Stock Sub Barely Works

[Workman]

I have the Mach stereo in my '98 Mountaineer but the sub never worked. Today, I decided to pull it apart to check things out. I pulled the sub which was obviously blown, and replaced it with another stock one in good condition. Turned the radio up and the sub barely vibrated with the bass. I'm just a little confused, my experience with amps shows that, if it's bad there's no sound at all. Where should I start? I don't have a spare amp to try, just had an extra factory sub.

Everything is completly stock.

 

[Anime]

Just because a sub looks ok visually, doesn't mean the parts that make it function are good.

You can get cheap 8" subs in knock-off brands like BOSS for ~$20, or drop the cash and get a nice quality 8" for $50-100. Either of these options will usually beat dealing with the junky factory driver.

 

[Workman]

Would the stock amp be enough to power a low power 10" sub. I've had the same result from the orginal sub, the other factory sub I had, and 2 seperate 10" subs. I'm only getting enough power to fell a slight vibration.

 

[Anime]

Might be the amp going bad, then.

Even when an amp isn't delivering the full power a sub can handle, it will still hit. Underpowering a sub just blows it after awhile, sometimes faster than overpowering it.

Might look into just replacing the factory amp if you want to keep it all stock, they tend to go for about $10-20. Check all the wiring from the head unit and especially the harnesses that attach to the amps and enclosure, when replacing hardware doesn't make a difference, the issue is usually the wiring or connections.

 

[Workman]

I was going to just keep the stock sub and amp but I picked up 3 sets of 10's and an amp so I have plenty to chose from now. Looks like it's time for an upgrade.

Just another question real quick. Is there any special plug I need to buy for the factory harness at the HU? Or will the cheap scosche wal-mart harness work? I've had a vehicle with premium sound in the past and the wal-mart plugs didn't work for some reason. Had power to turn on the radio, just nothing from the speakers. I just don't want to go through it again.

 

[Anime]

There are a few different Scosche plugs for the '91-'02 Explorers.

Walmart sells a universal plug kit that is for "94-UP Ford Vehicles" that has plugs for the Premium systems on the 91-94 AND the plugs for the 95-98's with the MACH systems..on the same harness.

They also sell a plug with just the connectors for the MACH system, which is the one you want for a less cluttered install if you're putting a aftermarket head unit in to replace the factory one.

 

[Workman]

Ok, just wanted to be sure. I was reading about the factory JBL systems that basically used the HU as the controller only while the actual "radio" was mounted elsewhere. Or something like that.
So the basic scosche kit for '94+ should work fine if I can't find the mach specific plug? I think it was JBL that scared me away from the premium sound thing.

 

[Workman]

Here's the only one I found on the walmart website... Don't know if it will work or not.

Scosche Ford JBL/Premium Sound Upgrade (Common Ground)

I found this while searching though, it looks a little more like you described.
It's Scosche FDK9B

Will either of these work with the mach plugs?

 

[Anime]

Scosche makes a lot of kits for the Fords that just have different combos of the connectors in the kit. You can get the right connectors in any of the kits.

Some of the ones that have the connectors for the MACH system are

FDK8B

FDK10B

Keep in mind that the MACH premium audio and the JBL premium audio systems are two totally different things, and use different connectors.

 

[EMG7895]

i have a spare mach sub amp and the crutchfield harness, pm me if you need it. I would check and make sure the headunit is operating and set correctly