10 replies to this topic

[a2matt]

I've got the SC-816 and lately the driver's side front speaker and driver's side tweeter won't play music but put out nasty noises. The noises get worse over bumps. I know the speakers aren't blown. What's causing this and how do I fix it? TIA.

[Che'_Moderator]

Sounds like the speaker separated.

[BEJinFBK]

Does it change it all if you futz around with the fader slider?
And Che, Do you know if the volume is a pot or a rotary encoder on the 816?
It just seems kinda wierd that both speakers would go Tango Uniform at once.
I'm thinking dirty/dying contacts in one of those controls...

[Che'_Moderator]

Same age same fail ?


They were pots on the 811s so......

But if it was a dirty potentiometer he would get a pile of noise while adjusting or in a bad spot. I dont think hes tagging potholes large enough to change the volume/fade. Maybe potholes are bigger up there?

[a2matt]

The speakers are all original to the car.

I hooked up the speaker from the rear door (which works fine) to the wires on the front door and it made the same scary noises. So I know it's not the speakers. Plus, it would be too odd for both the speaker and tweeter to go at the same time while my wife was jamming out to the John Tesh show at 15% volume.

Here's another clue. I pulled out the deck and there are two black cables that plug into the bottom corner. If you wiggle these cables, the noises either get worse or go away. At one point, I had music coming out of the speakers again, but a medium-sized pothole stopped that excitement.

[Che'_Moderator]

Sounds like your amp is on the way out. You can open it up and check all the joints especially around the capacitors, but I will start looking for a new HU in the mean time.

[Ghost Shadow]

pull the covers off the tweeters on top of the dash. then pull the actual tweeter out and see if the magnet has fallen out of the speaker. those are the first to go on these cars. could still be a bad speaker causing the problems.

[BEJinFBK]

a2matt, on 07 July 2009 - 12:16 PM, said:

Here's another clue. I pulled out the deck and there are two black cables that plug into the bottom corner. If you wiggle these cables, the noises either get worse or go away. At one point, I had music coming out of the speakers again, but a medium-sized pothole stopped that excitement.

You may just have a little crud on the connector pins. Reseating the connector may do it.
Try unplugging and replugging the black cable that goes to the socket marked "AMP".

[Che'_Moderator]

Deoxit will clean bad contacts but I have never seen an speaker contact in a car so corroded that it would not carry a signal. ON the other side of the coin I have seen lots of capacitors fail

[BEJinFBK]

Che'_Moderator, on 07 July 2009 - 08:11 PM, said:

Deoxit will clean bad contacts but I have never seen an speaker contact in a car so corroded that it would not carry a signal. ON the other side of the coin I have seen lots of capacitors fail

My bad - When you mentioned amp, I immediately started thinking "external" amp.
If he is talking about the speaker harness connector, I'm right there with ya.
I'd start a cold solder joint hunt around the PA in the HU.

[a2matt]

Here's another clue. When I pound on the dashboard with my fist, the noise goes away and the speakers work as normal. On the one hand, it's kinda cool that I'm like the Fonz. Also, if I tap the cover over the tweeter, the noises get worse.

I've been offered a working HU to try and see if it makes a difference. I'll also pull the tweeter to see if something funny is going on there. Going on a trip tomorrow and I really don't like the idea of five hours without tunes.