Need help from anyone that can help me with this problem. I have a 2001 Honda civic EX, I recently installed new speakers in the doors and in the back. For some reason one of the speakers is grounded out, I am trying to find out how I go about finding out which one it is. When ever I turn on the CD player it will play but no sound will come out of the speakers. Sometimes it will play for a few seconds then it will just cut out. Is there anyone that can offer some advice.

 

does this problem happen consistently? does this problem happen anytime while driving? is it one speaker that doesn't work?

you can play with the fader in the car to isolate which speaker is working and which isn't. start by directing all the sound to the front, then to the left. from there, check all 4 speakers to see which one isn't sounding right.

if it's all speakers that cut out, i'd check the RMS each speaker is set at. you could be overloading your headunit causing it to turn off at peak power demands.

 

pull the deck out and use a multi meter and check each speaker wire to ground and see if you can figure it out that way, thats the easiest.

Note you have to unplug the deck 1st

 

How do you know that 1 speaker is grounded out?

Are you using an external amp?

 

I got your PM.

Since you're having trouble with that 1 speaker, time to try some different things.

1. remove the bad speaker and turn on your system with 3 working speakers. does it turn itself off? if no, then you've isolated that problem to that speaker or speaker wiring.

2. remove the bad speaker and put back the old speaker. does it sound distorted? is it making the same noise the new speaker does? if yes, then you have a wiring problem. if no, then you have a speaker problem.

3. take the bad speaker and move it to the other side of the car. swap the bad speaker in a working location and try testing the sound. does the bad speaker remain broken in the known working location? if yes, then you have a bad speaker. if no, then you have bad wiring on the other side of the car.

- if it's a wiring problem, you need to double check your wire connections coming from the radio. make sure all connections are soldered and properly wrapped. also, make sure there are no breaks in the wires where it can be exposed to bare metal.

- if it's a speaker problem, you need to still check your wiring. something caused that speaker to go bad and it's rare for a factory speaker to come blown out. (unless you got a floor model, purchased it from eBay, or got a mismanaged store return)

 

Just to add to E3nine's excellent post, you might try one of those XTC baffles behind the door speakers (if the bad speaker is in the door). A friend of mine had a feedback problem in his Acura Legend, his stereo was "professionally" installed. Turned out that the speaker was grounding out in the door. I used to own a 1987 Civic 4dr, and I used XTC foam baffles behind my door speakers, and never had a problem. If you can fit in the baffles, they might solve your grounding issue.

Also, if your HU is aftermarket and Dolby Surround Pro Logic II, your HU will have somewhere in your menu/settings for test tones, since its a requirement for Dolby Surround PL II. Then you can just send test tones to isolate the problem, which would do the same thing as e3nine's solution w/o having to take off the speakers one by one.

Peace.