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My speakers won’t work

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=16726
Printed Date: July 20, 2025 at 11:00 PM


Topic: My speakers won’t work

Posted By: Xerxes
Subject: My speakers won’t work
Date Posted: July 26, 2003 at 6:44 PM

Hey guys..

I have a 99 Honda Civic EX. My CD reciever has been a hasle. I finally got it working.. then driving down the road one day.. it decided to stop sending music to the speakers (for lack of better words). One of the red wires was touching the metal I guess and it kept going on and off.. Eventually.. the fuse blew. After I replaced the fuse, the speakers still wont work. I have checked every fuse in my car.. they are all fine.. I have checked the connection.. also fine. Do you have any idea what my problem is? I would really appreciate any help. Thank you so much.

Regards,
Patrick Johnson



Replies:

Posted By: bberman1
Date Posted: July 26, 2003 at 7:07 PM
I would start out by checking the audio harness and see if any of them are loose. Also unless you used a continuity tester on all the fuses I wouldn’t assume that they are all fine. I have seen a few times when the fuse looks absolutely fine but it’s actually blown




Posted By: Xerxes
Date Posted: July 27, 2003 at 12:38 AM
True, but if the fuse doesn't work.. I don't think the cd reciever would power on at all.




Posted By: rick655
Date Posted: July 27, 2003 at 7:21 AM

If you have amps (look under the rear deck), check them. Some amps have their own fuses. Good luck.





Posted By: Xerxes
Date Posted: July 27, 2003 at 11:24 AM

Nope.. I don't have an amp. The cd reciever itself has a built in amp, but that is it. I replaced all the fuses.. and reconnected all the wires.. still no sound.. posted_image





Posted By: leiblera
Date Posted: July 27, 2003 at 1:27 PM

So I gather from the posts that you've got power going to your head unit (cd receiver), that you've made aboslutely certain that all the wires are connected properly and tightly, and that all the fuses are good.  I see you said a "red wire" had chaffed, which makes me think power line, and that your cd receiver has a "built in amp."  While this wire was scraping the metal, some voltage may have arced into your head unit and fried the circuitry, specifically the circuits in the amplifier portion of the head unit.  The unit may power on, and it may seem to function, but if the amp portion is dead, you'll just get no sound.

If you think the radio is still good and hasn't suffered electrical trauma, then here are a few steps to help isolate the problem.

1. Start at the head unit.  If it turns on and off as it is supposed to, use a multimeter on the speaker leads coming out of the back of the head unit.  Don't have a multimeter?  Go get one today and learn how to use it.  You don't have to start out buying a professional $1500 Fluke DMM - just pick one up for ten bucks a t RadioShack for now.  It's  be your best roubleshooting friend ever, and it will help you to understand why you do many of the things you do.

2. Perform the test in step 1 for each pair of speaker wires on the unit.  If you get voltage coming off of the lines, and the voltage increases as you turn up the volume, then that pair of wire is good and can be reconnected.  By the way, if you see an area or connection that is exposed or has chaffed off some of the wire insulation, see if there is a way to route the wire elsewhere.  If not, consider putting a grommet or a few layers of electrical tape over the wire at the chaff point.

3. Now, if your wires coming into head unit are good, and the outputs of your head unit are good, the problem must be between the head unit and the speakers.  Check each one by using a 1.5V D-size battery.  Strip a little bit off the ends of the speaker wire by the head unit.  Then press the positive side of the wire againts the positive battery terminal and the negative against the negative.  You should hear a soft pop from the speaker.  If you do, the line to the speaker is good - the speaker may still have a torn surround or cracked voice coil, but it is getting voltage.  If you don't hear the soft pop, repeat the process at the speaker itself.  If you hear the pop now, there is a discontinuity in the line between the head unit and the speaker.  If you still don't hear a pop, the speaker is bad - or your battery is dead.  Yeah, this step relies on you having a good D-Cell battery.

4. If none of these steps help, try and dig up another head unit to connect in your car using all existing wire, speakers and fuses.  If the new head unit works, then your old one must be bad.

Hope this helps out some and good luck.





Posted By: Xerxes
Date Posted: July 30, 2003 at 9:37 PM
Well, I installed the old head unit.. and it works fine. . . So the new head unit must be shot.. Is there any way to fix this myself? Like I said.. it still powers on.




Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: July 31, 2003 at 11:24 AM
Short answer: no.  SOunds like you blew the output amplifiers in the head unit.  Time to replace it, sorry, as the repair costs will most likely approach the cost of a new head unit.





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