S14 rear speaker troubles...

[emperor_lunchbox]

My rear speakers dont work, they havent since I got the car, I was wondering if this is common, if so, what is the fix?I was told it could be the stock amp, is there a way around the amp?THanks.

[Simmsled]

Check and see if your fade (front to rear) is working on your head unit. Most likely it is your factory amp. You could bypass it but it will not sound good at all. It it all the stock setup?

[PoorManQ45]

Are the speakers connected. LOL

It may sound stupid, but I've seen this before

[emperor_lunchbox]

Ok. I took the radio trim off to replace it and I noticed that there are some wires that are labeled Left and Right rear. I am assuming that those are the speakers. But I can hear noise from them so I will assume that they are connected. As for my setup being stock, it kinda is and kinda isnt. I have a Kenwood head unit and Alpine Type R front speakers. The rears didnt work so I didnt replace them. I am still using the factory wiring and amps so...Anyone know of a way to test the amp?Oh yeah, I tried the fade thing, its not that. I wish it was though. I think this is gonna be expensive.

[Simmsled]

you need to bypass the rear amps. even then though your rear speakers are probably shot. new speakers in the rear and bypassing the factory amps should be on your to do list to fix the problem. do a search for the bypass. good luck and keep us updated.

[Slipstream]

My rear left was out whne i bought my '95. It was the factory amp. I just yanked the system and ran independent wires for the whole system. Unless you use an aftermarket radio or amp, you'll hardly get any sound from them though.

As for wiring, I just traced the entire system from back to front, and cut them out all together. A little patience is needed.

[emperor_lunchbox]

I do have an aftermarket head unit. That SHOULD make some sound without the factory amp. I guess I will try that. I'll let you know my findings.

[Simmsled]

yah, you will have a TON more sound without that factory amp in there. it will sound so much better.

[Silvia2b]

The factory amps for the 240sx run 2ohm speakers, I'll bet the alpine type R's in front would sound better without the factory amp.

As far as the rears go maybe someone who owned the car before you had bypassed the rear amp and that is what the labeled wires in the dash are for. Just a guess, did you install the kenwood or did a mobile electronics shop. It's possible that they didn't connect the correct rear wires if they just did a wiring harness and solderless butt connected the wires color to color and connected it to the OEM harness.

[emperor_lunchbox]

I cant figure it out. I guess I will just take it to circuit city or something. I am pretty sure the amp is bad. But if the 2 ohm thing is true and the alpines in the front will sound better without the stock amp I will just have a shop bypass all the amps.

[Silvia2b]

Your best bet is to run new 16 ga or larger from your (amp or headunit) to each speaker location. and leave the factory amps out of the picture, they're underpowered anyway. I think the fuse size is a 15amp so you can guess how much power output they have even with the 2ohm factory speakers.

I'll be you can do this yourself if you had the common sense to take the dash apart to look at the stereo wiring.

[PoorManQ45]

With that fuse rating the amps can have a maximum draw of 54w each.

[emperor_lunchbox]

my head unit is rated at 54x4. So that should be perfect then, right?I will hopefully get a chance to get to this at the end of the week. Should I get a new harness, or just use butt connectors for the new wire?

[Slipstream]

It should be a decent amount of power. It all depends on what you are looking to get out of the sound.

[Silvia2b]

Don't worry about the rating of your head unit, we talking about the ratings of factory amp, which I suggested removing anyway.

Butt-connectors are fine you don't need a new harness if there is plenty of wire to connect to on the existing one.

[emperor_lunchbox]

Ok, Im clear now. I will hopefully be able to get to this on Saturday. I will post my results.

[jr_ss]

Just take the freakin factory amps out already. Why waste money at circuitcity when we are telling you what needs to be done.

Use this as a guide http://www.240sx.org/faq/artic...s.htm

[SirSilvia]

what factory amp are you guys talking about i don't think i have one in the rear. and i removed those things in the doors because my 6x9s wouldn't with them in. but i realy don't know where the rear amp is

[ArdmoreS14]

The Factory amps are under the rear deck lid in between the speakers. TAKE THE AMPS OUT!! Just bypass them right there at the amp(connect the input wire to the output wire) its simple. It dont matter what watt your radio puts out if you are running through the factory amps. The amount of watts getting to the speakers will depend on that factory amp!! When you bypass the amps(there are 2 one for front one for rear) then you will get the 20 or so watts rms from the head unit. The factory amps are only putting out like 10 or 15 watts max anyway so just do it

[Silvia2b]

I think I just figured it out look at his sig, his picture shows a chuki S13 not S14 like his title to this posting says. In which case the amps are not in the rear package shelf they are (or It is behind the rear panel) I think in the left side if you are facing the towards the front. maybe this brings some clarity.

[emperor_lunchbox]

Silvia2b:Do you think it's possible to have more than one 240?-----I do.

It's funny because I still haven't gotten a chance to bypass the amp yet. I had planned on doing it a month ago but I have been swamped....

[ArdmoreS14]

what do you have? S13 or S14? I was talking about the S14.....Got no clue on the S13

[emperor_lunchbox]

Ok, I have an S13 AND an S14. But, like the title suggests I am having issues with the rear speakers of my S14.But, once I get some time, I am pretty sure I can fix the problem.

[ArdmoreS14]

^^^^^^mine was for the S14 SE

[ArdmoreS14]

Yeah the link from jr_ss is all good. Its the same as in the FSM here 1 Blue left front speaker neg. input

2 Black right front speaker pos. input

3 Blue/yellow left front speaker neg. output

4 Brown/white right front speaker neg. output

5 Brown right front speaker pos. output

6 Pink left front speaker pos. input

7 White right front speaker neg. input

8 Blue/white left front speaker pos. output

9 Blue acc.

10 Green/red on/off

11 Purple left rear speaker neg. input

12 Pink right rear speaker neg. input

13 Green left rear speaker neg. output

14 Pink right rear speaker neg. output

15 Blue right rear speaker pos. output

16 Green left rear speaker pos. input

17 Blue right rear speaker pos. input

18 Red left rear speaker pos. output

19 Blue acc

20 Green/red on/off

Just cut the input and cut the output splice them together and your golden!! Good luck. Oh yeah be sure to use connectors not just put them together and tape them up. It'll last longer with no worries....

[Silvia2b]

Silvia2b:Do you think it's possible to have more than one 240?-----I do.

It's funny because I still haven't gotten a chance to bypass the amp yet. I had planned on doing it a month ago but I have been swamped....

Yup, I sure do in fact I did too! I sold my white S13 about a year after I bought the S14. Sorry if I assumed you had only the S13. Sometimes I miss pignose

I really am just trying to help you get it figured out. I would be willing to help you do it personally if you lived within 50 miles of Portland Oregon (no charge for NICO members). I want you to be happy with the way it sounds, and help solve the problem you are having. I have over 14+ years experience with car audio and electronics, and worked in the industry and been certified long enough to know how this stuff needs to be done correctly for long term durability, and best acoustic performance. Let me know if you need more information or help. Take pictures if you are able to help explain your dilemma. More info can be found in the FSm pages 1082-1087. I've attached the simple diagram pasted into a MS word Document. Enjoy!
Modified by Silvia2b at 11:45 PM 6/18/2006

[emperor_lunchbox]

Silvia2b,It's cool. I dont know why I responded the way I did, usually I dont get to offensive on forums. Anyway, that diagram is great, im printing it our on a plotter now. I took a look at it this past weekend it looks like it's going to be a little more difficult than I first realized. It's appears as so the previous owner had tried to do some wiring back there. I tried to take out what he did, but I didn't really have enough time. Plus the back doesn't like it when you hangs your legs out of the trunk for half and hour! Anyway, I will attempt this again next weekend, hopefully with better results.

[PoorManQ45]

damnit man, just run new freaking wires already.

[jr_ss]

It really doesn't take that long to do. I took awhile only because I was trying to figure if I wanted to cut the harness or not, which I ended up doing, but I pinned only the wires I was cutting out of the clip.

Make sure you have that diagram in the trunk with you, it's a pain in the *** to run from the computer to the car, vice versus. Just take your time and plan before you decide to chop anything.

[ArdmoreS14]

Exactly