Help! New Boat Owner 1800mx 2005 stereo and horn problems.

[280stiracer]

Hi all,

I have just picked up my 1800 mx and i love it!!

used the stereo last night when packing it away woke up this morning and nothing.
checked the battery etc all fine the stereo turns on and lights up but no sound.

iv noticed the horn does not work either. is this related???

i had a spare head unit so tried that but still no sound... am i missing somthing? is there a fuse box etc??

very very new to this and any help would be appreciated

looked though other posts but nothing really answers my questions.


many thanks in advance

Nick

[pascavone]

if it lights up you have power.

there is a "defeat" button on some that is like a quick mute button.

the horn has nothing to do with the radio.

but, if your new to the boat, its a good idea to go under the dash and pull every fuse out, check it, and re seat them.

start with that.

[seapuppy]

welcome to the zoo nick.....keep us informed on what happened.....

might I suggest if you haven't..take a boating safety course before you get too adventurous....


SP

[280stiracer]

Okay ill start with the fuse box and work from there.

Ill have a look at the defeat button but would this of happened on both cd players??

And dont worry seapuppy after doing the sea trial and finding that trying to drive a boat is very different to a jet ski i have booked a RYA power boat course just for precaution!!

[ss3964spd]

Originally Posted by pascavone

if it lights up you have power.
there is a "defeat" button on some that is like a quick mute button.
the horn has nothing to do with the radio.
but, if your new to the boat, its a good idea to go under the dash and pull every fuse out, check it, and re seat them. start with that.

What Pas said.

Also check to see if there is a separate amp.

[mcoffey]

Yeah, I am all for the amp idea. Since both head units showed the same issue, you either had all speaker die at the same time (unlikely) or there is an amp in th mix here and that is your issue. When you replaced the head unit, did you wire all speakers directly to it or was it just yellow and red power, antenna, maybe a blue wire and then a couple of RCA plugs? If the RCA pre-amp outs are connected, trace them and they will lead you to the amp and I would verify it is powered on.

Also agree the horn is probably a seperate issue. Verify it is getting power at the horn when you push the button. If you are, replace the horn. If you are not, verify you are getting power into the horn switch, if you are test again and verify you get power back out of switch when depressed. If not, replace switch, if you do, trace the wire from there to horn and find break. If no power at switch at all, check fuse and trace wire from fus block to switch (if fuse OK).

You can also try hitting the horn with the button depressed, that sometimes gets them working for a bit anyway. Will trll you that all works and horn is just bad if it sounds after hitting. Would replace though as you want it to work when you need it, don't have time to be smacking it each time you need to sound it.

[280stiracer]

Thanks for all the replys everyone!!!

First thing i did this morning was removed all of the fuses and then reseated them!
This got the horn working.......i was chuffed with myself and so kept tooting the horn every now and then and every time it was less loud.... then it stopped altogether so i take it a new horn might be needed.

I then had a look at the radio, the preouts were not being used and so i found out some old speakers and wired them in just to rule out it wasnt them.
The speakers worked fine!
very confusing!!! so i cleaned the connections on the old speakers and done a continuity test back to the head unit which was fine reconnected the old jbl speakers and nothing happened,

could both speakers possible have blown by a surge etc when i isolated the battery's at the end of the night??? although it seems unlikely there is no life in the speakers what so ever!

Are the white jbl speakers the originals fitted??

[mcoffey]

Seems like JBL is factory for that year. Here is the info straight from parts catalog:

STEREO
1694823 BRACKET, STEREO 12"
1701693 ANTENNAE, MARINE
1706057 ELECTRICAL, HARNESS KIT JVC/JBL SPKR
1750830 STEREO, AM/FM/CD JBL MR5
1750831 SPEAKER, JBL 610 W/CVR
1773985 COVER, STEREO WATER RESISTANT LATCHING BLK


Guessing they are standard 6-1/2 round? If so they have a 6100 series now.
http://www.jbl.com/estore/jbl/us/pro...%206100_JBL_US

My 96 had all Audiovox junk and the speakers were 5-1/4 round. Not many options on that size but did find some nice Polk Audio ones that are Marine certified and did fit the holes. Added 2 more so now have 4 total and connected them to new Sony head unit (CDX-M60) and it sounds decent now, just need to add an amp but that is on the bottom of my to do list.

[280stiracer]

Cheers mcoffey!!

That's a great help

Where have you mounted your additional speakers??

I need 2 more really all sounds a bit mono at the moment

[vffb507]

Sorry to take u back to the horn issue, but I would check that fuse block and ensure there is no sign of any corrosion.. Give it a good cleaning then try out that horn again - it may just be poor connections there!

[mcoffey]

Well, there are not a lot of places with enough surface area and backside clearance to mount them so I settled on the area just behind the seats (and just in front of the jump seats) and above the grab rails. See attached PIC for placement.

[280stiracer]

Okay ill have a another look at the connections,

its only a drop in horn i can imagine it would be rather easy to replace?

The standard fuse carrier is quite poor is there a good replacement i could use??

[280stiracer]

Cheers mcoffey

Gonna have a look at adding mine today :-)

whats the best brand of marine speakers??

[mcoffey]

Well, there are many opinions on that. It really is a matter of what size do you need, what color do you want, how many watts are you pushing to them and which brand gives the sound you like? I have always been happy with Polk and color was not an issue for me. I needed 5-1/4 round and there were not many marine speakers in that size. You look to have 6-1/2 so have a much bigger choice here. So I would recommend Polk but of course, there are many other good speakers out there.

[AlwaysSober]

I LOVE shopping online at Crutchfield. Customer reviews, specs, videos, excellent customer service.

http://www.crutchfield.com/shopsearc...akers.html?o=p

Guy by me installs these all the time:

http://www.amazon.com/MB-Quart-NKF11.../dp/B001T9N4WW