Help! Stereo cuts in & out

[Babbit]

I don't get sound out of my left side door speaker unless I crank the stereo up very, very loud. I have an older aftermarket Alpine head unit, and I just put in Pioneer 3-way speakers all around. I thought the new speakers would fix the problem, but it hasn't. Now I am wondering if its a power problem. The head unit was in the car when I bought it a couple years ago. The car is a non Mach 460 , but if I am correct there is still a ford amp. :shrug: I do not know if the head unit is connected to the amp. Does it sound like the amp is going? Or the Head unit? Can I bybass the factory amp if that's the case? Could it be wiring? :shrug:

Please help me.... :??:

 

[Jowlz]

Make sure you have no speaker wires that are being pinched or have been worn bare.

 

[sLOWDOHC]

Thats a good place to start, usually a shorted/grounded out speaker will stop them all from playing.

Im not on the up and up when it comes to the systems in the 94-95's, but I do believe they have an amp, between the shifter and firewall. Having an aftermarket radio and speakers, I highly reccomend bypassing it. There is still a chance that its the radio, also. Its really a crap shoot saying for sure one or the other.

A quick think to try would be using right chanles on the left speaker, and see how it plays. That will help pinpoint the problem; finding out if its something in the radio, or if you have a fubar amp.

 

[Yellow98SVT]

Clipping out speakers is usually improper wiring or exposed power/speaker wires coming into contact with one another. If everything is connected properly and nothing exposed is touching...might be a blown amp in the head unit or the amp itself.

 

[Babbit]

thanks for the ideas guys. gives me a good place to start looking

 

[paintballpyro1]

i kinda had that problem with my 96(mach 460 completely taken out) with jvc hu and infinity all around and after having my music at 14 for a bit my speakers just "blow" and i get no bass or anything and i have to turn my hu off for a bit for it to start working again

 

[torchred2000gt]

Get out the multimeter and tap one lead into the output of that channel at the beginning of the wire and the other lead on the end of that channel's wire at the speaker and see if you see a voltage drop.
Rob

 

[ConsSVTCobra]

Thats a good place to start, usually a shorted/grounded out speaker will stop them all from playing.

Im not on the up and up when it comes to the systems in the 94-95's, but I do believe they have an amp, between the shifter and firewall. Having an aftermarket radio and speakers, I highly reccomend bypassing it. There is still a chance that its the radio, also. Its really a crap shoot saying for sure one or the other.

A quick think to try would be using right chanles on the left speaker, and see how it plays. That will help pinpoint the problem; finding out if its something in the radio, or if you have a fubar amp.

Paul Wall sayd it best. +1 Just take the left (One you think that is broken and Visa-Versa) if the other speaker does it. There's your prob. the wires.
P.S. The has NOTHING to do with an Amp. (Why? You would hear NOTHING! Your HU or even your speakers (Unless you "Blew" that left one).
Also did you WIRE everything yourself OR use the factory wiring? And if the head unit just plugged right into your stero "space" I don't think that you have a Mach 460. :beer: LUCKY YOU!

 

[ConsSVTCobra]

i kinda had that problem with my 96(mach 460 completely taken out) with jvc hu and infinity all around and after having my music at 14 for a bit my speakers just "blow" and i get no bass or anything and i have to turn my hu off for a bit for it to start working again

If you had an aftermarket amplifier that's why. Your speaker's could not hold whatever impedence ohm that they AND/OR the amplifier were meant for. You're lucky your car didn't catch fire, Seriously!

 

[Babbit]

Paul Wall sayd it best. +1 Just take the left (One you think that is broken and Visa-Versa) if the other speaker does it. There's your prob. the wires.
P.S. The has NOTHING to do with an Amp. (Why? You would hear NOTHING! Your HU or even your speakers (Unless you "Blew" that left one).
Also did you WIRE everything yourself OR use the factory wiring? And if the head unit just plugged right into your stero "space" I don't think that you have a Mach 460. :beer: LUCKY YOU!

The 1st part of your quote is incoherent. I do not have Mach 460. The stereo fits right into the space. I did not wire anything. The HU was installed when I received the car. When I changed the speakers I just slid the wires off of the connectors on the old speakers upon removal and slid the wires onto the connectors of new speakers. I would assume the factory wiring is being used.

I am not sure which wiring would be the problem. If there is a break in the wires, then why would sound come out when the amp is overdriven (when I raise the volume well above normal listening volume).

This is frustrating me. I need to get a multimeter to figure this crap out.

Thanks for everyone's help, though. Maybe I will just take it somewhere to have it looked at.

 

[ConsSVTCobra]

The 1st part of your quote is incoherent. I do not have Mach 460. The stereo fits right into the space. I did not wire anything. The HU was installed when I received the car. When I changed the speakers I just slid the wires off of the connectors on the old speakers upon removal and slid the wires onto the connectors of new speakers. I would assume the factory wiring is being used.

I am not sure which wiring would be the problem. If there is a break in the wires, then why would sound come out when the amp is overdriven (when I raise the volume well above normal listening volume).

This is frustrating me. I need to get a multimeter to figure this crap out.

Thanks for everyone's help, though. Maybe I will just take it somewhere to have it looked at.

Agreed, the first part was an "inside joke- Paul Wall". Second you need NOT a multiimeter, voltmeter, whatever. If NO amp (Except the Int. amp by Alpine) it's your Head Deck, you done "blew out" the left front channel!
WIRING IS NOT could be (Unless the amp went on your HU) Hard to believe, Alpine's last awhile. The wiring could be ANYTHING? And ESPECIALLY if you didn't "hook" up this deck then WHO KNOWS?
MAYBE becuase the WIRES are coming from the amp and NOT the HU.
P.S. You CANNOT just "Plug and Play" 5x7's, 6x8's 6x9's and etc. SOMETHING either NEEDS to be "run" OR "spliced". NO WAY around this, dude! If got a NICE resume in Car Audio!!!!

 

[ConsSVTCobra]

Get out the multimeter and tap one lead into the output of that channel at the beginning of the wire and the other lead on the end of that channel's wire at the speaker and see if you see a voltage drop.
Rob

No need for one, but to each his own. It's a SIMPLE wiring problem. And we know what wires so WHY spend the money?

P.S. Killer Quote

 

[Babbit]

Agreed, the first part was an "inside joke- Paul Wall". Second you need NOT a multiimeter, voltmeter, whatever. If NO amp (Except the Int. amp by Alpine) it's your Head Deck, you done "blew out" the left front channel!
WIRING IS NOT could be (Unless the amp went on your HU) Hard to believe, Alpine's last awhile. The wiring could be ANYTHING? And ESPECIALLY if you didn't "hook" up this deck then WHO KNOWS?
MAYBE becuase the WIRES are coming from the amp and NOT the HU.
P.S. You CANNOT just "Plug and Play" 5x7's, 6x8's 6x9's and etc. SOMETHING either NEEDS to be "run" OR "spliced". NO WAY around this, dude! If got a NICE resume in Car Audio!!!!

so you are saying that either the left channel on the HU's amp is blown or there is an issue with the wiring or the ford amp is fried (if it's connected)? It's hard to understand your typing. (But I definitely appreciate the help :beer: ).
well the speakers that I replaced were older aftermarket speakers. so whoever put the HU in also replaced the speakers. Therefore they must have done the wiring already because all I did was take the wires off the old speakers and slide them on the new ones. Now, if they did the wiring correctly, I am not sure. When I bought the car in 2002, the stereo sounded fine. All speakers were working.

I am going to try to take a look at it today. I am not sure how to get the HU out without breaking shit. I know aftermarket HU's usually come with "keys" to allow it to slide out, but I do not have those. Is there another way to get the HU out?

 

[sLOWDOHC]

you can always pull the dash bezel.

 

[Babbit]

i pulled the dash bezel. what a pain it was to find and remove the screw behind the stereo. I cut my hands up trying to squeeze through the little space under the stereo.

Anyway, I took the radio and played with the wires and the sound started to cut in and out. Looks like whoever did the splicing decided to just twist one wire around the other (for each channel) and then just tape it. So now I am in the process of removing the tape and using the connecting caps. Hopefully this resolves the issue. The factory amp IS incorporated into the system. I removed it and got no sound. I am not sure how to bypass it, or if its even worth the trouble. It sounds good enough for me if all the channels are working.

I just want to be able to listen to my CDs once in a while. I spend half the time listening to the exhaust/engine, anyway. :burnout:

Thanks for everyone's input, its been a help. :rockon: