Please Help! Front Right Speaker messed up?

[Truckinat14]

Ok heres the prob. Im only 14 but I am turning 15 in FEb and my first car is going to be my mom's explorer. Its a '94 sport. I love explorers but I have been having a little trouble with my mom's factory stereo system. I like rap and my mom doesn't really mind when I listen to it in the car. I like istening to it with a lot of bass and until recently its been fine. A couple of weeks ago when I would turn the bass up it would start rattling really bad. Tonite I pinpointed the bad speaker (Front Right). The back right is starting to get worse but its not bad at all compared to the front one. I dont know wether its blown or if somethings loose so i was hoping maybe someone else has had a similar problem and can help. Thank You Very Much!!!!

 

[JTang]

Give us a description of the sound, and it'll help out a lot. Is it like a thudding, or a crackling, etc. It'll depend, but if it's not crackling, then it's probably more the speakers getting blown out. If it's more like crackling, then it's most likely grounded by something touching metal it's not supposed to. In that case, you'd have to search all over for the problem. Unfortunately this seems pretty common for 91-94 owners with this stereo system. Most people here don't fix it, but instead just buy new stuff. That's pretty steep for someone who's 14, but unless you can dig around, the only other person who fixed it took it into the dealer which I think would be pretty steep too. Maybe you can hook up a new radio for your birthday, and you can install it yourself, it's pretty easy.

To check out the rear speakers, just take the tips of your fingers on the square grill, and press down on the top, and try and pry it out. It'll take a little work but then you can see if the speaker is ripped or anything at least. You could take out the rear left and right, switch them and see what happens. If the problem is still on the same side, then it's not the speaker, but something upstream like the amp or wiring.

Good luck!

Jon

 

[Truckinat14]

The sound is like the area where the speaker is is jsut rattling its not really crakling or thudding. I am hoping that when I turn 16 i will have enough dough to put a good system in it preferribly 4 10's. It just sounds so bad and my moms angry at me cuz she thinks i blew it out and we dont really have the money now to fix ity i was hoping maybe there was a cheap trick i could try to fix anything suggestions would help.

 

[ilikedellcomputers]

Good luck with finding the problem little dude, I know that when I upgraded my system a few months back that I didn't want any of the old wiring left powering my new Pioneer 3-way 180 watt speakers. So the guys who installed it took my doors off, etc, etc, etc and after 9 hours they had everything completed, no rattles, no crackling, no fuzzy sound, just really good loud music.

So in other words what I am trying to say is, when you do turn 16, make sure you have money saved up to get yourself (pardon the phrase) a real kick A~S~S system!!

Regards,

ilikedellcomputers

Peter

 

[JTang]

Then try switching the rear speakers first. It's really easy, and even if you aren't familiar, it won't take you more than 15 minutes. Just push down on the top of the rear grills and pull out. You'll need a small ratchet set to remove the screws, and from there you can swap them. This is a good exercise to gain some experience in messing with your system. If you start learning to install stuff yourself, you'll save a lot of money that way. People here are glad to help you out, and you'll learn to avoid wrong choices and bad money pits.

If the side it crackles on doesn't change, then it's probably the amp or wiring. I wouldn't really say it's your fault. PLENTY of people here on the boards can attest to the same problem, but of course, moms usually don't believe that.

Since your name is "Truckinat14" and your birthday is next month, are you going to change your message board name?

Good luck,

Jon

 

[jimbo74]

i have the same problem with my rf speaker too. i think it has spmething in the grill or needs to be shockproofed it isnt realy a buzzing more of a rattling sound of the speaker moving around

 

[Truckinat14]

Ya exactly thats what it sounds like, the speaker is rattling around. How can u get to that speaker? IF the speaker was loose how would i go about securing it back?

 

[JTang]

The sounds might be different then. The flapping sound you might be hearing is a piece of cloth. Between the metal grill on the plastic panel, and the speaker, there is a piece of speaker cloth. Due to the age of the car, the glue tends to get brittle and slowly break away, so what you might be hearing is the cloth flapping around.

 

[jimbo74]

i dont know i work a lot actually way too much and havent had a chance to check it out i think you can just take the panel off and try to fix it that way or get some dynamat or the list can go on forever. if you take it off and speaker is loose use threadlocker or something thats hopefully what ill need to do to mine hope that helps out and repost if it works id like to know

 

[jimbo74]

thanks jtang ill give that a try when i get a chance

 

[Truckinat14]

Im sorry but I dont really do much to the explorer (yet) could u explain how to get to the speaker cuz i was thinking u couldn't just take the grill off?? Thanks

 

[JTang]

The instructs I gave are only for the back ones so far. Just take your finger tips, and at the top of the rear seat speakers, press down, and try and pull it out. It'll take a little elbow grease! It won't break or anything. Don't worry about asking too many questions. I'll post the instructs for removing the front in a sec... You'll still need a little ratchet set though...

 

[JTang]

The front is a little more difficult. You'll need a flathead screwdriver at least, and a philips head screwdriver too. It would help if you went to an autostore and got the $3 trim panel remover, but you don't really need it so much, but it does make taking off the door a bit harder.

Use that flathead to remove the button switch panel. I think you'll see the spot where you're supposed to pry it. It comes out no sweat. Then disconnect it with the plastic connector.

Underneath each inner door handle, is a little plastic black piece. Use the screwdriver to pry this out too. It's easy to pull out, but sort of trick to put back in. You'll just have to sit and try to snap it back in later.

Where the inner door handle is, there are two screws. Remove those as well.

There is one more screw at the top corner where where the side view mirror is. Take that one off too.

Now you'll have to lift off the panel and remove it. They are fastened on by some plastic clips. Gently but firmly pull the panel away till you feel it "pop" out. You don't really have to worry about breaking these little clips, cause you can buy them at any car store for like 10 per $1 or something. It's best to start at the bottom and work your way around pulling away.

After the whole panel is coming off, don't pull away immediately. Right behind the panel is the light that comes on at the bottom of the door. You have to disconnect that by just twisting the light out.

If you have a manual window, you'll to pull of the crank, and that's a little more difficult if you don't have the $3 removal tool.

Inside, you can just remove the cloth if you want to.

I believe that's it. The only thing you should really be careful about is not pulling the panel away to fast and bending it so it cracks or anything. Age makes the plastic a little brittle, so do it firmly, but carefully.

Jon

 

[Truckinat14]

Thank You so much as soon as I get some free time ill try that. And one more thing if i find that the speaker is blown, what are some cheap speakers, but OK quality I could put in for like under $50? And would that job be hard to do?

 

[jimbo74]

crutchfield has really good speakers and they can be found at http://www.crutchfield.com they have some 5x7 or 6x8 that will fit no problem and i know that their pioneer 6x8 arent to expensive maybe around 70? but they are way better than the stockers. crutchfield will also send you a set of instructions if you decice to take the panel off and check it out putting in a new speaker is the same just reverse putting it back together

 

[JTang]

If you're on a tight budget right now, you can get some really reasonably priced speakers from either partsexpress.com or tms-electronics.com. A lot of people have good things to say about both here. For an easy fit, you can order either 5x7s or 6x8s. It's not hard to do, you'll just go to Radio Shack and need to get some butt connectors. They're the red and blue plastic tube lookin' things to connect the wires together for a buck or two.

 

[Truckinat14]

So would a speaker like this Dead Link Removed work good for the front speakers ( i know there really cheap but my mom wont spend that much money on it in fact ill prolly end up paying for it) and if i replaced the front would I also have to replce the back? Oh and I took of the grill in the back but i having trouble getting the speaker out?? Thanks

 

[JTang]

That one won't really fit, since it's 6". I mean, it will, but if you want a super easy install, you're trying to find 5x7 or 6x8s. If you're going that route, these are of the same quality and fit right in since I'm seeing the price range you're looking at:

Dead Link Removed

If you get round ones, you'll have to find a way to get a circular speaker in an oval hole with some adapter or some ingenuity. The ones you picked ARE nicer than the one's I recommended, but they will require you to try and figure a way to install them. jimabena74 is right, you can find some good deals, but just try to find what is right for you right now. I'm guessing that your main goal is just to fix your immediate problem, not upgrade, that is why I point out those speakers.

You should only get these speakers if you're *sure* you're your others are broken, because these, are pretty much the same quality as what you might have in the car right now, since they were made for factory cars, and you might as well not waste the money if that's not the problem.

As for the rear speaker, after the grill, you'll just unscrew the 4 screws at the corners with a 5 mm ratchet. That should really be about it. If the speaker won't come out, then you'll just have to pry it off, maybe there's some glue around it or something. I don't recall there being any though.

You can go ahead and change the fronts only if you're on a tight budget. Later on, if you decide to buy some nicer ones, you can throw those in the front to the back.

Good luck troubleshooting,

Jon

 

[explorer93xlt]

Topic Review (Newest First)
I think the problem might be that the channel for the front right speaker on the stock amp is blown. I did't read all the posts but i know before I changed all my speakers i was having this problem all i did was app a by-pass kit and it was fine.
http://home.att.net/~riccardis/Explorer1.html

 

[94Matt]

something happened to me

I put in my cd player a while back and here recently the front left speaker would make a scratching sound when ever i would adjust the air flow... after tinkering around, i noticed the wired were crammed down and rubbing raw when i adjusted the lever... after makeing the wires shorter and reattached them..the sound is gone...this may help someone out there who has the 94-91 explorers (before the push buttons) and got the sound after installing their aftermarket head units...


Matt