So my 18 year old son is on the verge of getting his driver's license...



I know when he gets the car by himself he will likely BLAST the music (I do it when he's not in the car) and I want a way to fix the audio so it won't go past like 8 or 9.

Actually I'd be fine with cutting it off completely (like removing the fuse or whatever, but he'd get so pissed off at me if I did that. He loves driving my car and says he has dibs on it when I want to trade it out.



It might not be possible to stop the stereo from going past a certain level of audio, but if it is possible, tell me how to do it?

Thanks.

 

Reported spam.

 

It is possible to limit the maximum turns on the volume knob I believe. Its just a matter of how. First thought is a toothed gear to the volume knobthat only has so far to rotate.
A better way might be to set the volume where you want it and eliminating the knob and exposed shaft and substitute a mechanical knob keyed to the modified shaft. The original shaft is cout off at the face of the dash and drilled offset to fit a pinned knob. Anytime you want to leave it as original simply solder or glue the pinned knob.
More thought is underway but these are something to chew on.
You could remove the knob but pliers instantly bypasses. likewise a sleeve won't help much either.
Our bench racers suggested muffling the speaker with tissue paper or rags. Itsn't hard to do.

 

More trouble than its worth. Not like you can really "blast" music from the fit's stock audio setup without it sounding terrible either.

 

LOL! My daughter will listen to her honda accords (stock) radio on super blast...to me it sounds like a bunch of banjo players performing, but I guess to her it's the quantity and not so much the quality.

 

I don't think that the stock sport has a volume limit function though I could be wrong. One thing you can do is just spin the volume nob a few times counter-clockwise. Surprisingly the volume drops very quick from say at 25 to 0-5 within a spin or two.

My thing biggest concern would be that if he uses the auxiliary jack and a device to listen to stuff that he would have it all volume leveled accordingly. Its easy to blow a speaker that way since the device's volume is usually full blast AND the volume is being increased via the Fit's system.

 

People know better than to turn my radio up. If they do I give the bass knob a twist and their eye balls twitch.

 

I'm not sure how the volume knob looks like on the "inside". But if it is hollow (as it likely is) you can glue on a little plastic part at one point on the inside of the outer edge. Let's say it is at top when the volume knob is turned all the way down. Then you can glue on some more plastic or something to the front of the radio just inside where the knob is going. If you place this at the right spot you will stop the knob from turning past that point.

Another and better (but harder to do) is to open the radio. Cut the legs on the little variable resistor that is on the volume knob. Solder some thin wires to the print-board where the legs was attached. Make the wires go outside the radio and to a hidden compartment somewhere where only you know where is, and solder on a identical variable resistor there. With this installation you can set the volume level as you want it. Turning the knob on the radio will do nothing

Yet another way is to replace the variable resistor with one that has the same physical dimensions but with a lower resistor value. You may have to solder a fixed value resistor in series with that variable, I'm not sure how that circuit works... And it may be hard to find a variable resistor that will fit...

Hope you understand my poor English

 

Put the volume on a certain level and tell him not to touch the volume and that if he needs to turn the radio down just tell him to turn it off. Put a strip of colored craft glue from the knob to the plastic surround.

If he gives the car back and the strip is broken take the keys and tell him to take the bus from now on for being a punk and disrespecting his mom.

 

I hear ya'...I luv my eyeballs twitchin'

That's a good concept but, most teenager's will have to be mechanically restricted. They have a gazzillion excuses for everything..

He'll probably come up with something like 'I accidentally hit the knob while adjusting the ac vent or while pointing out directions to his passenger...'

 

It's because of controlling parent that kids are acting out. You treat them like pets instead of human being. Try a little trust for once. My parent were cool with me using stuff as long as it was in the same condition when I brought it back. If I broke something, I paid for it. If I turned the radio up or messed with the audio setting and it wasn't put back to "normal" when mom or dad got the car back. I got in trouble, but never a "go take the bus, you can never use my stuff again".

Of course I was 16 when this was going on. I bought my own vehicle when I turned 17 and then bought the Fit when I turned 18 with everything in my name except my insurance. I'm on my dads policy for insurance, but I pay for it.

Just really annoys the hell out of me when people don't trust their kids to do the right thing and just assume that they're going to do the wrong thing.

 

Simplest way I can think of without dismantling the car or dissecting the electronics is to disconnect the battery then reconnect. Then the radio won't work until you punch in the code. But how many times are you willing to do this?It'd get old pretty quick.

Yup definitely would take more effort than the payoff.

Ahhhh the trials of parenting and growing up... This can be spawned into a gazillion other threads like the oil, tires and gas octane threads... No DIY or How To kits... No one-size-fits-all... Just trial and error and hope for the best... like the stock market... No one really has control, we just think we do. We can only speculate, influence, guide, plant the seeds, try to mold... On the other end, kids will grow up to be their own person regardless... good or bad...
Much like a farmer, tilling the soil, planting the seeds, ever so careful, nurturing... and hoping for a good crop and harvest... Just my take.

Forrest Gump put it best I think... like a box of chocolate, never know what you're gonna get.