Driver's rear speaker won't work - what to do?

[afwfjustin]

My driver's rear speaker has never worked. I thought that maybe the positive/negative wires were backwards so I tried reversing them and it didn't help (they were spliced once before when new speakers were installed - the passenger rear works though).

1) I know the wiring is correct from the head unit
2) I have tried swapping the negative/positive connectors and there is no sound
3) I doubt one of the amplifiers is bad because every speaker is working in the car except the driver's rear
4) I tried a new speaker and there is still no sound.

What should my next step be?

[JDM Steve]

Reversing the + and - only changes phase control, if you have the premimum sound system (stock) then one of the amps is bad for that paticular speaker.

I know, because my s14 did the same exact thing, just by pass the stock amps and run wiring directly from the headunit to the speakers.

[flip]

Yep, bypass the stock amp back there. That should fix you right up. Same thing happened to mine. There are write ups on how to do it.

[afwfjustin]

So there's one amp per rear speaker? I thought it was maybe one amp per side of car (front and rear).

Is this what I need to do? http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread/335534

...or can I just cut a wire or two from the harness and use that?


Reversing the + and - only changes phase control, if you have the premimum sound system (stock) then one of the amps is bad for that paticular speaker.

I know, because my s14 did the same exact thing, just by pass the stock amps and run wiring directly from the headunit to the speakers.

I'd prefer to keep the wiring that's there if possible. I really don't want to have to route some stealth wiring that'll take me forever.

[JDM Steve]

You would have to check the wiring going into the amps for correct + and - for each speaker but yeah get rid of the whole amp system, less garbage in the cargo area anyway.


I'd prefer to keep the wiring that's there if possible. I really don't want to have to route some stealth wiring that'll take me forever.


Most deff; theres diffent ways to do it. All in how you want it done.

[afwfjustin]

Wiring makes me really frustrated :(


You would have to check the wiring going into the amps for correct + and - for each speaker

Any easy explanations on how I would do this? That link I posted has a bunch of soldering crap that I'd rather not get into if I can just cut the pos/neg wires from the harness going into the amps and use those if possible.

[JDM Steve]

Its not that hard, just take the time to go through the wire ends and find + and - and seal the power amp leads so nothing shorts out.


Wiring makes me really frustrated :(



Any easy explanations on how I would do this? That link I posted has a bunch of soldering crap that I'd rather not get into if I can just cut the pos/neg wires from the harness going into the amps and use those if possible.

Right, the soldering stuff reall isnt needed when removing the whole amp out anyway. The way to test the speaker wires is take a small 9volt battery go through the wires and when you hear a speaker pop you its that paticular set of wires. Watch the movement of eash speaker and see which color wires is on + and - if the speaker moves down then reverse the wiring and then its in phase. Speaker moving up would be in the correct phase and thats pretty much it.

[afwfjustin]

So basically I need to look at the wiring harness going into the driver's side amp, find out which ones I think are the positive and negative wires (out of probably 10), cut them, solder a new wire from those connections to the speaker connectors, and put some electrical tape over all exposed metal?

If that's all, that really shouldn't be too hard - just need to figure out which color wires are which. I'll go take a look now.

[JDM Steve]

So basically I need to look at the wiring harness going into the driver's side amp, find out which ones I think are the positive and negative wires (out of probably 10), cut them, solder a new wire from those connections to the speaker connectors, and put some electrical tape over all exposed metal?

If that's all, that really shouldn't be too hard - just need to figure out which color wires are which. I'll go take a look now.

Correct, and just make sure the power leads for the amp are sealed off so nothing sparks and blows fuse.

G/L :goodjob:

[afwfjustin]

Here's a pic I took - it looks like the wires for the speaker actually go to the amp on the passenger side (not shown) harness just like the one you CAN see in this picture. I'm guessing some wires going into the harness that AREN'T the two I'm holding are the ones I need to find?

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/6783/picresizedth1225357748iar3.jpg

[JDM Steve]

Right, the wires going to the amps use all controls from the headunit ie: ballence fade bass trebble and then of course to the speakers.

[afwfjustin]

Here's another picture showing the two wires that were already connected to the speaker (the red and green). They go into the passenger side amp as shown:
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/5397/picresizedth1225358223itr0.jpg

Here's a closeup. Are there different wires in this harness that I need to cut and connect? Or are they from the other amp?

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/7616/picresizedth1225358261iwk8.jpg

Sorry if I seem like a retard wiring has always confused the hell out of me. I'm getting closer, and will rep accordingly :D

I'll try a few google searches and see what I can come up with too.

[JDM Steve]

A quick way to find the wires for the speakers is look at the twisted pairs. ie: blue/pink pair, and green/red, Id have to go back and look at my s14 to see exactly what pairs they are, but you are on the right track...

[FCJohnny]

Dude afwfjustin your white?!?!

[justjuiceit]

Dude afwfjustin your white?!?!
lol Thats what I said when I met him last weekend!

[Elizabeth Reed]

stock amps bring the bass

[afwfjustin]

Dude afwfjustin your white?!?!

Nah dog, that's my slave that I had hold the wire for me. I relay all this info to him and he is forced to do everything for me. This is what he looks like :)


http://a687.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/89/l_a7ef30f9a376958bc011830e42ddce3e.jpg

Just a plain ol' whitey

[Turboboxer]

I would say fuck rear speakers as music is recorded in two channel for left and right and your sound stage should always be in front of you.... weight reduction

[Slip N Slide S14]

Here you go my friend

your welcome

http://www.240sx.org/faq/articles/stereo_bypass_amps.htm

[afwfjustin]

I would say fuck rear speakers as music is recorded in two channel for left and right and your sound stage should always be in front of you.... weight reduction

You know that's actually not a bad point. I have some new 6x9 speakers that I was going to install in the front after I find some brackets for them to fit. Maybe I'll just ditch the rears :D


Here you go my friend

your welcome

http://www.240sx.org/faq/articles/stereo_bypass_amps.htm

I actually found that page a few days ago but I didn't realize what I was looking at at the time and that's exactly what I need. Thanks! :cheers:

I think I'll wire it up and see how it sounds and then think about just going with the front speakers only.

Repped those who helped, but must spread around before I can rep slip n slide again.

[Slip N Slide S14]

6x9's are the worst speakers ever, GHETTO

Nothing beats a quality 6.5 all around, front and rear

[afwfjustin]

i wasn't aware. I've never had anything other than stock speakers in any of my cars before this (I have ridiculously awesome home audio setup but always have shit car speakers) so I don't know what's good/bad about them.

Why are they bad? I figured they'd be nice and loud. There are already 6.5 Pioneer speakers in the doors now but I'm getting some distortion/crackling from the driver's door.

[Slip N Slide S14]

6x9 speakers are just a bad configuration for good sound

Pioneer speakers just suck, you can buy them at Wal-Mart.

Good 6.5's, Infinity reference are good and cheap, with a good headunit and 4 infinity reference speakers, the sounds is amazing in a small 240.

[afwfjustin]

You think the 6x9 would be bad even in rear for a little more bass?

The pioneers that are in the car were there when I bought it.

Note, I'm not into bassy thumping music (would never have a sub in any car, ever) and I'm not into high midrange, either. My EQ is usually high bass and treble and very low mid (same as when I play bass guitar).

[Slip N Slide S14]

The 6x9 wont fit in the rear of an S14, unless you cut. But then you will never get a factory size 6.5 back there again.

If you want a nicer setup, just 6,5's all around will sound REAL good, 6.5's do have that bass thump too.

[afwfjustin]

Is this a pretty good deal? http://cgi.ebay.com/INFINITY-REFERENCE-6022i-6-5-COAXIAL-SPEAKER-PAIR-2WAY_W0QQitemZ190261305422QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item 190261305422&_trkparms=72%3A1240|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A13 18&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Maybe I'll hit up Best Buy later and see what's decently priced.

[Slip N Slide S14]

Yeah, thats pretty decent. There are A LOT of reference speakers though and i dont remember all the details of each right off my head. Just look and compare the different models. But, yo shold be able to get them for 50-60 a pair and they will sound good if you have a good powerful headunit.

Best buy only has the new ones, and there expensive, over 100 or close to 200 a pair.

[afwfjustin]

:goodjob:

Alright, before I do the rewiring, I have one last question. In the thread you posted slip n slide, it says at the end:

"It will be noted that the above scheme leaves out four wires ***8211; the two ***8220;acc***8221; and the two ***8220;on/off***8221; wires. No combination of connections or grounding of these wires powered up the stereo, so I ran a new switched power wire from the fuse block to the stereo (red wire). Stereo works, antenna works, no popping fuses or flashing lights."

I'm guessing I can run any power wire in the car (like the one for my boost gauge to light up) to the red wire in the back of my head unit wiring harness?

[Slip N Slide S14]

I'm not sure what that means.

I think that he means with the FACTORY radio. If you have an aftermarket radio that paragraph at the end shouldn't concern you. The power wire for the radio is just a switched 12V coming form the fuse box, the amp shouldn't have anything to do with it.

I have re-wired 3 of my S14's using that same chart and i never had to run a new power wire for the radio i dont think.

Actually, all of my headunits were pretty beefy and required a dedicated 12V fused source right off the battery, so i never had to look into that i guess.

Wrose case, is you run a 12V fused wire from the battery, thats if he is talking about the constant 12V.

[afwfjustin]

Rock on - I'm going to go solder some wires and report back.

[afwfjustin]

Well, it was a success! Finished the wiring and now both rear speakers work.

However, earlier today before I attempted the wiring, the front speakers kept cutting in and out. The tweeters in the a-pillars worked, but the front door speakers would work for 10 seconds and shut off for 10.

Now, they just won't turn on at all. The tweeters are working but the doors still do not. I'm getting really sick of dealing with the damn sound system in this car :(

[Casey]

Well, it was a success! Finished the wiring and now both rear speakers work.

However, earlier today before I attempted the wiring, the front speakers kept cutting in and out. The tweeters in the a-pillars worked, but the front door speakers would work for 10 seconds and shut off for 10.

Now, they just won't turn on at all. The tweeters are working but the doors still do not. I'm getting really sick of dealing with the damn sound system in this car :(

did you bypass the amps?

i hate stock amps. 8 watts per channel sucks balls.

i wrote a how to on here. although i wasnt sure on polarities. but i took lots of pictures. lemme dig it up.

http://240atlanta.com/forums/showthread.php?t=718&highlight=bypass+amplifier

the main thing is that you need to test each speaker for polarity. the easiest way to do this is to use a 9 volt battery. i told steve this about a year ago lol. but you stick the 9 volt battery on the wiring at the head unit. put it on the + and the -
then go to the speaker and if the speaker jumps outward towards you. that is proper polarity. therefore the + on the 9 volt represents what the + is on the headunit. and the - the - on the head unit.

just do this for all four corners. and tag wires with some tape or somehting.

and i got a pair of dual 6.5" speakers for 18.88 at brandsmart. came to 40.04 after tax. worth the price. but they are probably no better than your kenwoods or whatever you have. infinity speakers are sick. go with them :) and i agree on 6x9 speakers. gaysauce. just stick with the 6.5 all around.

if youre not satisfied with the bump. you can buy some little enclosures to make your speakers sealed instead of open. this will help quality immensly. crutchfield.com has them. but they are somewhat expensive. search ebay and you could also fiberglass them :)

[afwfjustin]

Thanks for all that info! Wish I had it before I did all of that haha. I used this site for reference:

http://www.240sx.org/faq/articles/stereo_bypass_amps.htm

which basically outlines what you said. For reference, I have a Kenwood 50watt x 4 channel headunit and 4 6.5 Pioneer speakers that are 180watt apiece.

Here's the rundown now:

1) Yesterday, every speaker was working in the car except for the driver's rear. Occasionally, the passenger rear would cut out for 3 seconds at a time when it was really hot outside. It would cut out when there seemed to be hard bass hits in the music, like a kick drum. It would start working again normally after I was driving a good 20 minutes or so.


2) This morning before the wiring that I did, the front door speakers were intermittantly working and not working every 10 seconds or so. Nothing was changed since yesterday. But yes, this morning the front speakers were working fine until I was driving about 30 minutes and then they were going on and off for about another 20 minutes until they stopped altogether.

3) this afternoon, I did the amp wiring bypass. BOTH rear speakers work beautifully, and the tweeters in the a-pillars also work. Neither door speaker is working right now though.

As for the wiring harnesses in the amps, there were two wires left in each one. I just electrical taped the ends of all 4, taped up the entire wiring harness, and hid them above the factory amps (I couldn't figure out how to get them out because I couldn't get the carpet lid with speaker covers behind the rear seats to come off).

I have soldered each connection, including the amp bypass, and the ones to my headunit. I have a universal harness plugged into the Kenwood headunit harness and I used wire extensions to relocate my headunit under the passenger seat. They are soldered and taped over at both ends and hidden under the center console carpeting.

I'm at a loss as to why the front speakers aren't working, and I'm worried that I'll have to recheck my extension wiring even though they were working fine until this morning. I don't get why BOTH wouldn't work - but the tweeters are. It's like my car is possessed.

:( :( :(