Hello all. I'm a new TL owner and currently working on the stereo (as it seems many people are) Just thought I'd add a few of my own experiences so far and find out some of your thoughts.

Thanks to all for the great info on this site first of all, it saved me hours of attempting to figure out where to run wires and whatnot.

Anyway, on with the story. I added an aftermarket amp and set of 2 subs. (RF 200.2 with Kicker Comp 10's) The power and ground were easy to run and hide. The remote however was a pain. The remote for the bose isnt enough to turn my amp on (it doesnt even get a dull glow on my tester bulb). I've read that other people have had this problem. To fix this I ran a remote from the passenger side fuse panel at the stereo fuse. The sound signal I spliced from the stock bose amp for the sub.

Here is where I'm having a problem. It pops when the stereo is turned on or off. At first I thought I might have had a ground loop problem or even an overload on the remote wire...turns out that my amp is getting a jolt from the sound signal(it doesnt pop when the sound signal is unplugged). Has anyone else experienced this problem?

I'm thinking I could bypass the eq in the dash and try the signal out of the deck or add my own eq between the factory and the sub to remove that pop but I'd like a confirmation before I rip the dash apart.

Sorry about being long winded but I wanted to get all the info out in one shot. Thanks.

2000 TL Silver/Black Int/no Nav

 

You are having this problem because you hooked up the amp trigger directly to switched 12v power. Your amp always stays on when the car is on, even when the head unit is off. That is why you get the popping. Remember, the radio doesnt turn power on at the radio fuse in the fuse box. the radio fuse just supplies switched power through the ignition key so that the radio turns off when you shut the car off.

Instead, what you need to do is wire in a relay between the factory head's amp turn on control and your amp. i dont know what voltage is coming out of the head turn on, but if you put a meter across it you should be able to find out. Then just get yourself a relay with a coil rating around that voltage. the other 2 leads of the relay go to 12v power and to the amp's turn on. Then when you turn on the head, you will kick the relay which in turn will send 12v power to the amp's turn on and you will be all set.

 

2002acuraTL, thanks for the relay idea, that should work fine. My only problem now is getting a reading on the remote wire.
I have the diagrams for the rear wiring harness. Orange was supposed to be the remote turn on, and I cannot get any reading at all out of it (and yes, the radio was on). Maybe my old tester is just too old. (or I should check the batteries)

Once again, thanks for the help...now I just have to sit through 8 hours of work before I can go mess with it some more.

2000 TL Silver/Black Int/no Nav (currently in use)
1990 Legend LS White/Maroon Int (soon to be retired)
2001 Kawasaki ZRX 1200 R (for those days when you just HAVE to triple the posted speed limit)

 

You're welcome. Let me know if you need anything else. (besides a meter that WORKS - you are on your own on that one!)

 

Slight update for your entertainment and a word of caution. Always check which fuse you are tapping into when you are playing in the fuse box....
For instance, let's just say (hypothetically of course) that someone pulled the fuse for the radio/accessory outlets and used that as a remote lead...and then when they changed out the wire, maybe they pulled the wrong fuse and attached it to an always hot one.
Things like this can happen, even to those of us that pretend like we have some mild wiring knowledge.

Anyway, always check the wiring people (or if you are like me, have an extra car to drive to work when you find your battery dead in the morning)

Remember the 9:30 show is always different from the 7:30 show.

2000 TL Silver/Black Int/no Nav (with a dead battery)
1990 Legend LS White/Maroon Int (pulled out of retirement because I'm a retard)
2001 Kawasaki ZRX 1200 R (for those days when you just HAVE to triple the posted speed limit)

 

More updates. I havent searched on this topic so dont crucify me as a noob but it seems that when the battery gets extremely low, the check engine light comes on and stays until it is reset. The dealer told me that it must be brought in and reset (of course). He wasnt all that happy when I reminded him of the extended warranty and that I had no intention of paying the $90 for his little computer hook up.

At any rate, is there a reset in the car(the manual has been ordered but it's not in my hot little hands yet)??

2000 TL Silver/Black Int/no Nav (Returned to service)
1990 Legend LS White/Maroon Int (back to retirement)
2001 Kawasaki ZRX 1200 R (for those days when you just HAVE to triple the posted speed limit)

 

The check engine light will reset itself after a certain number of car on/off cycles. Dont waste you time at the dealer. I forget the exact number but it may be around 15. In other words, if you start you car twice a day, the thing should reset and go off in a week. Forget just starting the car for a second and then shutting it off, and starting it again and shutting it off, etc... I think the ECU requires a full cold to hot engine cycle to count as one "cycle" for the reset.

I had the light once because the gas cap wasnt screwed on tight enough. Yes, those clicks that you hear when you tighten the cap are normal and you are supposed to tighten it all the way down. Well one day i didnt and i got the check engine light. I called the service dept and they told me about the auto resetting light, and they were right.

 

Ahhh, it does reset itself after a while. That's good to know. I didnt check the post till after I took a run downtown. The dealer reset it in less then a minute. At least I didnt have to wait long.

I broke down last night and put in a switch on the remote lead. I couldnt take the pop and by the time I was done with work and the dealer, it was too late to buy a relay.

Today starts the alpine deck and EQ install. A question though... Do the factory bose door speakers have that stupid little amp built on like the older models did?

I'm going to have to use them for a few days. My new EQ should allow them to sound ok till I get the replacement speakers. My 90 legend still has the factory front door speakers and while their midrange sucks, the highs arent bad.

Off to add the foglights and wash the new baby.
Thanks for all your help 2002acuraTL. I really appreciate it.

2000 TL Silver/Black Int/no Nav (Returned to service)
1990 Legend LS White/Maroon Int (back to retirement)
2001 Kawasaki ZRX 1200 R (for those days when you just HAVE to triple the posted speed limit)

 

I cant say for sure since i have a 2002 and you have a 2000, but i do not think the speakers are individually amped.

 

You are right, the speakers are not individually amped. I suppose they sound alright with the amp and subs but the EQ and new door speakers are the next step.

I must say...I truly hate the heated seat switches... They were the biggest pain to remove. I'm sure it's faster the second time.

I didnt see any recent posts on mounting kits for the TL... Does anyone in the forum make them or just the limited edition from streeteffectz? I'm planning on making one for my car but I'm not sure I have the time. I am sure. however; it will only be a day or two before the hole in the dash has me pulling my hair out.


I'm tired of playing with the car for the day. Once again, I truly appreciate all your help 2002acuraTL.

 

if you use upgraded speakers with the factory head unit, you will HAVE to bypass the Bose eq. The sibilance will be unbearable with it still in line.

I made my own kit and it really wasnt all the difficult to do. The planning took more time than the actual install (probably 5 hrs total, 4 of which was making the front trim piece fit flawlessly with the dremel, then a file, then up to 2000 grit sandpaper). I posted about this a long time back so i wont retype it all now.
Basically my head unit is flush with the dash using a sheet of ABS burlwood I ordered from Selectproducts.com. I reused the factory head unit brackets and just drilled new holes to line up with the ones on the sides of my Premier head unit. My headunit looks factory installed rather than protruding out of the dash like most of the other aftermarket installs I've seen.
Maybe streeteffectz kit will have a countersunk design so the head will fit flush, but I cant imagine it will look perfect no matter what because I shaped the corners of the ABS trim to match the curves of the head unit face and every head unit has a slightly different edge profile. (I didnt even use or need the head unit trim ring.) There'd be no way he could make a 'one-face-fits-all' design.

 

Well it's going to be flush or not at all. Just got a piece of 1/2 inch plexiglass. The plan is to use the 4 little tabs on the bottom of the AC and the top of the bottom tray so the glass snaps in. I'm going to round the plexi on the inside to flush the alpine deck and paint the back black to match the plastic.

I cant leave it at that though, I think I'm going to scribe a large T and L into the bottom of the plexi and run the plastic blue neon tubing back there. It should look pretty nice hooked up to the fader since it will be the only non painted part of the plexi.

THis is all in theory so far as I'm still staring at a peice of 12x8 plexi on my desk. I'll take a couple pics of the process and post (but only if it looks as good as I hope it will).

2000 TL Silver/Black Int/no Nav (Work in Progress)
1990 Legend LS White/Maroon Int (Taking up space in a parking lot)
2001 Kawasaki ZRX 1200 R (for those days when you just HAVE to triple the posted speed limit)
1988 Honda VTR 250 Interceptor (currently holding down the lawn as the floatbowls are in my toolbox)