Post by
cerveza_fiesta »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/cerveza-fiesta-u104789.html
Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:48 am
OK, so friday night was an epic journey of pathfinder modification. I didn't get the rear speakers in, since the front ones were so much work. First off, I wanted to use the biggest speakers possible, and the mtx audio XT573 5x7s were the biggest I could find that would fit into the same space as the old ones. The magnet is about 1/4" deeper than the original ones and the eliptical cutout is maybe an extra 1/4" all around. I decided to just get some mdf and make some custom spacers.
I discovered a few crucial things in the wiring too. I decided to use original wiring since it's not a hugely powerful sound system and running new wires is really just a pain. First I had to bypass the existing amplifiers. Simple enough, I ripped them out (one front and one rear) and pulled the wires out of the existing harnesses. Using the 9V battery to bridge speaker contacts I mapped out the wires that popped the speakers all around the truck. For some reason the leads from the front amplifier popped the rear speakers/tweeters and the leads from the rear amp popped the front speakers/tweeters. Makes no sense to me why they'd wire it that way, but whatever...desired effect achieved.
Oh yes, and anybody reading this that wants my original amps, HU, and/or speakers, just pm me and I'll give them to you for free if you pay shipping. For real. I don't need them at all. No intention of reselling this pathfinder and they are just taking up space at my house. One rear speaker is slightly damaged and the other is fine. The front speakers are in mediocre shape. The rear amp looks fine and a resistor in the front amp looks melted (probably why it crapped out in the first place).
Knowing that each speaker must have a pair of input leads and output leads to and from a given amplifier, and that the input leads would eventually need to hook up to my new head unit, I just figured out the mapping. Say purple and purple/black wires coming from the H.U. are the +/- for the Right Front speaker. On the original nissan HU harness, these positions map to...say...blue and orange (nissan wire colors). Remembering that the rear amp controls the front speakers, I go to the back and find the blue and orange leads that were the inputs to the rear amp. Now simply take the blue and orange and solder them to the leads for the right front speaker...say...black and white. Why they are a different color at each step, I have no idea, but whatever. Now when you go back to the dash and use the 9V battery across the purple and purple/black leads coming from the HU, with all the joints along the way soldered, you should pop the right front speaker. Alternatively, you can use a voltmeter to test continuity. Since I didn't have one at the time, my mapping method plus a 9V battery worked just fine.
To make the spacers I used the cardboard template mounting hole pattern from the back of the speaker box and the original plastic clarion baskets. By overlaying a traced pattern of each, I was able to figure out a shape that would accomodate the speaker while still fitting inside the original door speaker covers. The original speakers had a 3/4" plastic spacer/basket combo thingy, and the new speaker magnets are only 1/4" deeper than the original ones, so there were no clearance issues. A larger speaker would certainly interfere with the window and/or the speaker cover however. Pretty easy to make the new spacers all in all, but the time consuming part was the slight modifications and trimming with my dremel multi-tool to get the MDF spacer to fit nicely into the door and the original speaker screen at the same time.
Anyway, time consuming but not terribly difficult. I'm stoked to try the rear speakers, though I think clearance might be an issue back there. The front speakers are installed now and sound just fine. The whole system is a bit weak without the rear ones, but I plan on attempting an install tonight. Will update and post pics later on.
Hope this was helpful. And be careful of posts that say "oh my 95 pathfinder should be the same as your 93 or earlier pathfinder"...I looked at some of the 95+ advice in other posts and it just doesn't apply to my 93 model at all. Not with respect to speaker sizes, amp positions or wiring...which makes it about as useful as the futureshop website.
Modified by cerveza_fiesta at 10:49 AM 9/2/2008