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I'm having some speaker/sound issues that I've been trying to self diagnose without too much luck. The symptoms are intermittent sound quality issues and my driver door speaker is not working. I'm no expert in sound systems so my best description of the poor sound quality is the speakers making very short "poof" noises, something similar to what you might hear if the radio is turned up too loud, but the volume is at a normal level. I've adjusted the balance and fade to isolate the driver front speaker and found it to not be working with the radio on.
What I've tried doing to diagnose:
1. Originally thought that adjusting the balance and fade to isolate the front driver speaker, and having it not work, was conclusive that it was blown. I then bought some inexpensive speakers to replace the OEM ones and the problem persisted.
2. I did a audio control unit diagnostic by holding the 3 and 6 preset buttons. This does a system check on each speaker and to my surprise, each speaker (including the passenger front) was working during this diagnostic test.
3. Removed "peripheral" audio accessory unit and associated harness. No accessory items are hooked up the radio currently.
It should be stated that I have an automotive media adaptor plugged into the back of my radio for AUX in capabilities. It is the Peripheral PXAMG as pictured below. Nothing is hard wired, it is attached to the radio through a harness. I have similar issues when I listed to music through the Aux In feature (Ipod).
I'm not sure what to check next. My thought was that it could be the Audio Control Unit but after doing the diagnostic test it seemed to check out. Anyone have any insight? It is a 2005 FX4.
Update: I removed the "peripheral" aux in module and associated harness and the problem hasn't been resolved. There is still intermittent power to the driver passenger speaker and somewhat poor sound quality from the speakers.
I'd probably check the wiring harness between the door and truck to see if there's a broken wire
Falbeon,
Thank you for this suggestion. I just got around to inspecting this wiring route to see if there were any obvious breaks. What I did notice is that when the rubber boot between the cab and the driver door is wiggled, the speaker cuts in and out. So I'm fairly confident I'm getting closer. After taking out a speaker I think I was able to isolate the problem to where the 2 speaker wires tie into the main harness. In the picture below, I'm looking through the speaker hole towards the door hinges and the rubber boot. I can't see anything super clear, but pinching this point causes my problem.
My question is, I'm not sure exactly how to fix this. I was considering taking off the door panel but after looking at pictures with the panel removed, I don't know that i'll get that much more access. Any suggestions?
Try watching this video. Not sure what the guy is saying because I watched it without sound, but it details how to access the wire harness that might contain your problem.
Well I wasn't expecting that. I noticed 1 wire was frayed and possibly causing a loose connection. It is a white wire with yellow stripe. I followed it and it appears to go to my window switch. I have a feeling this will solve another issue I'm having which is that my passenger window sometimes doesn't shut. I actually have a new regulator in the box ready to be installed but this might fix that problem. However, the wires that lead to my speaker all appear to be in good shape. No open circuits that I can see in the door jam area. I've attached a picture. Is it possible that this open circuit/short/loose connection could be causing my speaker issues too? I'm going to be soldering the white wire hopefully tomorrow to see if that solves my problem.
It is possible that the exposed wire is causing interference. While you're there soldering that wire, I recommend inspecting the others thoroughly too. I've had to fix wires in that harness three times now. Another thing I can recommend is to check to make sure the clips to the speaker and radio are not corroded and are securely fastened. If those don't work, maybe try and follow the speaker wires back to the radio and check for more breaks or frays
After disconnecting and soldering the white wire together, I noticed that that was indeed the wire to my passenger window. After cutting the wire (it was really only being held together my insulation) the passenger window didn't work. After soldering, it did. So, fixed one problem but not the original problem sadly. During my wire inspection, I noticed none of the other wires were damaged. However, if I touched the speaker wires ever so slightly, the speakers to cut in and out. I think the wire is broken within the insulation. Doesn't look like it'll be fun to fix. Thank you for your help with this. I would have never looked at this section of the harness between the door and cab without watching that video.
03-13-2018, 02:10 PM
Intermittent sound issues.
