Speaker Wiring

[Kodachrome Wolf]

I'm planning on doing some radio work tomorrow in the '87. It's had an issue for some time with the dash speakers dropping out, or coming back on going over bumps, which results in such a kuality listening experience.

Anyway. I've got some Rockford Fosgate R14X2s for the dash and Ford Premium sounds speakers for the rear (donated from the '97 when it was upgraded to JBL).

I haven't taken off the dashpad yet, nor have I looked at the rear speakers. I'm likely going to run new wires for the dash speakers since they've been spotty at best. The rears will just get the connectors from the '97. I just need to know which wires in the radio harness are (+) and (-) so I don't bumble up this install. Hopefully with better speakers and new wiring, I'll get more enjoyment out of the older Pioneer CD player it has. FWIW, the head unit has been fine, same for the rear speakers, since those have never dropped out on me, but they've lost any real tone they had before I got the wagon.

[sly]

note the connector... the clip side should be - and the key side (opposite side with the alignment tab) should be +.

[DerekTheGreat]

I doubt it's the wiring, well the connection being spotty maybe or the amp but not the wiring. I'd find yeself some JBL rears. I could be persuaded to sell you a pair with the correct harness if desired...

[Kodachrome Wolf]

I doubt it's the wiring, well the connection being spotty maybe or the amp but not the wiring. I'd find yeself some JBL rears. I could be persuaded to sell you a pair with the correct harness if desired...

I'm not planning on doing much with the radio in this car, I just need the front speakers working better than they are. I don't think there is an amp present, everything appears to be driven from the head unit. I don't think it was a premium sound car when it was new, but I'll know when I pull the speakers in a few hours.

[DerekTheGreat]

There's an amp inside the radio itself.. I'm just thinking you're going to be there, might as well drop some decent stuff in and be done with it.

Sent with my phonic while eating biscuits & mustard with French-fried taters mm-hmm.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

New speakers went in. Found some hack job wiring/splices. Fixed those, still had spotty radio. I pulled the head unit and powered it up. If you whack the head unit on top, all the speakers work. Whack it on the bottom, the left side cuts out.

I'm gonna replace this head unit and see if the nonsense stops. On the plus side, the new speakers sound awesome.

[sly]

My 93 was having issues with the front speakers. Took out the adapter harnesses for the speakers and just soldered them in (with the quick connects on the speakers themselves still) and no more spotty fronts. The adapters on the rears seem to work fine. Probably has to do with the fact that it's been well over 8 years since I did those and the adapter connectors were not sealed types so they may have oxidized over the years.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

My 93 was having issues with the front speakers. Took out the adapter harnesses for the speakers and just soldered them in (with the quick connects on the speakers themselves still) and no more spotty fronts. The adapters on the rears seem to work fine. Probably has to do with the fact that it's been well over 8 years since I did those and the adapter connectors were not sealed types so they may have oxidized over the years.

I was worried with the connections after I found some hack work up in the dash. It appears the wagon was a Premium Sound car when new, but it was bypassed when the CD head unit went in. When I pulled the head unit out, I found a lot of red speaker wire branching off to the speakers. Wire connections seemed well done (no wire twist and electrical tape deal), but still kind of bothersome since I fished out the other wire harness for the radio that had fallen way back into the dash.

Anyway, here's what the current head unit does if you strike it:

That also might explain why the radio sounds tinny for a bit until it "warms up". It's up for replacement now, and preferably I'm going to look for a Pioneer head unit that used the same connector. I've had some cases were the head units are updated, but the radio connector remained the same, making it easy to swap head units.

Also, bonus: Extra crispy OE speaker:


Still working, but I dumped them. Sound quality was poor, and the other had a tear in the cone. 30 years being baked by the sun = Absolutely not worth saving.

[gadget73]

Things coming and going with percussive maintenance is usually a sign of a broken solder connection. Usually no big deal to fix if you're proficient with a lead melter and a pokenstick to find the problem area.

[sly]

Things coming and going with percussive maintenance is usually a sign of a broken solder connection. Usually no big deal to fix if you're proficient with a lead melter and a pokenstick to find the problem area.

This.

[DerekTheGreat]

Percussion maintenance, lol.

Sent with my phonic while eating biscuits & mustard with French-fried taters mm-hmm.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Outside of doing a head unit, everything is finished. That one last hard "smash" heard in the video was the last whack I did on the head unit, and for now it seems to have quelled the speaker drop out issue, lol. I drove all over town today, covering smooth to rough road surfaces and all the bumps and divots in between and never experienced any dropout.

Also, I did make a mistake with the rear speakers. The rear parcel shelf speakers from the '97 did not fit, but the front door speakers did fit just fine. The current setup is an aged Pioneer AM/FM/CD head unit, two Rockford Fosgate R14X2 speakers in the dash, and two Ford Premium Sound speakers in the rear. Sounds just like the '97 did before it got its JBL system. The upgrade sounds a lot better than the toasted paper cone ones, that's for sure!