When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I have an '83 F100 XLT. It had an aftermarket(?) cassette player when I got it. It sounded terrible, but I picked up an nice used(?) Sony Xplod head unit at a swap meet. I installed the Sony, and it looked as if it was never installed before. However I have a lot crackling and noise, if I turn the volume up.
Sometimes the head unit displays 'Failure' until I turn it off and on again.
I just ordered a pair of 6.5" Sony Xplod speakers to replace the factory door speakers. I have the door speakers wired to the rear speaker drivers with a common return.
Is this a wiring problem, or is my Sony defective? I think that the problem existed prior to my installing the head unit.
Is there a speaker in the dash, that could be defective?
I checked and there is no speaker in the dash, even though there is a hole for it in the metal dash and the dash pad. I think that someone removed a defective dash speaker and messed up the wiring to the other speakers. I think that the common return is a problem.
I was trying to avoid rewiring the speakers, but I guess that i have to rewire.
The weather is supposed to warm up this weekend. I'll rewire the original speakers, until the new Sony's arrive. I may also order a 5x7" dual voice coil speaker for the dash speaker. LMC Truck has those.
The returns from each door speaker went to a single pin on a multipin connector. The mating pin was the common return. I cut the return wire from the right door speaker, and the right channel (-) wire from the common return, then spliced them together.
Even with the original Ford speakers, it sounds great now. I'll install the 6.5" Sony Xplod speakers as soon as they come. I also ordered the 5x7" dual coil speaker for the dash speaker. I didn't order that until I was sure that the door speakers were working right.
Now I'll have all 4 channels wired to speakers. This truck is nothing to crow about, but it runs good, and now it will sound good.