Oh what a feeling, to fix a Toyota . . .

[tpenfield]

2009 Corolla S . . . my kid's car that we bought new on her 16th b-day. She announced recently that the radio was not working properly. So, I checked it out and it appeared to be the head unit. Virtually no sound, right front speaker not getting anything, etc. I ordered a used refurb unit off of eBay hoping that would do the trick

So, I tried the 'new' unit yesterday and it was still a no-go; although the problems with the replacement head unit seemed to be different than the original. I thought at that point that I had received a bum unit.

After futzing with it some more and with the help of my multi-meter, I realized that the front right speaker was shorted out. "OK, now we are onto something" I said to myself. However, to get at the front speaker, you have to take the whole door panel off :facepalm:.

I get to the speaker, disconnect the cable and check the cable and the speaker for resistance. Sure enough, it is the speaker. Oh, and the speakers are riveted in !!! Fantastic . . .

I then tried out the radio without the R/F speaker connected and the thing comes to life (yay !!!) After some more checking, I realize that the left rear speaker is blown out . . . scratchy bass sound . . . definitely something wrong. Well, to get to the rear speakers, you have to take the rear side panels and roof pillar panels out, then remove the rear deck panel. More :facepalm: :facepalm:

Now the car interior looks like a bomb went off.

Thinking about the 2 speakers, it starts to make sense . . . (young person + car stereo = two blown speakers ). . . definitely a 'volume knob' related issue, and the speakers finally gave out. BTW - the speakers on this car are pretty whimpy, the magnets are about the size of 'refridgerator magnets'. The rear speakers are stamped with a 20 watt rating, the front ones, I'm not sure, but would guess 15-20 watt rating. At this point, I was thinking the thing to do would be to replace all 4 speakers with something a bit more durable.

So, after doing some research last night, I am headed out to buy some Kenwood car audio speakers, that should be able to handle 2X the power of the OEM speakers.

 

[gm280]

I fully understand your predicament all too well. Kenwood is some good units. I installed new Polk speakers in my old '95 Ford Ranger truck with a Kenwood head unit when I replaced the head unit years ago. And all is still well.

Was the original head unit good after finding the shorted speaker?

I have to say, I've deal with speakers ever since I can remember. I was building speaker boxes in my early teens, and that was almost before electricity was invented, :facepalm: and I have never ever found a shorted speaker in my doings. A lot of open voice coils, but never a shorted one.

Glad you have it all figured out and under control. Your formula (young person + car stereo = two blown speakers ) does explain it perfectly. :thumb:

 

[Scott Danforth]

Put an entire head unit with bluetooth, digital media (aux, USB, CD, etc) amp and speakers in the stepson car for his birthday. You can go nuts for about 1/4-1/3 a BOAT unit

 

[tpenfield]

I think the original head unit is good. I tried so many combinations yesterday that I cannot remember , but I think both head units worked after I discovered the speaker issues .

I may go with the original unit and keep the replacement unit as a spare . It was only about $60 on eBay

 

[Scott Danforth]

Remember, the original factory speakers are the lowest cost marginally performing units that Toyota could find

 

[tpenfield]

Remember, the original factory speakers are the lowest cost marginally performing units that Toyota could find

Yup, very cheap. . .

I got the new speakers installed. It turned out the original head unit did have a bad channel. So, I am using the one I got on eBay.


here are a few picture from the past 2 days . . .

The rear seat and rear deck disassembled to access the speakers.



Demolition of the front seat area to get at the head unit and the front speakers in the doors.




Here is the OEM rear speaker . . . I think the coil separated from the cone based on how it sounds.



Here is the OEM front speaker. It is a complete unit with built in connector and special mounting flange. I salvaged the connector to minimize the re-wiring needed.




Here is the new speaker installed. I could have gone with a 7" or 8" speaker, as the opening was a bit larger than what you get for a typical 6.5" speaker. I managed to get it installed with some special fasteners and adhesive.


Here is the rear speaker, It is a 3-way, the fronts are 2-way . . .



Here is all the 'old' stuff.




The car is all back together. Hopefully it will stay that way for a while.


Total cost was about $200 for the 'new' head unit, the speakers, and some electrical stuff that I had to buy.

 

[keith2k455]

Nice work! On the plus side, she seems to keep the car pretty clean.

 

[bassman284]

You're a better man than I am, tp. Fine work.

 

[bruceb58]

Corollas are great cars. One of the best cars to buy a young person in my opinion.

 

[NYBo]

I'm sure the sound quality is much better than original.

 

[tpenfield]

I'm sure the sound quality is much better than original.

Thanks everyone for your kind words on my handy work. I had great ambitions this weekend for working on my sailboat, but the car issue preempted that plan. I don't have a good reference point on the sound quality, but it should be a lot better. The customer reviews on the speakers were about 4.5 out of 5.0 stars

My theory of cars only break down in the winter is still holding true, with this car and my Explorer both needing attention lately. Fortunately, the daytime temps have been in the 50's (F) recently.

 

[gm280]

Yes vehicle repairs follows Murphy's Law sad to say. And I see you have boat issues that take the back burner for so many other things that crop up. I really do know that feeling very well. But you seen it through and can now take pride that you did it yourself. :thumb:

 

[Limited-Time]

Under powered amplifiers is what kills most speakers. Turning the volume up to the point the amp starts distorting creates a squared sine wave, this is called "clipping". This clipped square sine wave generates heat in the speaker coil and melts it, that's is what kills the speakers. Its very unusual to "blow" a speaker form to much power, generally its the opposite.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I'm impressed that you pulled out the back speakers. I'd have been tempted to install some sort of surface-mount speakers instead. Your way looks cleaner...

You're a handy guy!

 

[gm280]

His mounting of the read deck speakers was the norm many decades ago when we all drove monster size vehicles. The rear decks were the usual mounting place for 6 by 9 speakers. I remember buying some 6 x 9 speakers with huge magnets on them. And the trunk would act like a huge cabinet and pretty deep base sounds would emanate out of them. This was way before high powered huge boom box designs took over the automobile stereo installations. But we also use to be able to access the rear deck from the trunk. Oh the back pains laying there installing those 6 by 9's. I do remember buying new vehicles with mere AM radios in them. And then change that AM radio out for an AM, FM, FM Stereo with 8-track tape players. Then you had the latest and greatest! :facepalm:

 

[generator12]

Wow! Nice work.

I would have likely given up, glued a small boombox to the dash, and given it back to her...!