Speaker (Amp?) Problem and wiriing question

[frost5532]

I have a '97 XLT explorer and im putting in 2 subs i took out of my last car, they were installed by the place i bought them from but i thought this time around i would do it myself but i have 2 problems.

The first one is how do i get the cable that goes from my amp to my battery from inside to under the hood to the battery, to test how everythings doing ive just been running it on the outside of my explorer.

My second problem is the one im having the most trouble with. For a while the front left speaker would be a little bit lower in volume than the rest of the speakers, and after installing the subs (which are workin good) its starting to distort at higher volumes. Ive heard this is a problem with an aftermarket headunit amplifying the sound, then being double amplified by the external amp but im using the stock head unit and splicing rca cables in to run to the subs amp. I have an extra 4 channel amp and im thinking of just hooking that up and seeing if the problem was just in the stock amp but i cant find where the stock one is. So does anyone think the problem is in the amp, and if it is, where is it located.

 

[XLoudFN97X]

1)I took the amps power cable out of the truck through the rubber boot in the firewall by the steering column. I think its for the throttle cable... Just had to cut a little slit big enough for one 4g and one 8g cable.
2)yes if you have an external amp you need a harness to bypass the factory amp in the rear interior quarterpanel. It's about a $20 part plus installation. Cant remember the model #s, but Scosche makes an "amplifier bypass adapter" for Ford JBL Premium setups, as does www.davidnavone.com under "Adapters". Do a search for "amplifier bypass" or something like that on the forums for more information. There is a hoard of useful posts on the topic - you can find them. GL
~stu

 

[frost5532]

thanks, i fixed the speaker for some reason the adaptor i was using to hook up the rca cables was shot and it was causing the problem, dont know how, but a new fixed it. this is my first time hooking up subs myself is there anywhere that would have pictures of how/were i run the power cable.

 

[XLoudFN97X]

well you do need to MAKE SURE youre head unit was installed to bypass the factory amp. First things first. If you're sending an amplified signal to the factory amp, it's gonna distort way too soon and way too easy. Its all too common for people to never do that and their system gets loud, but the distortion blows their new (or factor) speakers, then they buy new ones. The cycle repeats. And yea, concerning the power cable routing, I'll get you some pics tomorrow maybe Tues at the latest if you need them. I had to go look at mine to remember but it's pretty easy to get through that boot. 1) Find the boot. The rubber 'boot' is pretty much a gasket for the throttle cable to run through the firewall, located behind the E-brake pedal, kind of a yellowish circlular soft rubber with a hard black cable through the middle. 2) The easiest way is to use a utility blade and cut an appropriate size slit in the boot (you may have to cut slits in both sides of the boot, I cant remember exactly), dont cut the cable, duh. 3) From under the hood, force a clothes hanger through the boot into the floorboard area. 4) Then tape the power cable to the hanger (at the floorboard) very tightly and 5) pull the hanger back out the way it came, feeding the power cable through to the hood. Work smart, not hard
~stu

 

[frost5532]

hey man thanks thats an awsome idea with the hanger, i saw the boot but seeing as theres a cable running through it and i have no idea what im doing i didnt wanna break something i cant afford to fix right now. I tink you were confused about the speakers, i have a stock head unit and im trying to add a set of subs onto my factory system. I spliced the speakers cables behind the hu and got an adaptor to run the rca cables to the amp, the problem is when i connect the posotive cables for the front left speaker and the one for the amp the speaker distorts but only at low volumes. The subs hit fine if i leave it uncconected but i dont understand why this happnes, and i feel like i should be missing something seeing how i have a chord just hanging out behind my hu doin nothing.

 

[XLoudFN97X]

oh ok man i was mixed up... i got it half right tho! Dont be afraid to show your X who's boss. The black cable is a metal throttle line, not like a wire or anything, you'd have to TRY HARD to cut that thing. Theres very few spots on 2G Explorers to get through the firewall, other than that, yea you should be set to jet with those subs. The speaker distortion is probably a bad splice- just a low current (volume) through a bad connection. Did you have the door speakers upgraded? If so, by whom? You should check into the N-85 or N-85V (variable output) at that www.davidnavone.com site I referred to earlier for a high quality speaker-to-line output converter with built in low-pass filter and an infrasonic filter to rid your sub-amp of frequencies below 20Hz. I owned the N-85 and it was built very well. GL
~stu

 

[DOZIER]

Hey there. I am new with the whole explorer enthusiast thing but I have been at work on my custom 01 sport and I can say from experience that there is no hole big enough for my 1/0 guage wire either so I actually cut a hole in my firewall under the dash above the pedals about 2 inches in diameter and ran the 0 guage wire through that then I put some latex gloves on and poured the silicone in. Of course being very careful of the carpet and makeing a mess. It looks professional though.

 

[frost5532]

ok put it all in, the hanger worked perfectly i dont know if i could have done it withought it, but now i have another problem. the subs, there just not hitting anywhere near as hard as i kno they should. that along with the distorted speaker im thinking i might have spliced a wrong cable or 2, is there any way to tell which ones are defintily the speaker wires and the remote wire.

 

[XLoudFN97X]

You would need to check the wiring diagram for your vehicle. You should be able to find this info at www.installdr.com . You should have the relay correct if the amp turns on and off with the rest of the audio system. You probably have the wrong wire spliced into which is causing the crappy signal, heres how: Your Line Output Converter (LOC) is meant to take a speaker level output (already amplified) and drop its wattage while retaining or boosting the voltage so an aftermarket amp can utilize the signal through its RCA inputs. If you do in fact have a factory amp (and I bet you do) the factory HU is sending out a pre-amp signal, with a voltage around .2 to .5 volts and next to no wattage. The LOC is converting a low-level signal to a lower level signal, and this just isnt sufficient voltage for and aftermarket amp to work with and you won't get a decent output. Try if possible, to move the "Line Output Converter" from behind the HU (before the factory amp) to the rear quarterpanel (after the factory amp). The signal after the factory amp is ideal for the LOC. Thinking back, I know my N-85 was installed in the rear quarterpanel. I'm glad to hear to hear that you got the power cable run with ease. NO pics needed, then? Let Me Know-
~stu

 

[frost5532]

this is really making me wish i just went to a store and had them install it, but at this point im determined to do it for myself. it makes sense about the connectecing the loc after the amp, but now i run into a whole new set of problems, i dont know which wires are input and which are outpout, even then i only see a few of the wires i saw up front in the head unit so i dont even know which ones are the speakers, and worst of all, i disconnected all the wires from what i thought was the amp (right above the left real wheel in the side panel, and the radio still played perfectly! i know from this point its pretty much vehicle specific but if you have any ideas it would help alot before i go in there and start splicing wires untill something works.

 

[frost5532]

figured it out, i was looking at the wrong thing, found the amp, found the wires with the wire guide, now i just have to get an free hour to finish it up, thanks for helpin me out i woulda been lost withought it

Just incase anyone reads this, rember, rember rember, before you spend 6 hours wiring and rewiring and changing your setup CHECK YOUR FUSES. I justed wasted half a day of my life connecting wires, and if i ever look at another little exposed wire im gonna shoot myself.

 

[XLoudFN97X]

You're welcome. LOL- you'll enjoy it when it's said and done. Don't let the wires get the better of you. And yes, it's never a bad idea to check the fuses. glad to hear things are moving along, we'll be here if you need us again (and you will, eventually)

~stu

 

[explorerpimp]

try this

ok there is a plastic or rubber plug that leads from the passanger compartment to the engine compartment usually located above the break peddal you can run the power feed through there. as for the speaker issue . i have noticed that at high volumes the wires leading from the coil to the cone vibrate so much sometimes it could hit the sides of the speaker metal causing distortion or cut outs.try putting electrical tape arround them. that should eliminate it. another thing is make sure the polarity is correct. incorrect polarity can cause alot of issues especially at high volumes.

 

[tomr80]

hey man thanks thats an awsome idea with the hanger, i saw the boot but seeing as theres a cable running through it and i have no idea what im doing i didnt wanna break something i cant afford to fix right now. I tink you were confused about the speakers, i have a stock head unit and im trying to add a set of subs onto my factory system. I spliced the speakers cables behind the hu and got an adaptor to run the rca cables to the amp, the problem is when i connect the posotive cables for the front left speaker and the one for the amp the speaker distorts but only at low volumes. The subs hit fine if i leave it uncconected but i dont understand why this happnes, and i feel like i should be missing something seeing how i have a chord just hanging out behind my hu doin nothing.

I had the same problem even before I added a sub and amp. The speaker in the front left would go out if you turned the volume up it would come back on. I was going to get a harness to go around the factory amp and put in a new head unit. But all this talk about how hard it is to get to the amp....I don't know??? I am just dealing with it for now..

 

[big ee]

i would like some help with the amp bypass.i am not sure if i did this right.i used 2 adpacters wired to back of hu.then pluged them into stock harness.my hu is amplified.