How to Disconnect a Car Amplifier

A car amplifier can be easily removed from your vehicle, and it takes very little effort. The main thing is to ensure you are not leaving open lines to power in your vehicle, and that you reconnect the speakers to your radio once finished so that you still have sound. The amplifier is powered by the battery, generally through a power cable hooked directly to the car battery, which also contains a fuse. If you are removing the amplifier because it is not working properly, you may just want to check this fuse and replace it before going through the process of removal.

Step 1 - Disconnect Power

Before you start to remove your car amplifier, be sure to disconnect the negative terminal from your car battery so you are not shocked and to prevent a power surge from your wiring as a result of a short circuit. Also, on the positive terminal, you should see a secondary wire with a fuse in it. Remove this fuse as well before moving forward, to protect your vehicle from shock. You can determine which wire is for your amp by looking at your amplifier and identifying the power line by its color. It should be the same unless an extension was used to reach the battery. Simply disconnect this line from the battery's positive terminal before moving on.

Step 2 - Remove the Lines from the Vehicle's Stereo

There should be two added lines running from your car amplifier to the stereo: the turn-on lead and the actual signal cables that transmit the sound to the amplifier itself. Disconnect these and follow where they go through the cars interior. Many times these are run under carpet and trim along the doors and can be removed and replaced with a screwdriver. You will want to utilize this concealment when running your speaker lines back to your stereo, once the amplifier is removed.

Step 3 - Reconnect the Speakers to the Stereo Outputs

Once you have the power lines, the added signal cable, and turn-on lead cable removed from your car amplifier, simply take the speaker lines and run them back through the same hiding places these cables came from. You can now remove the amplifier and re-secure all your vehicles trim and covering once the speakers are reconnected. You can also reconnect the positive line wire to the batter at this time.

Test your sound quality afterward. You will most likely have to adjust the advanced equalization settings as they usually become distorted after adding an amplifier to the system. Replace all your interior trimming once the speaker wires are run back to the stereo, and your vehicle should look the same as it did before you started.

Your last step in this process is to reconnect your negative line wire to the pole on your battery. This power cable should run the length of your vehicle to where the amplifier was sitting, so you will likely have to work a little to remove it.