Hi Everyone,

I’m experiencing an issue with my car’s sound system, particularly with the rear left and front left speakers. A couple of days ago, the front left speaker started producing a vibrating and crackling noise along with the music or any audio from the car. To investigate, I used the fade option to isolate the sound to each corner of the car. Here’s what I found:

• Front Left Speaker: Vibrates and produces a crackling noise.
• Rear Left Speaker: Has a flat sound without any bass, but no crackling or vibration.
• Front Right and Rear Right Speakers: Both are working perfectly fine.

During my inspection, I noticed that the front left air vent's slider was broken and broken pieces are lying around the vent. I initially thought the vibration might be coming from there, so I replaced the air vent with a new one. However, the vibration and crackling noise from the front left speaker persist.

I partially removed the rear door card but couldn’t figure out how to disconnect the connector from the small speaker. I cleaned the speaker thoroughly, but unfortunately, it didn’t improve the sound quality.

This whole situation is puzzling, especially since the sound system on the left side deteriorated so suddenly, and the front left vent’s slider broke without any physical contact. Additionally, the middle air vent on the passenger side now has a minor issue with sliding left and right, which wasn’t a problem before.

Now, I need some advice and help from you all:

1. How can I completely remove the door card? I need guidance on disconnecting the connectors, particularly for the top speakers. The bottom one is fairly straightforward (squeeze and pull out).
2. How do I replace the speakers? They seem to be attached to the door using rivets. Any suggestions on how to remove and replace them would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

 

 

Edited 18 August, 20241 yr by automass

The rivets need to be carefully drilled just so the cap of the rivet comes away…

 

you can re rivet or use speed nuts and screws or something similar. The speakers come with a gasket but you may want to seal in place with silicon mastic to prevent water ingress into carpets.

 

if you can’t re-attach the slide control you will have to try and by a vent grill complete.

 

there will be you tube vids on the card removal. There will likely be a couple of torx bolts usually hidden by trim on handle or along bottom of card or both. Plus the plastic rivet things on the card itself…

I am bit confused after talking to some auto mechanics. They said, it could be a problem with car stereo system as issue is left side speakers (front  and rear) of the car which means audio system needs replacing and they can not do it as it requires programming.

For me, it sounds lime speakers are damaged.. Both of them had different issue.. Rear left has no bass and front left has cracking noise. 

Anybody ever had similar problem? 

I've had faulty speakers before. If they've been overdriven they can perform as you describe.

 

Equally, it could be the headunit / amplifier. But less likely in my opinion -  possible though.

 

You need to start with the cheapest and easiest fix first. You'll know if it is a speaker with one card off and one speaker unit replaced. 

 

The other option which sounds a lot more complicated to me would be to access the media unit main harness for speaker outputs, de pin the left and right speaker outputs, front and rear, so likely 8 pins, reverse the left to the right, refit, retest. If the problem as changed sides, it is the HU or amplifier. If the same side is faulty it is speakers or wiring to. 

Edited 19 August, 20241 yr by TheClient

5 hours ago, TheClient said:

I've had faulty speakers before. If they've been overdriven they can perform as you describe.

 

Equally, it could be the headunit / amplifier. But less likely in my opinion -  possible though.

 

You need to start with the cheapest and easiest fix first. You'll know if it is a speaker with one card off and one speaker unit replaced. 

 

The other option which sounds a lot more complicated to me would be to access the media unit main harness for speaker outputs, de pin the left and right speaker outputs, front and rear, so likely 8 pins, reverse the left to the right, refit, retest. If the problem as changed sides, it is the HU or amplifier. If the same side is faulty it is speakers or wiring to. 

Thanks for the informative reply TheClient. How to access the media unit main harness? is it behind the Infotainment system or behind the CD changer (inside the glove box)?

Just now, automass said:

Thanks for the informative reply TheClient. How to access the media unit main harness? is it behind the Infotainment system or behind the CD changer (inside the glove box)?

What do you mean by infotainment system? The screen in the centre console is just that, a screen - no more.

 

All the wiring is behind the main unit (it's much more than just a CD player) in the glovebox.

Sorry for my ignorance PetrolDave. I got it now. 

 

NB: I have seen people doing the wiring behind the infotainment system for camera, dashcam etc.

56 minutes ago, automass said:

NB: I have seen people doing the wiring behind the infotainment system for camera, dashcam etc.

????

 

The rear camera connects to the glovebox unit and the dashcam doesn't connect to the infotainment system (except maybe for power).

One of my friends has the similar car.. Just wondering if I swap the unit (inside the glob box) to pinpoint the problem, would there be any issue of coding..so if i transfer his unit to mine, can i test the sound or it will ask me to put the code to activate it. 

1 hour ago, automass said:

One of my friends has the similar car.. Just wondering if I swap the unit (inside the glob box) to pinpoint the problem, would there be any issue of coding..so if i transfer his unit to mine, can i test the sound or it will ask me to put the code to activate it. 

It will have component protection. 

Hi,

 

I've had both speakers on the left side replaced, and the sound quality has improved a lot. They are much crisper than the original speakers. I think replacing all four speakers would have been ideal, but I didn’t want to risk breaking the window switch clips, which happened on the rear left and had to be glued back. The front left switch was unoppened all the way and remains unbroken.

 

Edited 22 August, 20241 yr by automass