Subwoofer Help

[Bret Cummins]

Last summer, I decided I wanted to put (kind of) stock trunk deck subwoofers in my 2006 Fusion SEL. I found a wiring diagram explaining where everything went and we (my dad and I) followed that wiring diagram. Instead of using stock subwoofers for the Fusion generation (2006-2009), I found two subwoofers, Sony, from a 2011 Fusion, same size as the stock ones, 6x9. I couldn't find any stock subwoofers (Audiophile) anywhere. But we used the stock amplifier from the 2006-2009 generation. Before all this, I bought a 2008 Mercury Milan Navigation unit, so it had the 8-pin connection for the amplifier on the back ready to go unlike the unit I had before. I went to a local junkyard and got the connections for the Navigation unit and connections for the actual amp. I bought, one of two, amplifiers on eBay. We followed the diagram exactly, connected the power wire to the fuse box and nothing. We're certain the subs work because we tested them beforehand. After that, I just quit because I thought it was the amplifier, so last week, I bought another one and the same thing, nothing worked. Anyone have any ideas? Could it be that we mixed subwoofers from a 2011 Fusion with an amp from a 2009 Fusion?

 

Also, does anyone know what "Enable CUP" means on the diagram, the VIO/RED one going to the amp?

 

I inserted the wiring diagram. 

[Bret Cummins]

Also, we made sure to keep the power wire and the wires going from the navigation/radio unit separated, so there would be no interference. 

[FusionDiffusion]

So just to be clear, you tested the speakers separately to make sure they both worked, you have the subwoofer amplifier, and you verified that it's getting a power and has ground, and that you are getting an audio signal out from the radio (ACM)?

 

The subwoofer amplifier seems pretty simple. Power, ground, two channel inputs, two speaker outputs, clip wire. The only thing I wouldn't know about for sure is the behavior of the clip wire. I'm sure some kind of signal is sent to turn the amp on or off. It's probably just a simple 12V on or off, but I would want to verify that before sending power on that wire and frying something.

 

Did the car you got the ACM out of have subwoofers? If it didn't, the module won't be set up to send an audio signal for subwoofers and you would have to get one from a car that did have subs or figure out how to reprogram it with the as-built data.

[Bret Cummins]

9 hours ago, FusionDiffusion said:

So just to be clear, you tested the speakers separately to make sure they both worked, you have the subwoofer amplifier, and you verified that it's getting a power and has ground, and that you are getting an audio signal out from the radio (ACM)?

 

The subwoofer amplifier seems pretty simple. Power, ground, two channel inputs, two speaker outputs, clip wire. The only thing I wouldn't know about for sure is the behavior of the clip wire. I'm sure some kind of signal is sent to turn the amp on or off. It's probably just a simple 12V on or off, but I would want to verify that before sending power on that wire and frying something.

 

Did the car you got the ACM out of have subwoofers? If it didn't, the module won't be set up to send an audio signal for subwoofers and you would have to get one from a car that did have subs or figure out how to reprogram it with the as-built data.

I'm not sure how to check to see if there is any signal coming out of the radio to the amp. I'm 100% sure were getting power to the amp, we tested the wire to see if it was hot and it was. The navigation unit, I'm guessing, came out of a car with subwoofers. I'm not 100% sure though but it does have the 8-pin plug in the back for the amp. Most, if not all, Fusion's or Milan's that have a navigation system are pretty loaded.

 

Also, which wire on the wiring diagram would be the wiring clip?

[FusionDiffusion]

Well you could play a 60 Hz tone or something and then use a multimeter on the output in AC mode to see if you can measure a voltage signal that increases with volume and stops when you stop playback. Usually a line level signal will be about a volt +/- or so.

 

The enable clip wire is pin #1 on the sub amplifier, violet/red on your diagram. I'd probe that on the ACM side and see what happens when you turn the radio on and off.

Edited February 5, 2018 by FusionDiffusion

[Bret Cummins]

On 2/4/2018 at 9:02 PM, FusionDiffusion said:

Well you could play a 60 Hz tone or something and then use a multimeter on the output in AC mode to see if you can measure a voltage signal that increases with volume and stops when you stop playback. Usually a line level signal will be about a volt +/- or so.

 

The enable clip wire is pin #1 on the sub amplifier, violet/red on your diagram. I'd probe that on the ACM side and see what happens when you turn the radio on and off.

Thank you so much for your help. I'll update you when something changes!

[FusionDiffusion]

OK, I'm back and I figured it out! Only a little more than a year late. ? Finally got around to determining how it all works.

 

The subwoofer amp has always-on power on pin 5. The enable/clip wire on pin 1 works as follows. When accessory power is active, pin 1 receives 6V from the ACM (non-Sony) or the DSP module (Sony). This turns on the sub amp (so if pin 1 doesn't get 6V then it won't turn on). The amplifier IC (which appears to be a custom TDA8569Q variant used in a paired output configuration) has a clipping or distortion feedback feature if you crank the volume too high. If the IC detects clipping, then the sub amp boosts the voltage on pin 1 to 12V. The ACM or DSP module detects this, and will lower the volume level to the sub amp as needed to limit or prevent more clipping. This is to protect the speakers and amp from damage. The clipping signal will also be trigged by thermal overload and shorted speakers. I was only able to trigger the clipping signal for brief moments at extreme volume levels (practically max volume with bass level cranked up on a bass tester track), so the clipping feedback might never get triggered for most people.

 

Ford uses a 6V remote turn on wire for almost everything. The DSP module is also turned on with 6V from the ACM. Aftermarket stuff uses 12V, so that may cause problems if you are doing an install.