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No sound from JBL audio system

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by paul.villasenor, Aug 6, 2009.

  1. paul.villasenor

    paul.villasenor Junior Member

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    A couple of days ago, I noticed the sound went out on my entire audio system. All the functions work, and I can switch between AM/FM radio, CD changer, Sirius, lockpicked video, etc., but the volume controls don't work in any of those modes. When I press the volume controls on the steering wheel or use the knob under the MFD, the volume level (on the MFD) doesn't appear. Sound from other sources work fine (voice commands, navigation, bluetooth phone, etc.) and those respond to the volume controls appropriately. Video also plays on the MFD as expected.

    The only thing different lately is that I've plugged my iPhone into the AUX jack a few times over the past week (which worked fine). Other than that, everything has worked perfectly since I got the car and had the modifications installed almost three years ago.

    I've attached the diagnostic screens from LAN Monitor. Anyone know what they mean or have an idea what's going on?

    Thanks in advance,
    Paul
     

    Attached Files:

  2. josht

    josht New Member

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    Did you figure anything out? I just started having the exact same issue and so far haven't been able to resolve.
     
  3. paul.villasenor

    paul.villasenor Junior Member

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    I just happened to take my car in today to have a friend look at it. After an afternoon of investigating, we suspect the problem is with the head unit. We going to try exchanging it with a different one to see if that works, but at this point we're keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that'll do it. From the best that we could tell, it doesn't seem like any of my mods are involved or at fault. Have you made any modifications to yours?
     
  4. josht

    josht New Member

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    Negative -- no mods to the system. Today it came in and out a few times, so I'm guessing there's a short somewhere. Going to try to get under the passenger seat this week and take a look around.
     
  5. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    I had a somewhat similar situation on my 2007. Because it started happening in the winter, I thought the cold was the cause. Instead, it turns out there was a loose connection.

    Toyota gladly changed out the JBL radio, but that didn't solve the problem. What DID solve it was changing the amplifier.

    Here is the thread I started to address the issue: No radio for 30 seconds on cold start. Hopefully, you'll find something useful in those discussions. It may help when talking to your dealer or other mechanic. Mine was fully warrantied, so yours may be as well.
     
  6. paul.villasenor

    paul.villasenor Junior Member

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    Thanks for your input. I actually saw your thread before I posted mine. When you were having your problems, could you hear navigation instructions or audio from bluetooth? If you tried adjusting the volume, did you see the volume setting on the MFD change accordingly?

    When my friend and I tried to troubleshoot my problem, we literally took the car apart. We took the amp apart to look for obvious meltdown on the circuit board, but there was none. Nav instructions and bluetooth still work as does the beep when you press buttons, and after reviewing the wiring diagram, we suspect that the amp needs to be functional for those to still work. As for volume controls, I can adjust them either from the steering wheel or the knob on the dash, but the volume setting doesn't display on the MFD. We're not certain, but we suspect it's something inside the head unit.

    As for ruling out a loose connection, we completely disconnected the amp, MFD, and head unit during our troubleshooting, put the whole thing back together again, and the problem still persists.

    I'm planning on calling tomorrow to see if my unit is under warranty, and my friend is checking a place that may be able to do a diagnostic on the head unit.

    Keeping my fingers crossed...
     
  7. PRPrius

    PRPrius Active Member

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    I had a similar issue since I started using my iPhone with my JBL unit. I have an 05 and I am using a cassette adapter to connect my iPhone. The first time I had the exact same issue you did, I had one extra issue. The sound system actually made a very high pitched noised before crashing. After that, there was no sound! The second time I had an issue, was just last friday. I got to the gym, disconnected the iphone from the adapter and turned off the car. I went to lock the door and nothing. My smart entry system completely crashed, I could not lock or start the car. If I press that power button, the car would not even alert me that the key was not present. I pressed the unlock button on the fob, and the car would unlock. The SKS function was the only system affected by this malfunction. I reset the system several times before it got back into normal. I started the car and the MFD had a momentary brain freeze and the screen went into a multi-color rainbow mode. I stopped using the adapter and have had no issues since. I think the iphone might be overloading the cars audio input. This issues have occured only twice, and both times it was right after using my iphone.
     
  8. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    At this point, you probably know more about my situation than I remember, because I haven't gone back to that thread to re-read it.

    I do remember that I could see the volume change being recorded on the MFD, but there was no sound at all. I can't recall the situation with Nav instructions, but my recollection is that it was only the radio sound that I couldn't hear (but I could easily be wrong about that).

    This was all well before the OS 3.0 was available, so there was no streaming audio via Bluetooth from my iPhone.

    I hope it all works out well for you, and I ask that you report every event (for posterity's sake). Someone else is likely to have a similar problem in the future, and your good record-keeping could make a real difference for the next person. (Yes, I could have done much better!!!)
     
  9. paul.villasenor

    paul.villasenor Junior Member

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    It's funny that you mentioned this. With all the mods I did to my sound system I never had any problems. Recently however, I started listening to internet streaming radio on my iPhone via the car's built-in AUX port (no more than a few times at the most). Then one day I got in the car, and that was it--no sound (no high pitched noise either).

    I've obviously since stopped using my iPhone with the AUX port, and although this happened a couple of weeks ago, I also noticed an anomaly with the Smart Key System last night. I was pulling up to a hotel to pick up a colleague in my car. I stopped the car (left it in gear with my foot on the brake), he got in, closed the door, and upon closing the door, a warning light comes on telling me the key isn't in the car. I ignored it and continued driving to my destination, and it's been fine since (i.e. the trip home). Hopefully it's a one-time thing, but when you told me your experience with your SKS, it got me thinking.

    I just called and found out that my car is still under warranty. I'll keep the forum posted as things develop.
     
  10. paul.villasenor

    paul.villasenor Junior Member

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    I'm still waiting to bring my car in to have my stereo repaired. (The delay is more logistics than anything else.) Strangely, my stereo seems to work intermittently for up to about a minute or two when I try turning it on--usually during the first ride of the day. I turn it on and it plays normally, but soon afterwards, the sound starts to cut in and out and the the audio completely dies again. I'm hoping to bring it in this weekend to get it fixed once and for all.
     
  11. paul.villasenor

    paul.villasenor Junior Member

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    A quick update: I just had my car's stereo replaced yesterday (under warranty), and everything seems to work fine again.