Is200 Se Problem With Sound On Stereo

Matty-86 · August 2, 2008

The other day when i got in to my Lex (IS200 SE) on the morning to drive to work there was no volume on my stereo (standard 6 disk CD radio), everything was fine the day before and seemed to just stop working properly overnight, everything seemed to be working fine apart from there was no volume, it can be heard faintly if the volume is turned to full. This is the same for the CD player, Radio and Tape player.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? it seems to be muted but theres no mute button as far as i can see, i have played with all the settings but of coarse have had no luck.

I would realy appreciate any input and help.

Thanks,

Matt.

sparkystav · August 2, 2008

I thought there was a mute button on the standard stereo?

Maybe the amp behind the glove box has given up and died?

Matty-86 · August 3, 2008

No definatly no mute button, iv checked all the wiring behind the stereo and checked all the fuses but cant find anything wrong. Dont think it could be the amp it wouldnt decrease the volume that much just the sound quality.

Thanks for your reply :D

Geoffers · August 3, 2008

Dont think it could be the amp it wouldnt decrease the volume that much just the sound quality.

It would if the caps on the output side have gone kaputzski or O/C. Open the amp up and see if any have swelled which is a good indicator.

Matty-86 · August 4, 2008

been searching the forum to find a topic about fitting an after market amp but cant find one (probly not looking hard enough), i have a great inphase amp, would need to wire it to the boot but dont know how to go about it

84Stoney · August 4, 2008

Sounds a bit like the amp knackered! It may well pass a small signal throu it even when not working, hence the very low volume at full whack.

DJ Wozza has a pretty good thread for ICE fitting click here.

Due to the standard amp set up, you will need an amp bypass cable to run an after market headunit, as you may struggle to run an aftermarket amp off the standard unit. You will also need a facia adapter. 6x9s can be tricky (take the seats out!) as they will probably need replacing too if not running from their original amp! but other than that, no harder that installing in any other car.

DJ Wozza · August 4, 2008

Hiya fella,

the SE & Sport models have an external amp behind the glovebox. This amp sends out a bi-wired (with different impedence)

output to the rear 6x9's. The rears are wired as 4 different speakers so a simple swap out is never an option when retaining

the factoy head unit.

In your current predicament, you can either wait for an SE or Sport amp to become available on E-Bay or in the Buy & Sell section,

(I am unsure if they are directly swaps unless exactly same part numbers as the Lexus Head units are definately not).

The other option is to do all this

1. Replace the Head Unit (single or double DIN)

2. Get an Autoleads Fascia FP-25-00

3. Install a suitable set of aftermarket rear 6x9's

4. Run your speakers from your new Head unit, or from an amp (which you mention you already have)

Hope this helps :D

Matty-86 · August 4, 2008

Hi, cheers for your replys, iv decided to replace the amp to see if that fixes it cos i cant see any other reason for the problem. i like the standard HU so if i can fix the sound problem then ill just stick a Line-level convertor to the rear 6x9's so i can use my amp with a sub. Ill probly run into problems doing this to lol knowing my luck, has anyone done this before? is it straight forward?

Matty-86 · August 17, 2008

Fixed It!!! Turns out it was the amp after all, found an origional IS200 amp on eBay, switched them round and now iv got my music back :D Was unsure if the amp was the cause cos i coulnt see anything wrong with my origioanl amp, all the components looked perfectly ok, never mind im happy now :)