftermarket head unit, so it's all or nothing.

 

Not familiar with Bose system but I would look for a point where I could swap the left and right channels. Maybe get an "into car" harness + an "into stock radio" harness and make the swap between the two.

If the problem switches sides it's the HU and you can use one of the two harnesses with the aftermarket unit you need to buy.

Also the original harness crutchfield sent me for my head unit came with an into car harness that seemed to be for a bose unit. (It had RCA connectors that seem to be intended for a separate amp along the stock wiring. (somewhere downstream)

I couldn't use it with my stock, non-Bose wiring so I assume it was meant for a Bose system.

 

Problem with Bose is that there are amps involved that are located separately from the HU. If problem is "further down the line" you could end up making the wrong assumption depending on what you think that you're testing.

It would help you in determining whether or not it is "inside" the HU itself, but you can accomplish the same thing by isolating whether or not it only affects CD or affects all output. If it only affects CD, it has to be inside the HU, because all output (RADIO, TAPE, CD) send output the same way to the amps.

 

If the problem is a bad channel on the amp, the problem should stay on the same side.

If it's in the wiring, after the radio harness, the problem should still stay on the same side.

If the HU has an intermittently bad output, swapping channels (left to right) should send the intermittent audio to the other side of the car.

 

I agree, but he didn't sound too concrete on that part though. radio "seems" to work.

 

Yeah, that's why I wanted to see if he could test TAPE as well. From my first post, you can see that I was headed down the same path as you, but mentioned that if he's sure that it is just affecting CD, we should skip that other line of troubleshooting initially.

I also wasn't sure how confident OP was in removing his dash, splicing into wires, or buying connectors to be able to swap the wiring - versus something that he could try without breaking out the dikes and soldering iron.

That being said, I totally agree with your troubleshooting steps above.

 

Good stuff, i think i will go for a spin now and confirm radio and cd working abilities

I havent had one problem with radio cut out, but do have it when on CD, but then again i will go spend some time playing to make sure

I was planning on upgrading the HU just so i can have "movie night" in the Z (dvd capabilities) Ive already had the HU out twice since i owned the Z (1.5 weeks)

I have no cassette, can you even buy one? haha
maybe i will try craigslist or something, i dont think i still have my ONYX SLAM cassette still laying around

 

Its got to be something with the CD part
Radio is hard to digest since i get poor reception, most places, and when its crystal clear is a freaking commerical

So on CD it comes in and out, i tried even opening my door and slamming it when it wasnt coming in right with no effect
Then when i got home sitting in my driving way i decided to play more with the fader, where i didnt have to concentrate on the road

RADIO about equal balance when adjusted all to L or all to R
CD all to L is crap but still there very faintly then all to R is good
And this test was done sitting with car off, so nothing was moving or anything and flipping from RADIO to CD

I guess i will have to play with it more to see if i can figure out, sucks because i think i might be the only person to think the Bose system in the Z sounds great, yeah it doesnt really have any lows but such a small space is filled so nicely without dumping alot of cash since i dont cheap out on stuff

 

Def sounds like HU issue. Like I said, though - if you replace the Bose HU, you will need to replace speakers too, so I'd just go ahead and plan on swapping it all out for a double din unit and some upgraded components up front. You may want to just not even use rear speakers. A lot of the audiophiles on here swear by spending good money on a component set up front for the best sound/imaging.

Anyways, good luck. Hope this gives you an excuse to get that DVD unit now.


Oh, yeah...
SLAM!!! Dunt dun nuh, dunt dun nuh... let the boys be boys!!!

 

dammit sparkle
>open itunes
>>search onyx

had to listen to it now

 

Great song.

 

Sounds like it's the ribbon cable between the head unit and the disc changer. You can order a replacement and it'll last for a couple years, or if you have good soldering skills you can pull everything apart and hard wire the changer to the HU.

My advice, get something aftermarket, for me just swapping to a mid range pioneer improved the sound quality a great deal.

 

You can actually use an aftermarket head unit with the BOSE system. PAC makes a module for it. Search my threads on car audio. I posted it about 2 wks ago in someone elses thread.

 

Cool, I've used a PAC to use aftermarket amps and subs with Bose HU, but not the other way around. Good to know.

 

PAC-ROEM NIS2
http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CCsQ8wIwAA

 

Sweet. And cheap too.

*Adds to my bag of tricks.

 

OP I have an 04 Bose as well... Same issue. I believe it also is a known issue. I usually have to hit the side of the console to get the other channels to come in fully.

Search and you will see most people say to just rip out the Bose and start from square one.

 

To bad i cant find those threads... i spent about 30 mins the other day reading stuff and just wasted another 15mins
Found other issues and learned a lot of install ideas, which will probably pay itself off

I tried hitting side, hitting the actual HU face and taking out HU and hitting it naked, no luck - still works perfect on RADIO and comes in and out randomly on CD

 

I'm having a similar issue, my bose unit just stopped outputting sound on all channels, I turned it off and when I came to a stop i noticed a crakling noise, yes... even while the unit was off! (I suspect a short or a loose wire somewhere on an amp), the stereo when I turned it back on crackled back to life for about 30 secs then went out again. I know there is an amp that controls the sub adjacent to the rear storage bin, but can anyone tell me where the other amps are? i'm in a 2004 350 Roadster. It does the same thing in any mode, CD/Tape/Radio etc...! It's driving me nuts. So any help would be great.

Cheers
BB