Wife's 2003 9-3 Linear has killed 2 Amp1 modules!

[Dave Land]

TL;DR version: Anybody know why a California garage-kept (no rain/snow problems) 2003 9-3 Linear was able to kill an AMP1 in 2 or 3 days, or how to find out?

My wife and I both have 9-3 Linears: hers is a '03, mine's an '05.

Some months ago, she had the dreaded dead radio (and dead battery) syndrome that turned out to be a failed AMP1.

Being the lazy guy that I am, it took me until this week to get around to dealing with it.

But being the good husband that I am, I gave her the AMP1 from my 2005, and she was happy.

For about two days.

This weekend, her radio was dead again. The AMP1 unit was warm to the touch, and, because I didn't pull it out 'til the next morning, it drained her battery.

So now, neither of us has sound, and there's no way in heck I'm gonna replace her AMP1 for $300 only to have her stupid car burn that one up, too.

I'm very aware of the bypass procedure, and already ordered a connector from Etadyne¹ to do so, but I would like to learn how to figure out why this car ate a $300 component over a weekend.

The car is California-based, and garage-kept, so I'm certain that no snow or rain (we're experiencing a record drought) got on the AMP1. It just seems that the electrical system destroyed an amp that was working perfectly for a decade in my 2005.

——

¹ Etadyne 2003+ Saab 9³ MOST Loopback Connector
I have looked, and can't find another source where you can buy this $3 item one at a time, so you're stuck buying it from them for $12 + a criminal $7/US ($25/worldwide) shipping.

[AVguy]

Hard to say without seeing some photos of the AMP1's. The battery draining is a very typical symptom of corrosion or a failed component inside the amp. it may be possible to repair them if not too corroded.

Carwash?

[Dave Land]

Thanks for your reply, @Avguy.

Carwash? No. Or anyway, if she took it to a carwash, they didn't do anything: It's as dirty as any car owned by decent people during a drought :-).

I'll pop open the amps and pull the boards again and take pics: I didn't take any when I had 'em apart last week, because I didn't see any obvious damage (leaky capacitors, burnt traces, etc). Then again, I didn't get around to removing the shielding on the standing board with the optical connections, especially on the one amp that was still working. I didn't want to risk breaking it.

Now that they're both dead, if I can find good instructions on how to remove the shielding from the digital board, I'll do so. Have you ever done it, or do you have pointers to good instructions?