How To Fix Aftermarket Radio Overheating That Gets Too Hot To Touch

overheating car stereo cooling fan

An overheating aftermarket car stereo that gets too hot to touch can cause problems in the long term.  The heat created can blown out the mosfet transistors inside the car stereo, they provide sound to the speakers inside your car, its the mini car amp. Not only that, it can provide a weird plastic smell in your car and can switch off if the car stereo gets too hot. Overall, its not ideal to allow an aftermarket overheating. Shorts can cause overheating problems with a car stereo, basically two wires that are possibly touching each other. Its ideal to remove the car stereo from the din slot and check to see if all the wires are securely taped off and that there are no exposed wires. If there are no wires touching, then you will need to upgrade the power and ground wires. They are most likely too small for an powerful aftermarket headunit, more amps are being pulled than what thin small wires can handle. So in this case your best bet would be to upgrade the power and ground wires with 16 gauge wire. Also if you have a double din or flip out in car dvd stereo, check the fan on the back if its blowing air. In some cases they can fail causing your car stereo to overheat.

upgrade car power and ground wires with 16 gauge cable

1) Remove the car stereo using din tools or a flat head screwdriver into both ends to pop it out of the cage.

2) Unplug the wiring harness from the car stereo that is overheating. 

3) Pop the hood to the front near of the car. Look for a area in the firewall that you can push wires through. If there is isn't one that you can see, you might need to drill a hole and apply a rubber washer grommet around the connection, feeding the wire through there.

4) Connect red 16 gauge wire to the + positive terminal on the car battery. Connect black 16 gauge wire to the negative terminal on the car battery. Now that you have got the connections push them through the hole you found or made.

5) Run the new wires inside the car, you might need to remove the glovebox or the carpets to access them so that you can pull them through. Feed the wires into the din slot. 

6) Attach the new thicker power and ground wires to the connections of the wiring harness, disconnecting the old ones. You can either remove altogether or tape off the old power and ground connections the choice is yours.

Upgrading the power wires will fix overheating problems regarding small cheap stock wiring. This is because there will be more copper inside the thicker wires to provide a higher current at high volumes. You could also add a fan onto the back heatsink to give things extra cool if its a tight spot.
Previous Post
Next Post

0 Comments: