Bose trouble on '96 vert - help!

[dmd]

The Bose system stopped working in my car due to water damage from a leaking soft top, and my first step to solving that problem was buying a hardtop for it. The next step was ripping out the recever and amp unit, buying a new Kenwood double-din head unit, and ordering the cryptozoological Metra 70-1857 harness. After a two-week wait my harness finally showed up and I attempted to wire it all together. Some success followed, with the unit powering up, activating some relay in the back and tuning in radio stations. But that's where the success ended.

I'm getting no sound from any of the speakers. The power antenna isn't raising either, even though I've definitely connected the blue wire from the harness to the "ANT CONT" blue wire on the receiver. I hear the relay in the rear bin activating when I power up the head unit, but that's it. I've replaced the 20A fuse in the rear bin, the relay it connects to on the orange wiring, and checked both minifuses on the main block. Seems like there's a relay that's not activating or a fuse that's blown somewhere, but I don't know where else to look. Is there something else that's necessary to kick on the Bose amps and raise the antenna? I can't believe they'd all be blown.

 

[steelblue75]

Don't know about the antenna issue but i do know you can't use the amplified speakers with your aftermarket set-up. You'll have to either disconnect the amp power wire from the speakers or install new ones.
p.s. should have 3 wires going to each speaker, neg. pos. and 12volt for the amp.

 

[dmd]

The Metra 70-1857 integration harness is designed to use line-level outputs from the head unit to connect to the Bose amplified inputs.

I found a third fuse (20A) in the main fusebox for the Bose Amplifier/Power Antenna circuit, but the fuse was good.

I also found another connector (white plastic) in the very bottom of the rear passenger-side bin with two wires - one orange, the other green. The orange wire was broken off, but due to its tight location and the hardtop, I can't do anything about it without taking the hardtop off. I couldn't even see it without using a mirror and a flashlight. I think I might have screwed it up when I put the jack back in the bin. So I'm going to try to fix that and see if it resolves the problem.

 

[ecss]

I'm looking at the schematic for a 95 so hopefully a 96 is the same.

The 12 volt source to energize the primary coil of both the Bose Speaker Amp. relay and the Power Antenna relay, comes from RDO IGN 5 amp. fuse.
At each relay the wire is Dark Green.

The 12 volts that powers the Bose Speaker Amps. and the Antenna motor is an orange wire from the LH CTSY 20 amp. fuse.

On the original Bose Control Head, when you turned the radio on, it sent a signal to the Receiver (box in the storage hatch). The Receiver then placed 12 volts on a Dark Green wire which is used to energize the primary coil of both the Bose Spearker relay and the Power Antenna relay.

When the relays close, 12 volts from the LH CTSY fuse Orange wire passes thru each relay providing 12 volts to power the speaker amps. and 12 volts for the antenna motor.

 

[dmd]

Well that settles it, that severed orange wire is the culprit. It's going to be a real pain to fix it too. Thanks ecss!!

 

[dmd]

Okay, I repaired the orange wire and confirmed that it's passing 12V when the system powers on. I also rechecked the 20A LH CTSY fuse and confirmed that it's good. Still getting nothing - no sound, no power antenna. Any other ideas?

 

[ecss]

Here's the schematic of the Bose Relay.

If you can't read the schematics, right click on the schematic and print it out.

If you pull the carpet back at one of the rear speakers, you'll see the electrical plug going to the amp. It has four wires. Two smaller gage wires are for the audio. The two larger wires are Black which is ground and Orange which is 12 volts. So if you turn the radio on, you should measure 12 volts from the Orange wire to the Black wire. That tells you the Bose Speaker Amp. Relay is working.

If you do measure 12 volts, try playing a CD. If you don't hear any sound, something is wired wrong. Could be the line unit converter.

Here's the schematic for the Antenna.

The Antenna Relay is built into the Antenna Assembly.
When 12 volts is placed on the Dark Green wire, (changes into a white wire at the antenna) the internal relay closes. 12 Volts from the Orange wire then goes to the Antenna Motor and the mast should go up.

So you need to make sure 12 volts from the Dark Green wire is getting to the Antenna relay and also 12 volts from the Orange wire is getting to the Antenna relay.

 

[dmd]

That's a whole lot of information, thanks for taking the time to post it ecss but it's taking me some time to digest it all. I've got vacation plans for this weekend so I'll be working on it more next week.

 

[dmd]

Solved!

The problem turned out to be massive water intrusion in the driver's side rear speaker enclosure. There was a 1/4" deep puddle beneath it and the amp had been soaking in it for months. Upon extraction it was a mismatched "coupe" amplifier that had obviously been substituted by a previous owner, presumably due to the same problem. Sucked out the water with a shop-vac, ripped all of the remaining system out, and replaced the speakers with Focal carbon fiber/kevlar 6x9's in back and 6" in front. Now it sounds beautiful, and with 12 years of progress it is equally as powerful and weighs less than what I took out!

 

[onedef92]

The problem turned out to be massive water intrusion in the driver's side rear speaker enclosure. There was a 1/4" deep puddle beneath it and the amp had been soaking in it for months. Upon extraction it was a mismatched "coupe" amplifier that had obviously been substituted by a previous owner, presumably due to the same problem. Sucked out the water with a shop-vac, ripped all of the remaining system out, and replaced the speakers with Focal carbon fiber/kevlar 6x9's in back and 6" in front. Now it sounds beautiful, and with 12 years of progress it is equally as powerful and weighs less than what I took out!

Where was/is the water leak coming from? The rear hatch seals?

 

[dmd]

The leak was a very difficult one for me to trace, as the water was appearing under the driver's floor mat and nowhere else. It turned out to be coming from the soft top where the rear window glass meets the canvas, in the lower left corner. It was dripping from the tonneau cover behind the seat and saturating the carpeting front to rear. I sealed it up months ago, plus the hardtop I bought for it sealed it too, but the water that was already there had nowhere to go.

 

[puppyfang]

Ok, it looks like you guys know what you are doing so have a question... want to replace my bose in my 1989 as the unit has a sporatic problem of working or not, what is the best way to go, wanted to stay with the bose at first, but no cd which i want, who needs cass. any longer...so thinking of a total replacement, here again do we also replace the speakers...any ideas on what equipment or unit to get and any other recommendations...thanks

 

[onedef92]

Ok, it looks like you guys know what you are doing so have a question... want to replace my bose in my 1989 as the unit has a sporatic problem of working or not, what is the best way to go, wanted to stay with the bose at first, but no cd which i want, who needs cass. any longer...so thinking of a total replacement, here again do we also replace the speakers...any ideas on what equipment or unit to get and any other recommendations...thanks

Dr. Don's Radio Repair Services
http://www.doctordons.com/

 

[dmd]

Ok, it looks like you guys know what you are doing so have a question... want to replace my bose in my 1989 as the unit has a sporatic problem of working or not, what is the best way to go, wanted to stay with the bose at first, but no cd which i want, who needs cass. any longer...so thinking of a total replacement, here again do we also replace the speakers...any ideas on what equipment or unit to get and any other recommendations...thanks

First, I'd suggest looking at a double-din head unit that will fill the entire space, like the Kenwood DPX-301. Single-DIN units only fill half the opening and the rest is black plastic. Next, you can try to re-use the Bose speakers with an integration harness, but you will very likely be disappointed. A nice set of 2-way or 3-way 6x9's in the rear and 2-way 6" in the front will sound great.

 

[puppyfang]

ok..will look into this tomorrow..will there be any trouble getting the antenna to work...know to remove speakers and unit, but is there not some kind of amp or something under dash also, or something for the antenna? Would beleive that I would also need a new wiring harrness also? Also could we put in a small subwoofer...I can find a spot I am sure where this could go..?

 

[dmd]

The antenna shouldn't be a problem. The BOSE system changed several times over the C4 years and I'm not sure what state it was in in 1989, but I don't think the digital wiring and separate head/receiver unit thing happened until 1990 - so yours should be a simpler install than mine, especially since you have a coupe which is a lot easier to deal with. You will need a new wiring harness, but it shouldn't be too difficult to find one.

 

[puppyfang]

Thanks for imput...going out shopping...

 

[kiharaz28]

Bose radio/amp relay

HELLO TO EVERYONE..CAN ANYBODY TELL ME WHERE CAN I FIND TO REPLACE THE RADIO/AMP(BOSE) RELAY THAT MID AMERICA SELLS??..IS IT THE ONE THATS BEHIND THE PASSENGER SIDE COMPARTMENT ON THE BACK.(WHERE THE JACK IS LOCATED) THANKS..:eyerole