Hi gang,

I recently went about replacing my stock front speakers in my MK2 (Pre-facelift) as they had both blown, with great success:

Finally Have Working Speakers!

I then decided to see what was happening in the rear (I know what you're thinking), and discovered that there were no speakers or wiring.

Off I go to Halfords and pick up some lovely FLI 5x7 Coaxial speakers, bulb connectors, blade connectors and 8m of speaker cable.

Several hours later and everything is sorted, all speakers working perfectly, and as far as I was concerned, wired and connected up "perfectly", happy chappy.

So today I head off to work and after about 25 minutes all sound cuts out, when I park up, only the right front speaker was working and it sounded like a whisper at max volume. After work I checked the fuse, which was undamaged, hopped back in the car, plugged in the radio code and hey presto! Everything was working fine again! But pride comes before a fall, as after 20 minutes down the road, everything bar that right front speaker was out cold like Jose Aldo. 

I've run a few checks over the head unit and wires with a multi-meter, but I'm no pro, so I have no idea what I'm looking for. Has anyone had this issue before? Or any suggestions for how to fix it?

Thanks in advance, Sam

Hi Sam

How did you wire the rear speakers? Have you used a separate output for each speaker or have you connected the rear left via the front left and right rear to right front?

I would check the wires going from the car interior to the door, they should pass through a rubber grommet and it could be one of the wires is getting pinched and it is effecting all speakers. It could also be that one of the speakers is shorting out. Where you have fitted new speakers are they a snug fit? Any bare wire touching part of the car via a screw or bracket can cause an intermittent short and loss of sound. Opening and closing the door could have done the trick, as could removing the head unit.

What checks did you do on the wires? Did you test resistance/continuity to each speaker?

Good luck, Jon


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19 minutes ago, Jonro2009 said:

Hi Sam

How did you wire the rear speakers? Have you used a separate output for each speaker or have you connected the rear left via the front left and right rear to right front?

I would check the wires going from the car interior to the door, they should pass through a rubber grommet and it could be one of the wires is getting pinched and it is effecting all speakers. It could also be that one of the speakers is shorting out. Where you have fitted new speakers are they a snug fit? Any bare wire touching part of the car via a screw or bracket can cause an intermittent short and loss of sound. Opening and closing the door could have done the trick, as could removing the head unit.

What checks did you do on the wires? Did you test resistance/continuity to each speaker?

Good luck, Jon


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Thanks for the response, 

Intriguingly, the wiring harness into the back of the headunit had the rear speaker +/- wires going into it, where they ended up I have no idea though. I used blade connectors with these and my new speaker wire to connect them separately, so they're bypassing the front speakers (as far as I'm aware).

Good shout, I did have the wiring a bit tight through the grommets, so I'll definitely check that out. I have to admit, due to my impatience, rather than ordering and fitting spacers I drilled holes in the door and screwed the speakers directly into the frame, but they were certainly stable and rigid. In terms of the wiring, anything exposed I wrapped with electrical tape, so although I'm doubtful it's a short, I will run over all connections again.

Well I'm a total novice with the multi-meter, I had it on the sound output setting and tested the +/- going into and out of the headunit. I had response from all pins bar the front right speaker, the one which is working... I'll have another play tomorrow and measure the resistance and continuity.

I would check the blade connectors are nice and snug in the rear of the HU. Testing the resistance is a long drawn out job, you need to remove your HU again and get access to the rear of all the speakers, can be time consuming. You could also try removing the wires for the rear speakers from he HU for the day and take a drive, see if the fronts cut out after 20 mins of driving. If not you can say it's the rear speakers and work from there. If they still cut out then plug the rears back in and remove the fronts and repeat the driving and see what happens. Depending on your results you then need to isolate left or right as being at fault. It's all trial and error as the multimeter may not show up a continuity fault down to an intermittent problem, say for instance that the vibration of the car moving causes a short or break then it won't show up unless you are doing a continuous resistance test for each speaker while driving. That's going to take you the best part of 2 hrs to do.


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14 hours ago, Sack13 said:

after about 25 minutes all sound cuts out, when I park up, only the right front speaker was working and it sounded like a whisper at max volume. After work I checked the fuse, which was undamaged, hopped back in the car, plugged in the radio code and hey presto! Everything was working fine again! But pride comes before a fall, as after 20 minutes down the road, everything bar that right front speaker was out cold

To me this sounds like the extra load of the rear speakers is overloading the head unit. I'd do as Jon suggests and try disconnecting them. You may need speakers with a higher impedance to reduce the current draw.

Thanks for the suggestions guys,  I will try these out as soon as I can and let you know the results.

As a vaper I have a basic understanding of ohms law, but clearly I have a lot more research to carry out! Essentially though, the 6000CD headunit may not have a high enough output to run all the speakers, is that right?

It certainly could be, my knowledge of the HU is nil I'm afraid.


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Hey gang, thanks again for all the advice, just thought I'd update you with the brief testing I managed to carry out in the fading sunlight this evening (oh glorious daylight savings time...) and potential solution/resolution.

- So initially I disconnected the front speakers, to see if the rears would work on their own. They provided no output. I found a small connection issue with the front right speaker which I "professionally rectified" with some electrical tape.

- I then disconnected the rear speakers entirely, which provided me with output from the front speakers once again.

This suggests to me that as mjt said:

Quote

9 hours ago, mjt said:

Sounds like the extra load of the rear speakers is overloading the head unit.

 

Having done some research online during my lunchbreak, I found out the standard Ford 6000CD trickles out a measly 20 Watts per channel, but my new rear speakers require a minimum of 35 Watts each to be powered, capping out at 210W each. (I couldn't find the min/max for the cheapo front speakers I bought).

So, from here, do I buy a 2 or 4 channel amplifier, to boost the signal and output to each speaker? Or is there a better solution?

Edit: Or buy a new headunit?

I found the 6000Cd receiver to be rubbish, I opted for a cheap Clarion at £56,    Results comparable to a set costing three times as much.

Two JVC speakers cost me £19 50p form Dynamic Sounds.  Well Pleased!

I would go for these JVC KD-G321at about £20 on eBay I believe they are 50*4 Watts, and have 24 bit dac. These can easily power 4 speakers and I have the volume up. And have very good bass....

I've taken a gamble and ordered a dodgy brand from Amazon: 

Kidcia Headunit

But I've had screeching from the left front speaker this morning on the way to work, so back to check the connections tonight! Might have to replace these front ones again...