The Unofficial "Ask a Stupid Question" Thread

[NEURO]

When I lived in Baltimore, my car was parked on the street, and I repeatedly found my sidewalk adjacent mirror adjusted all the way to the outboard side. I thought someone was intentionally trying to annoy me.
Then one day, as I was coming out of the house, I witnessed a "lady" walking up to my car, pushing the mirror glass, and bowing down to look into the mirror and check her lashes. I think her name was Classi.

The part he left out...
"...so I did recon for a week, noting the time of day she'd approach my car and screw up the mirror, noting the habits & schedule of other neighbors (witnesses), where Ring doorbells & other cameras were, the position of the sun in the sky, Amazon delivery driver times, etc. I was on a mission...Mission Tropic Thunder(bird). Then the date to enact my plan to stop her narcissistic foolishness was set and I laid in wait for her."

"She was never seen again."

 

[KevinVarnes]

Bit mysterious ride for the bird today. Somehow the passenger side mirror was aiming way too far to the right. Though that mirror was on the side of the road where it parks in the neighborhood, there's no need for others to squeeze to get by. I don't see any evidence that there was a love tap of any sort

Then Im hearing a strange gentle thump near the trunk at 0-5mph speeds.

Theres a bout 1 MM of play when I press on the trunk.

I drove slow on the lot with the trunk open but theres still a sound, so it can't be that. In fact the sound 'feels' to come from the under carriage. I did compressions on the corners, and it replicated the sound maybe once during the dozen compressions. I may have the tire shop take a look when they balance the tires

@CDsDontBurn weren't you having a similar issue with a trunk-adjacent sound? Was it resolved, or do you remember where its posted?

A lot of times when diagnosing suspension noises instead of a straight up/down on a corner, I'll rock the car side to side. Kind of hard to explain, but imagine standing next to your car and pushing up on your A-pillar at about a 45 degree angle to the ground. Best way to find loose sway bar end links and other worn suspension bits that are normally loaded. The rocking motion helps to load and then unload suspension parts making it easier to find worn joints. Easier to do if you can have an assistant rock the car while you lay underneath feeling different suspension parts.

Is the noise approximately consistent with the rotation speed of a wheel? When I think of a consistent thumping sound I think of broken or shifted tire belt.

 

[Vicinity]

A lot of times when diagnosing suspension noises instead of a straight up/down on a corner, I'll rock the car side to side. Kind of hard to explain, but imagine standing next to your car and pushing up on your A-pillar at about a 45 degree angle to the ground. Best way to find loose sway bar end links and other worn suspension bits that are normally loaded. The rocking motion helps to load and then unload suspension parts making it easier to find worn joints. Easier to do if you can have an assistant rock the car while you lay underneath feeling different suspension parts.

Is the noise approximately consistent with the rotation speed of a wheel? When I think of a consistent thumping sound I think of broken or shifted tire belt.

Just tried it, wow that's tough. No sound, or I'm not very strong heh.

Part of me thinks it happens when the wheel turns about 10 degrees; on the other hand it seem like it would happen on a full rotation intervals, which seems to line up with your theory. The intermittence makes it difficult. Maybe I should have someone coast it while I jog along side the back.

Either way I will take it in for the free balance tomorrow, because if I wait any longer they will start begging me to put new tires on. Cant remember if it's 3 or 5 years that they start seeing dollar signs

 

[XR7-4.6]

So I’m considering something silly, if I were to hook up the factory JBL cassette deck to an aftermarket amplifier what would be a decent choice with 4 channels and a dedicated sub out? I’m not looking for big audio, but sound quality/loudness close to what I have in the Alpine head unit I currently run.

Also I know there are an abundance of bypass cables for the premium sound but is there a premium sound to RCA adapter out there I’m missing?

Is there a fatal flaw to this whole idea?

 

[KevinVarnes]

Just tried it, wow that's tough. No sound, or I'm not very strong heh.

Part of me thinks it happens when the wheel turns about 10 degrees; on the other hand it seem like it would happen on a full rotation intervals, which seems to line up with your theory. The intermittence makes it difficult. Maybe I should have someone coast it while I jog along side the back.

Either way I will take it in for the free balance tomorrow, because if I wait any longer they will start begging me to put new tires on. Cant remember if it's 3 or 5 years that they start seeing dollar signs

Also check your lug nut torque. Had a guy this summer that had a shop do some rear diff work on his truck. He drove it on a trip and it started making a strange noise from the rear. After we went for a ride I looked and one rear lug stud had broken off and two other lugs were loose. Also why I always retorque lug nuts after taking a car for a test drive. Especially on aluminum wheels.

 

[CDsDontBurn]

@CDsDontBurn weren't you having a similar issue with a trunk-adjacent sound? Was it resolved, or do you remember where its posted?

Trunk sounds is not me, sorry man. I've been having suspension sounds that I've yet to address on Gold Bird.

 

[Grog6]

The prob is oem systems aren't line level. either you get distortion, or almost nothing.
Try adapting a bypass cable to a guitar amp or jambox with line inputs to the amp;you'll be disappointed. I have some older alpine amps we could work a trade on, a 2 channel 120w, a 2 channel 35w, and a 4 channel 20w. the 35 and 120 are real amps, the other is a 1377 chip each channel. let me know.

 

[XR7-4.6]

The prob is oem systems aren't line level. either you get distortion, or almost nothing.
Try adapting a bypass cable to a guitar amp or jambox with line inputs to the amp;you'll be disappointed. I have some older alpine amps we could work a trade on, a 2 channel 120w, a 2 channel 35w, and a 4 channel 20w. the 35 and 120 are real amps, the other is a 1377 chip each channel. let me know.

The standard stereo isn’t line level but the premium sound decks must be, they use an external amplifier mounted in the package tray (or in the dash on 97s) to drive the speakers.

 

[theterminator93]

I know the JBL amps in the FN10s must use a nonstandard line voltage; a level converter must be used to interface aftermarket head units to the factory amp otherwise there's no sound.

I had to use this to make it work in the 96. https://www.amazon.com/Scosche-FAI3A-Amplifier-Interface-Converter/dp/B0002J2D1S

 

[Grog6]

That's a speaker level to line level converter. "line level" was originally 1v into 600 ohms. similar to a vu-meter on a recorder. Cars can be 4v into 10k, or higher.
Most car oems stick some resistors in the signals for the speakers, so same voltage, but higher impedance.
That box should work. sound quality will be well below the capability of the deck.
I used to sell those, usually with the $40 'amplifiers'

 

[Kurt K]

It is part of the fuel gauge but the opening of the bezel for the vac/boost gauge is substantially larger than the LX one for the volt gauge.

I know I'm late to the conversation, but was going to add that comment. It was a little unnerving cutting my stock boost gauge / fuel gauge in 1/2 when I installed the aftermarket gauge in my dash. I had to open up the hole in back to make room for the compression fitting required to connect the stock line to the aftermarket gauge, and I was able to stay clear of the copper traces of the factory wiring sheet?.

 

[Kidd-7]

Can I lube the IAC? If so with what?
The new one I just installed seemed to have some lithium in there.

 

[Kenz]

I know the JBL amps in the FN10s must use a nonstandard line voltage; a level converter must be used to interface aftermarket head units to the factory amp otherwise there's no sound.

I had to use this to make it work in the 96. https://www.amazon.com/Scosche-FAI3A-Amplifier-Interface-Converter/dp/B0002J2D1S

@XR7-4.6

I used a similar one by JL audio in my home theater system for a while. I was adapting the amplified front channel out of the amp, to power an external amp that ran a pair of Bose speakers.

Here is the one I used -

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-JLf93jT4xKh/p_13698413/JL-Audio-LoC-22-Line-Output-Converter.html

I get that audiophiles will scoff at such setups. Honestly though it worked really well, and it had no noticeable distortion even at low volume. I think the biggest factor to the sound quality you are going to get using one, is the source. If it's a quality stereo with a low harmonic distortion it will work just as well as a set of RCAs.

 

[theterminator93]

I was mostly interested in getting the ability to interface my USB stick with songs and a 3.5mm TRS jack into the car, less concern was sound quality. I never bothered upgrading the speakers or amp; too much monkey business with the component setup in the Marks.

 

[Derphound01]

This brings up a really good question.

Does it matter that Spotify audio quality is lossless when it's connected to the stereo with a cassette adapter so cheap it triggers the CrO2 pickup?

 

[theterminator93]

I don't know the frequency response of a cassette deck (probably something like 40-13,000), but I doubt it goes as high so that the improvements between lossless and 320k are apparent. IME 128 to 320 is noticeable because of artifacts regardless of frequency, but above 320 less so. This is assuming a more modern codec, anyway - MP3 doesn't really sound much better at 320 than it does at 160; it tends to fill the extra bitrate with garbage at higher bitrates. More modern codecs are more efficient and both sound better at a given bitrate compared to MP3, and actually use the higher bitrate ceiling to improve sonic quality.

 

[Grog6]

If you're paying extra for lossless, yes, you're wasting cash.
I can tell between mp3 @320 vs flac vs cd. and my hearing sux,lol.
Brandon, good casette decks can go 20-20k with chrome or metal tape. The one you made me the tesr tape for can. Those casette adapters, not so much. They're fm quality,50-15k roughly.
The jl audio converter is much better than the passive one.

 

[Derphound01]

I don't know the frequency response of a cassette deck (probably something like 40-13,000), but I doubt it goes as high so that the improvements between lossless and 320k are apparent. IME 128 to 320 is noticeable because of artifacts regardless of frequency, but above 320 less so. This is assuming a more modern codec, anyway - MP3 doesn't really sound much better at 320 than it does at 160; it tends to fill the extra bitrate with garbage at higher bitrates. More modern codecs are more efficient and both sound better at a given bitrate compared to MP3, and actually use the higher bitrate ceiling to improve sonic quality.

I was halfway being sarcastic with my question, but I do appreciate that you know this. Because most don't.

The only time I notice a difference is when I have it connected to the Edge's B&O system via USB / CarPlay.

If you're paying extra for lossless, yes, you're wasting cash.
I can tell between mp3 @320 vs flac vs cd. and my hearing sux,lol.

I am not thankfully. It comes as part of my family plan.

 

[Grog6]

The thing that amazed me with tape was when I had a reel to reel in hs. running tape at 15 ips made all the hiss go away. Cassette is 1 5/8 inch per sec,lol.

 

[XR7-4.6]

I opened quite the can of worms here! So would/should I use the line output converter connected directly off the factory head unit or off the factory JBL amplifier?

 

[Zep5.0]

I opened quite the can of worms here! So would/should I use the line output converter connected directly off the factory head unit or off the factory JBL amplifier?

It sounds like you should keep the current head unit. Are you really willing to spend $500 in accessories to make the stock cassette player work?

 

[XR7-4.6]

It sounds like you should keep the current head unit. Are you really willing to spend $500 in accessories to make the stock cassette player work?