Sketchy Speaker Wiring

[atufo1475]

Hello everybody, first post on this site.
Today I decided to tint my tailights, so I disassembled the necessary items in the trunk and discovered a few sketchy wiring jobs.

The factory amp harness has been cut and has 2 wires coming into the speaker alone.

Then there're 3 wire sets that were cut that I have no idea what they went too. I took a picture of them.

Also I feel its appropriate to mention that my electronic trunk release does not work.

And there is sub wiring and grounds where the spare tire should be. And I already changed out the head unit and there were no rca's there but somehow they're running to the spare tire location.
If anyone has any info I would be extremely grateful.

[popo8]

There could be a high low converter to run an after market amp. Basically speaker wires can be spliced into...then run to a small.converter and out of thebother side will be rca connections which can then run short rcas right to the amp at the same location.

If ur car is a factory bose system the bose amp is a complicated item to continue using if the bose head unit is removed...if that is the case...that is prob why ur factory amp is "bypassed."

MEMBER @ LTXtech.com

[atufo1475]

First off thanks for the reply!

And okay that makes since..

Bose head unit is definitely gone lol.

But any idea why all the speakers on the right side of car don't work at all?

Checked all wires that I spliced from the head unit, all are good and intact.

But this previous owner has stray wiring running all over this thing.

Once again, thanks!

[popo8]

First off thanks for the reply!

And okay that makes since..

Bose head unit is definitely gone lol.

But any idea why all the speakers on the right side of car don't work at all?

Checked all wires that I spliced from the head unit, all are good and intact.

But this previous owner has stray wiring running all over this thing.

Once again, thanks!

Just to clarify...the wires runing to the speaker are putting out power? if so...then either positive and negative are reversed...or speaker is shot.

Im shooting in the dark here...but i once crossed pos and neg in my old bird and thats what happened.
Shade tree testing...with the music playing...a quick touch of the pos/neg together will dim the music or stop it all together.

MEMBER @ LTXtech.com

[atufo1475]

Not exactly, I apologize that I didn't make it very clear.

The far back left speaker, the one with the bose amp, does work.

It's the two speakers on the right side of the car that for some reason don't work at all.

But I really need to pull the panels apart before I can conclude anything else.

However today when I was getting off the free way, I had the music playing out of the 3 left side speakers, and I hit quite a sizable bump in the road, and the sound imediately cut off.

The radio stayed on and everything though, and the volume controls and all that were still working.

And the radio even had the like (bass bars) bouncing with the song that it thought was playing.

Do you know of anything that would cause this? Reset the radio twice and still nothing.

Once again, I truly appreciate it!

[SWells]

To test polarity (+ or -) at the speaker, disconnect the speaker, when you reconnect it the cone should pop out. If it's pulling in it is reversed.

[firebird_1995]

To test polarity (+ or -) at the speaker, disconnect the speaker, when you reconnect it the cone should pop out. If it's pulling in it is reversed.

Oh wow, nice tip! Never heard of that

[SWells]

If a speaker is unmarked and no juice in the wire, use a 1.5V AA battery to perform the same test.

[atufo1475]

Okay thanks everyone for the info!
I did the tests you guys were talking about it and looks like the back Bose speaker is/was working.
And popo, to clarify I was originally only getting sound out of the drivers side speakers, no speakers on the passenger side have worked ever. Sorry if I was unclear, this mobile app is not the greatest and takes forever to post with.
However today when I was getting off the interstate, I had my music playing and I hit a decent sized bump and instantly the sound went dead.

Radio stayed on and is fully working, just there is no sound playing out of it, not on aux, usb, or fm.

And the radio even thinks its playing music, because the little bass level bar is still bouncing, I just get no sound out of any of the speakers after I hit that bump.

Though on my way home from work I cranked the radio all the way to 50, and when I was going up a hill I hit another slight bump and for a split second the sound came on.

Does anyone know if this is like a common issue with f bodies or something?

I've done so much engine work to this car the interior has been neglected lol.

Once again thank-you all for your help!

[atufo1475]

Anybody know what I should check?

Working a lot right now and haven't had time to tear the system apart.

Just so wondering if this is a common issue,I doubt it though since I haven't found anything about it online.

As always, thanks guys!

[SWells]

If hitting a bump is kicking it off and on, I suspect a loose connection. Because it is effecting multi speakers I'd look at the common point they are all connected. Go over the connections where it is tapped into the stock system would be my first thought. Good luck.

[atufo1475]

I appreciate the response!
So I just went ahead and pulled out the head unit and checked all the connections. They were all good, but I kept the radio plugged in and played some music and for a few seconds I was able to wiggle one of the white wires on the back of the radio and got sound to play from the right back speaker. But out of nowhere it stopped playing and I could never get it to play again. So I re-crimped the white wire but still nothing.

So basically idk what the hell the deal is lol.

Anyone had a head unit straight up die on them or something?

But the radio still turns on and all controls work?

[SWells]

Download a wiring diagram for the deck and grab an old speaker. Start testing output right off the deck (connect the old speaker to each of the speaker outputs LF,RF,RR, LR). If that checks out start working your way down the wires. It may be easier to rip it all out and start over. Good luck!

[atufo1475]

Haha thanks!

And I know what you mean about starting all over..

I think I'm going to run a designated speaker amp for this car, since the wiring is already jerry rigged to hell.

That way my speakers will sound better for sure, and it will be easier to start over than to try and piece together someone else's hack job.

Think I am going about this the right way SWells?

[SWells]

I'd probably just start over. Salvage what you can that's there, add a 4 channel amp and a sub amp, good wiring and maybe a speaker upgrade. Sounds like you have the converter for the factory deck already....start building it from there (assuming wiring to it is good). Make a weekend of it, pull the seats, carpets and consoles. run your speaker wires and RCA connections down the driver's side and the power wires down the passengers side to avoid static interference. Make sure you have good grounds!!!

[SWells]

Here's a pic of the sub box I built for mine. Cardboard template to start and MDF & fibreglass to build the actual box (I've since upgraded the amps in this pic).

23605

[atufo1475]

Nice man! Does the car kick good with just the one sub? And do you have another sub on the other side? Or is that your speaker amp?

Amp comes today, gonna go grab some RCA cables from the junkyard today and wire everything up tonight.

But I wish you could see how sketchy the wiring is on this thing.

He had the power wire from the original deck tapped into the cigarette lighter power wire.

So anytime you would try and use both at the same time, it would blow the fuse and neither would work.

But I've been thinking of building a box for mine, but I think I want to run 2 12's ported.

They have some on ebay for like $150

But I know I can build one with better materials and overall quality for much cheaper, just don't know the dimensions.

[SWells]

One sub fills in the sound but it doesn't have a lot of thump. Second amp is a 4 channel for the speakers. I have my battery on the pass. side so just the 1 sub. I have 2 12" in my Caddy CTS, it kicks a lot better. Make sure you have good grounds!