Front speakers not working

[Mirameiah]

My ram has an aftermarket sony xplod system installed, front passenger speaker didn't work, then the driver side stopped working randomly. Any idea what causes this? I've not had this issue in any of my cars before. Individual speakers going out is very strange, not sure if it's a channel going out or not.

 

[JohnnyMac]

I'm no audiophile, but I recall the speakers in my 2000 only being 4 ohm and not 8 ohm (or opposite). If your system is not pushing the correct impedance, it may have done damage to the amp. Just my two cents and it's probably only worth 1 cent.....

 

[Graygoose]

Pop the dash cover off, stick a working speaker up to it and wire it in, if its dead, then its the radio.

 

[Mirameiah]

hehe, with all 2nd gen rams, if i remove my dash cover it's coming out in pieces. i know these sony xplod units, i had one for 10 years before it finally had issues. it may be head unit channels, but also may be the wiring. wiring is the only thing i can think of with one speaker going out by itself. dead channels usually are 2+ speakers at a time. (i need to replace the dash cover anyway, so i may do it at the same time.

 

[Graygoose]

well worse case, you get new dash speakers and covers...and maybe a new radio

 

[Mirameiah]

ahhh, my speakers are in the doors. don't think they are in the dash?

 

[Graygoose]

ahhh, my speakers are in the doors. don't think they are in the dash?

Possibly, not sure on that year, but principle remains the same.

 

[Okiespaniel]

Trying to run 50 watts or more of an aftermarket head unit through a stock door speaker that's used to handling about 10 watts will cause them to stop working.
Upgrades are difficult to to space (depth) constraints. Deeper speakers interfere with window operation.

Some folks (like me) say damn the torpedoes, and build spacers that bulge the door panel slightly but give you more speaker.

Silly new Ram owners, thinking we have a cab full of speakers....

 

[Graygoose]

Trying to run 50 watts or more of an aftermarket head unit through a stock door speaker that's used to handling about 10 watts will cause them to stop working.

Not "entirely" true, I ran for 3 years 30w to the factory paper wizzer coned speakers in my 2015. Now if you pump 50 75 or 100w on them, yes they will grenade. But smaller god clean power you should be fine.

 

[Okiespaniel]

Again, yer trying to apply later Ram logic to 2nd gens...

The standard factory 4 channel Radio in a 2001 and earlier Ram is rated at a blistering 5 watts per channel. That's not the fancy Infinity system, with the amps on the speakers. The unit I had with the factory cassette deck was rated at 7 watts per channel.
BTW that info is gleaned from the FSM and the owners manual.


The Sony xplod unit which was gifted to me in 2005ish is rated at 52 watts per channel. It took about 2 more years for me to kill both front door speakers. The right side died first in a fuzz filled fervor, due to my balance. I turned the balance back to the left a bit and killed the drivers door a couple months later.

Unable to find correct thinner speakers at a reasonable price, I removed the vibration pads from the factory speakers and used then as spacers to gain the window clearance. That also meant mounting the new speakers on the outside of the door frame rather than the inside.

15 years later, the same system still resides in the truck. How the rear cab door speakers have survived, I'll never know.

 

[Graygoose]

well factory speakers are factory speakers. I can promise, that Sony didnt make 52, ever.
I understand what you mean, but if someone has good clean power, no matter what year, the speaker will last.
Two things kill a speakers, over powering them and distortion, but the later is the biggest culprit.

 

[Okiespaniel]

well factory speakers are factory speakers. I can promise, that Sony didnt make 52, ever.
I understand what you mean, but if someone has good clean power, no matter what year, the speaker will last.
Two things kill a speakers, over powering them and distortion, but the later is the biggest culprit.

Maybe I don't know what that means, but it sure says 52 watts max output...x4, not divided by 4. Granted those are peak ratings but... I can assure you that if you run the unit at 23.2 watts continuous clean power through a factory door speaker in a 2nd gen long enough, it will overheat and stop working. I would say on average the unit is working continuously at 40 watts, especially if you're cranking hard rock.

If you'd been in 2nd gen forums as long as I have (since 2000) you would see how common this issue with door speakers is.

The OP needs door speakers that will handle at least his max per channel output. Probably double, because once he maxes the SPL he will want more power.

Mopar to ya...I'm out.

 

[Graygoose]

Well I sell car audio, for 32 years. No aftermarket basic radio will do the "max" power ratings it has on it. If he has the stock OEM speakers, they are probably dry rotted years ago and have no surround. Id be willing to bet that OEM radio didnt do 52x4, at max.
If he replaced with a "high power" deck, it wont do the max power on the box, I can promise you.
And inexpensive speaker replacement he puts in, will be light years ahead of the stockers, from the 90's.
All the OP was asking is help defining the issue. Isolate, and replace whats messed up, hence try a working speakers first, will isolate if its speaker or radio. Replace as needed. If the stock OEM speakers are still alive, Id replace anyway.

Cheers.

 

[Okiespaniel]

Whoopie...You said they never made a head unit rated at 52 watts but they do. Any rating can be doctored. Horsepower ratings for instance.

I'd already explained that factory outputs were less than 10 watts, do you want me to post the written page?

That's great that you sell car audio. I'm not sure that qualifies you as an expert. I used to sell welding rod, which required me to know how to weld. I did, and still can lay a pretty decent bead. But I'm hardly an expert.

What I am pretty good at, is working with 2nd gens. There isn't much I haven't done either on my truck or someone elses 2nd gen Ram.

In this case, there's been countless threads in a good half dozen forums about door speakers dying. They die,and as they age the die faster. I haven't killed a lot of things on my 2nd gen from abuse, but door speakers would come right after the transmission.

For that reason, I don't go on other peoples gen forums and diagnose truck problems. I probably could, since I've been in the parts business about 40 years, but I'm out of touch on a lot of the new stuff. So I stay clear. I like 2nd gens.

Cheers

 

[Graygoose]

Whoopie...You said they never made a head unit rated at 52 watts but they do. Any rating can be doctored. Horsepower ratings for instance.

I'd already explained that factory outputs were less than 10 watts, do you want me to post the written page?

That's great that you sell car audio. I'm not sure that qualifies you as an expert. I used to sell welding rod, which required me to know how to weld. I did, and still can lay a pretty decent bead. But I'm hardly an expert.

What I am pretty good at, is working with 2nd gens. There isn't much I haven't done either on my truck or someone elses 2nd gen Ram.

In this case, there's been countless threads in a good half dozen forums about door speakers dying. They die,and as they age the die faster. I haven't killed a lot of things on my 2nd gen from abuse, but door speakers would come right after the transmission.

For that reason, I don't go on other peoples gen forums and diagnose truck problems. I probably could, since I've been in the parts business about 40 years, but I'm out of touch on a lot of the new stuff. So I stay clear. I like 2nd gens.

Cheers

No, your reading my comment incorrectly.
I said it will never DO rated power, doesn't mean anyone can "rate" power at whatever. I'm saying it WON"T do rated power.
I never said I was an expert, but thanks. BUT, I sell it, so I do understand electronics a tad, or I wouldn't sell it, like your welding...if you didn't know it, whether you weld or not, you have to know it and understand it. Right?

I'm here to help the OP, not argue. My principles are fact for his needs.
Take em or leave em.

 

[99RoughCountryRam]

My front speakers though previous owners install aftermarket mid 2002 Sony Xplod silver come red Tweeter speakers and I am pretty sure they just cut out the amplifier because the rear speakers and the tweeters don't work and I put a factory am/FM cassette tape player CD stereo receiver by infinity back in the truck works like new so I went the cheaper route and I know I will regret not going through crutch field but I got a great deal on the display model from a Walmart kicker cs 5.25 speakers for the rear doors and the factory adapter plug which they ironically look like a 80's and 90's gm speaker plug, and the cerwin Vega hed series 6 1/2 inch speakers new in box overstock from Amazon $45 free shipping so I couldn't pass them up and I believe they the previous owners put 6 1/2 inch speakers in the front doors when they changed them from a regular cab or club cab truck that was not a Laramie slt trim truck and put the doors on the quad cab truck I have