Aftermarket H/U with JBL Synthesis - Left channel randomly cuts out

[Twistedfocus]

About a month ago I swapped my radio for a Clarion unit to get the HD radio and bluetooth that I was accustomed to in my other vehicles. Install was relatively easy but I had an issue that I beleive was a bad radio (if you moved the XM harness around while powered up the radio would cut out). Crutchfield graciously shipped me another one, but sadly I still have issues. It seems to work fine most of the time but it still ocasionally stops playing out of the left side speakers.

There were 2 options from Crutchfield for adapters. Option 1 was two adapters, one for steering wheel controls and one for amp interface. Option 2 was the Crux brand all-in-one adapter. I went with the latter to simplify things. I've triple checked my wiring and it's all correct. I'm starting to wonder if the crux is failing but I'm not sure how to test it. I'm also wondering if maybe the amp just doesn't like the signal from the crux for some reason. I don't see where anyone else with a t4r is using it and maybe theres a reason for that. I doubt the amp itself is bad because it worked fine with the OEM radio, but that's not impossible.

Any ideas on what to check next? I've looked all over and haven't seen anyone else with this specific issue.

 

[acronin2]

About a month ago I swapped my radio for a Clarion unit to get the HD radio and bluetooth that I was accustomed to in my other vehicles. Install was relatively easy but I had an issue that I beleive was a bad radio (if you moved the XM harness around while powered up the radio would cut out). Crutchfield graciously shipped me another one, but sadly I still have issues. It seems to work fine most of the time but it still ocasionally stops playing out of the left side speakers.

There were 2 options from Crutchfield for adapters. Option 1 was two adapters, one for steering wheel controls and one for amp interface. Option 2 was the Crux brand all-in-one adapter. I went with the latter to simplify things. I've triple checked my wiring and it's all correct. I'm starting to wonder if the crux is failing but I'm not sure how to test it. I'm also wondering if maybe the amp just doesn't like the signal from the crux for some reason. I don't see where anyone else with a t4r is using it and maybe theres a reason for that. I doubt the amp itself is bad because it worked fine with the OEM radio, but that's not impossible.

Any ideas on what to check next? I've looked all over and haven't seen anyone else with this specific issue.

I do not have experience with the Crux adapter but I had the Metra TYTO-01 amp interface adapter with an aftermarket head unit in my JBL Synthesis equipped 04 4runner and the volume would randomly cut in and out. I can't say for sure but if I had to guess I would say the adapter is the culprit.

I ended up scrapping the JBL and adding an aftermarket amp. Unfortunately the JBL synthesis is a PITA when it comes to upgrading head units. Hope this helps.

 

[paperchasin]

Unfortunately the JBL synthesis is a PITA when it comes to upgrading head units. Hope this helps.

^^This. I have the JBL navi in my Limited and from all of the research I've been doing, the best solution to dealing with the JBL synthesis is to tear it all out and build your new audio setup from the ground up. Sucks! What I ended up doing recently was installing a module that allows me to use the SAT function to play mp3s from a USB stick. I will see how long this will last me before I consider the huge cost of re-doing my audio.