Did you install a new aftermarket radio in your Third Generation(2004,2005,2006,2007,2008) Acura TL? Is the aftermarket radio powering on but you don’t hear anything through the speakers?or Do you get sound through the speakers but it gets very distorted at higher volumes? Is your factory navigation touchscreen not working after the install? If you are experiencing any of these symptoms you are in luck because we have the solution for you whether you have an 04-06 or an 07-08 Acura TL.
All these issues stem from the same source and that is your factory amplifier. The 2004 to 2008 Acura TL comes equipped with a solid stereo system for its age. It has 6 total speakers including a center channel and subwoofer. This is not a traditional setup. Normally older cars have amplifiers built right into the radios that come from the factory, then when you replace the radio with an aftermarket your aftermarket radio also has a built in amp which will power all your speakers. This is different in your Acura TL. Your Acura TL is setup so that the radio provides a low level signal to your factory amplifier and your factory amplifier then does its magic and powers yours speakers. When installing an aftermarket radio make sure to use RCAs and not direct speaker wires from your aftermarket radio. Our harnesses use RCAs for all audio connection you can check them out here. Check out our video on the explanation here.
In the first scenario where there is no sound after you installed an aftermarket radio in your Acura TL, this is most likely because you did not wire the factory amp turn on wire to your aftermarket radio. This wire isn’t in the blue plug but in the gray plug coming from the vehicle. It is a yellow wire with a red stripe. Also if you missed the amp turn on wire, you most likely missed the subwoofer hookup as well. The factory subwoofer is also in the gray plug along with the wires necessary to retain your factory navigation. In order for your factory navigation touchscreen to function it needs resistance on its GA-NET+ BUS line these two wires are also found in the gray plug. We sell a plug and play harness that you will have to wire into your exiting wire harness. Our harness plugs right into the gray connector and provides you with an RCA for the sub, the resistor needed for the touchscreen and an unterminated wire to hook up to your aftermarket radios amp turn on. You can pick up one up whether you have an 04-06 or an 07-08 Acura TL.
In the second scenario where you have sound but it is distorted at higher volumes this is most likely because you have used the aftermarket radio speaker wires from the aftermarket radio plug and not the RCAs that are on the back of the aftermarket radio. The plug speaker wires which come in pairs are connected to the internal amplifier of the aftermarket radio. This means you are feeding an amplified signal to the factory amplifier. This will result in distortion as the signal is being amplified twice, first by your aftermarket radio and then by the factory amplifier. To solve this issue you must first verify your aftermarket radio has 6 RCA outputs. These outputs must include Front Left & Right, Rear Left & Right and Subwoofer Left & Right. You will then have to purchase unterminated RCA wires and wire them into the harness you have already have bypassing the speaker wires coming from the aftermarket radio or use one of our plug and play connectors. The signal sent from the RCAs is low level and easily handled by your factory amp. You will be surprised at the upgraded sound quality from your factory system just by changing to a solid aftermarket radio. In order to solve this problem you will need to wire RCAs to the plug the hooks onto the factory connector and then use those newly wired RCAs to connect to your aftermarket radio. We also offer a harness with the RCAs already wired in here.
If this article leaves you wondering whether you can solve your issues or not we offer harness and partial harnesses that will make solving these problems easier. We also offer complete kits and complete harnesses that make your install truly plug and play along with a list of radios that our 100% fully compatible with our harness and your vehicle. If you need help with your installation or have a question regarding our products or the install please feel free to reach out to us via our get advice form. We are always happy to help and provide guidance with your installation If you are interested in replacing the factory amplifier or the factory subwoofer check out the respective articles linked.
I have a 2006 Acura TL, I have a Kenwood DDX9705s aftermarket radio I need the harness with the
parking brake bypass. What is the part # for the harness? I do have the steering wheel wiring already.
I would appreciate help with part# and price?
You will use the custom harness sku found here.
https://mobilemaxcaraudio.com/product/2004-05-06-acura-tl-to-custom-radio-wiring-harness/
It will come with the wiring for the module so you can just plug it in.
As for the bypass you can add it to your cart and we will wire it in. That is found here https://mobilemaxcaraudio.com/product/parking-break-bypass/
I have a 2005 Acura TL and my doesn’t play loud and volume is up to 40 I checked everything problem it my have the amplifier and the connection harnesses my redio has a very low sound even when my volume is up to 40 I can’t figure out how to get my back speakers on actually all my speakers please is there any one that can provide information that would help me
Treaver,
It sounds like you will need another amp, the Acura amps do fail and they begin failing in the manner you describe where the amp will not get as loud and slowly you will behind loosing speakers until only the subwoofer works. The amps are interchangeable from 2004-2008 so you should be able to find on on eBay or a junkyard. They normally go from $70-$100. The amp is pretty easy to swap, its located in the passenger kick panel and has 3 bolts holding it down.
I have a 2001 Acura cl type s any plug and play harness for it? It has the Bose amplifier and want to install a double din head unit.
I have an 04 Acura Tl and i got a pioneer mvh-s622bs and i installed it and connected the red and yellow wire from the gray connector to the red and yellow wire on the blue one and it now plays sound but there is a lot of static and when at max volume it sounds distorted what should i do to fix this.
Eric,
You are sending a high level signal to your factory amplifier which is causing distortion. You need to use RCA. The DIY combo has everything you need and is inexpensive. https://mobilemaxcaraudio.com/product/2004-05-2006-acura-tl-diy-harness-combo/
Hey, is there a way where i can just cut the subwoofer wires and connect them to the blue connector? or is there a way where i can just get the harness for the gray connector since i already have one for the blue one? also since i cut the red and yellow wire from the gray connector and connected it to the red and yellow wire on the blue connector would this be a problem if i got the other harness and plugged it in or would it just be a simple fix of just connecting them back to where they originally were?
After doing a little more research I have concluded that it would probably be best to just buy the rca harness for the gray one, but can you guys help me out in purchasing just the harness for the gray one since i already have the other one? can i got buy it at a store or do you guys sell it and if so how long would it take?
Eric,
We are the only ones who sell the connectors configured properly for the Acura TL. They DIY combo is your cheapest option to fix your problem, also you will need to put the factory wires back together. Here is a video guide on the harness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUA_-AiKccI&t=126s If you watch the video completely you will have solved your problem and the harnesses ship same say if ordered before 3:00PM EST and arrive in 2-3 business days.
https://mobilemaxcaraudio.com/product/2004-05-2006-acura-tl-diy-harness-combo/
thank you guys for all the help just ordered the harness hope it comes quick!!
I just bought a 04 Acura TL and my radio at 40 max output there’s barely any volume if it’s windy outside I can barely hear my music what do I need to do to get regular volume back through my speakers?
You can buy a used factory amplifier its very easy to replace or you can use our plug and play amp it is up to you.
i have an ’08 TL Type S w/ navi, i have installed a 5ch amp with new front speakers and tweeters as well as a replacement subwoofer. I took the signal pre-amp and used the factory speaker wire to send signal to speakers all at the factory amp. After turning on i can hear sound from all the speakers however the fronts are much much quieter than the rears and im not really sure if i can even hear anything coming out the aftermarket tweeters which are wired into the front door speakers. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I have an 04 acura tl. I previously bought one of the android 9.1″ head units and didn’t have any issues upon wiring it up brand new from the box. That being said, someone stole it so I ended up finding another one almost identical from a friend. They had it previously wired into I think they said an 06 tl. Would that mean the wiring diagram/Harness is different and that potentially be what’s causing the no audio issue I’m having? I’ve wired in 2 other head one being a double din jvc Navi. & the other being a touchscreen double din pioneer dvd/cd. The android is the only one with the no sound issue. Thanks!