[ms1991]

so i have installed a new headunit in my vitara along with some 6 inch rear speakers... everything works ok except the front left speaker.. was working intermittently and then just stopped after new headunit install, was working fine before.

so this arvo i bought some new 4 inch speakers for the front to eliminate the crusty old ones.. i tested the blue/bluck with a test lamp, ther lamp lit up.. i tested the white wire and nothing...

I continued testing all the way back to the head unit and that wire has nothing on it...what could be the problem? dodgy connection on the internals?

hope you can help, its doing my head in!

[twitchy]

If you have nothing from the head unit then you could well have a dead chanel, what's the brand of the head unit????

[ms1991]

Even though it was working for a litttle while and then just stopped?

its just an el cheapo sony..

[Scrawny]

The white wire is a negative so you won't see anything with a test light. Do you have a multimeter? If so you could check continuity on both wires

[ms1991]

the front right had volts on both as the test lamp lit up on each wire and the speaker works fine..

[oohsam]

The test light shouldn't be lighting up wit a speaker wire.

Its possible that you have got the wrong cables going to the speaker, or something is causing a short.

Best thing to do, to eliminate dodgy wiring, is take out ur head unit, and take out ur speaker. Run a clean wire from your head unit directly to your speaker, while you hold both. The wire should be very short, like 20cms or so.

Most head units these days colour code their speaker wires, and they are all the same across brands. like purple, and purple/black, white and white/black etc. The one with the black stripe or dots is the negative, and the other is the positive.
Sorry for dumbing it down, just trying to clear it all up for you.
Let us know how u go.

[oohsam]

Its also possible that your speaker is rooted. Many things could be a problem here so its best to do process of elimination. Do the first thing I said, then if that fails, try a different speaker and see what happens. That should then prove if the preamp on the headunit is farked or not.

and chuck out ur test light and go buy a multimeter. Bunnings sell em for 10 bux or jaycar for 40, which are much better. My multimeter is my best mate, gets me out of a lot of shit.

[alien]

if you're using standard wiring, its too thin.... just had this in my uncle's sierra... the thin wires were making the speakers crackle and cut out etc (could also be the age of it)... new wire fixed it right up.

[ms1991]

thanks for the suggestions guys.
So the test light shouldnt be lighting up on speaker wire? How so?

As it sits, the front right has the lamp lighting up on both active and neutral...this speaker works fine.

The left has the lamp lighting up on the negative only..speaker no worky. As i said i traced the active all the way to the plug at the H/U and found no volts..

Im ruling out the speakers as being faulty as i swapped them from left to right and they worked fine, just not when installed to the left hand front.
I guess ill pull the headunit out and test direct with new wire.

[oohsam]

How'd u go man?

[ms1991]

all fixed mate,

had two wires coming out of the head unit (+ - ) and i had no supply on the positive? so anyway swapped over to another positvie that was just hanging there and all works well.. dunno why there was a dud positive in there though?dead channel as twitchy said?.. ..it works though, so who cares haha.

guess it was bound to happen without a wiring diagram and color code.

[Benz]

still doesn't sound right...
but if your happy it's all good

[DarkHorse]

So now you balance L-R with the fade controls?

[ms1991]

lol yeah its not right, im sure it isnt.. But it works, as does the L & R, F & R balance...i think, lmao.

Sounds good though, should put a slim line sub in.. But rather put the money elswhere.

[BertZook]

DarkHorse wrote:

So now you balance L-R with the fade controls?

I was about to say that too