Metra XSVI-2004 problems in C5 Corvette (kind of long)
 

I did a Clarion head unit in my car last fall with the XSVI to do a plug and play install with the factory speakers and bose amps in the doors.

I'm on my third one of these with problems now. Fortunately I bought from Crutchfield who is really good about returns. The first one came missing a wiring harness. The second one went in the car late September last year and worked fine for a few months (granted the car didn't move much all winter). About a month ago it started cutting out on me - the subs in the doors would shut off at random. All 4 other speakers were fine. Sometimes turning the car of, opening the door to cut the retained power, and restarting would get the subs to work for a while again. But they could cut out 30 seconds later or be fine for a few days again.

So I sent back the second XSVI and installed a third one. This one was fine for a few weeks and now has the same problem - sometimes the woofers come on, sometimes they don't. I triple-checked all my wiring when I had the dash apart a month ago for the third time for this head unit install. And the symptoms don't really point to wiring, since turning the car on and off can fix the problem, at least temporarily. I don't really suspect the amps themselves, because what are the odds that both of them are bad at the same time and cutting out at the exact same intervals?

Do they share a common ground or 12v source possibly, other than at the Metra box? Am I missing anything, or am I really 0 for 3 on these crappy metra boxes?

I see PAC makes an alternative part, the ROEM-VET1, but I had a PAC adapter to use my CD changer input as an AUX before this with my stock head unit and that thing was kind of a POS too.

get roemvet1 it will work 1000x better

:iagree:

or... Connect a wire directly between the 'remote amp trigger' wire on the new HU and the wire on the oem harness at pin 8 of C1. I'd splice it into the wire on the aftermarket side of the plug, but the oem wire is dark green.

C5 prints are HERE if you want to verify all of the wire colors.

The jumper would bypass the interface adapter and power up your subs whenever the radio is on.

Since I'll need to tear the dash apart again, I will try the splice idea just out of curiosity.
I gave this a lot of thought today though, and since I already have a decent amp sitting here, I just ordered a box and sub for the center trunk compartment. Rather than throwing even more money into adapters for band-aid fixes to retain mediocre stock speakers, I think I'll start working toward upgrading and phasing out the stock stuff.