No sound from any drivers side speakers

studer

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Discussion starter · #1 · Dec 18, 2023

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Hi all, I recently purchased a 2006 XE CC and all of the the left/drivers side speakers do not work at all. I have the base model single CD head unit, with the standard eight speakers. I have not pulled the rear door panels yet. Here's the work I've done so far to try to figure out the problem:

• Check that fade works. When I fade to the front, the sound stops coming out of the rear R speakers and only comes out the front R speakers. When I fade to the back, the sound stops coming out of the front R speakers and moves to the rear R speakers. This shows that the fade function is working in the head unit.
• Check that balance works. When I balance R, sound comes out all four R speakers. When I balance L, the sound fades away and there is no sound when I'm balanced all the way to L. This shows that the balance function is working in the head unit.
• Check if speakers are the issue. Took both front door panels off, took both speakers off, and swapped the front L and R speakers. R side still plays audio, L side plays nothing. Also put a 9v battery onto the leads of each speaker on my workbench, both speaker cones move when voltage is applied. This shows the speakers are not blown and do respond to signal.
• Check if there's a specific fuse that controls left speakers. On passenger side of dash, tried pulling fuse labeled "WOOFER /AMP". It's a 15 amp fuse, I believe fuse #21. Turned on radio, no change. This must be the fuse for the upgraded RF audio system that has an amp on a separate fuse? I'm not sure, but it didn't affect anything for me. Then found the fuse labeled "AUDIO". It's a 10 amp fuse, and I believe it's fuse #10. Pulled it, tried to turn radio on, and nothing happened, head unit has no power. This does not confirm that the speakers themselves are not on separate fuses for L and R, but I can't find anything to support that idea, and it seems all speakers are on the same fuse. From what I can tell in the FSM wiring diagrams, this is accurate. So if a fuse was preventing some speakers from working, it would prevent all speakers from working, along with the head unit as well.
• Check continuity of wiring harness. I removed the head unit and back-probed the connector with the wires for the front speakers. I believe this is connector M43 according to the FSM. All 4 wires that go from the back of the head unit to the front door speakers are continuous. I have not tested the rear speakers but I have no reason to believe that there's going to be any different findings in the rear. For the fronts:
  • Front L speaker: blue/red at head unit continuous to blue/red at speaker, and blue/white at head unit continuous to blue/white at speaker.
  • Front R speaker: blue/black at head unit continuous to blue/black at speaker, and white/black at head unit continuous to white black at speaker.
  • This shows my wiring harness is not frayed, shorted, or broken. I should also mention there was no other continuity that shouldn't be there. Blue/black was not continuous with white/black, etc etc.

So I'm kinda at a loss now. The only thing I can think of is a fried head unit. That being said, I do not want to buy a head unit and hook it up, only to find out I still have the same issue. Has anyone here taken apart a head unit and noticed broken solder that needs repair, that type of thing? What else could this be? I feel like I've exhausted all the tests I can think of. If it was just one speaker that wasn't working, I would assume some sort of wiring issue going to that speaker. With it being all speakers on the left side, it feels like that's far less likely. With my truck not having the RF sound system, the wiring is pretty straight forward according to the FSM. Wires literally go from the back of the head unit, out to all 4 speakers. There's nothing else to it. I should mention all the radio functions work -- tune works, seek works, bass and treble adjustments work, volume knob works, illumination works, power button works. It's just got literally no sound on the left side of the truck. TIA for the assistance with this!

 

busemans

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2024 Ford Ranger STX

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#2 · Dec 18, 2023

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i have not taken one apart to look for cold solder lines but your trouble shooting is pretty solid and leads me to believe its the head unit. you covered everythign else and the continuity checks show good for wiring so ....

 

studer

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Discussion starter · #3 · Dec 18, 2023

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As far as I can tell, I have one more test I could do. That is, seeing if any of the M43 connections on the rear of the head unit are continuous to ground, which they shouldn't be. Pins 1 and 2 from M43 should connect directly to the back of the front L speakers, and pins 3 and 4 should connect directly to the back of the front R speakers, according to the FSM. This is step 1.3 on page AV-59 (attached) in the FSM.

Unfortunately step 2 on AV-60 (attached) of the FSM is beyond my ability as I don't have an oscilloscope or a Consult-II. Does anyone know how I could check this with a regular multimeter? Like...if I set it to DC V, and put the (+) on Pin 2 and the (-) on Pin 1, what V reading should I be getting? I know this would change based on the audio output, but let's just say radio static for the sake of argument. I assume that's far more stable of a signal than actual radio talking or music. I just don't know how to actually test if I'm getting proper output out of the back of the head unit.

 

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studer

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Discussion starter · #4 · Dec 18, 2023

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Ok so since I have the day off, I was able to go check for grounds as I mentioned. Nothing to speak of. None of the four speaker output wires have a ground to them. This is as expected, and is normal -- a ground would indicate my wiring harness is grounding out somewhere.

So what I'm left with is either figuring out how to use an old pocket oscilloscope that I found in storage, or swapping this head unit out for a new/working head unit. Unfortunately used Titan parts are hard to come by in my area but a replacement, used factory single CD head unit is probably my cheapest option.

 

studer

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Discussion starter · #5 · Dec 27, 2023

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I ordered a new aftermarket head unit from Crutchfield Canada yesterday. It should arrive within a week. I will follow up once I receive the item and see if this fixed the issue. And yes, I already have a set of aftermarket door speakers for both front and rear doors (not the tweeters) so that the aftermarket deck designed for standard 4 ohm speakers isn't driving the factory low impedance 2 ohm speakers.

 

studer

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Discussion starter · #6 · Jan 7, 2024

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Closing the loop on this, I finally got my new head unit along with the dash kit and the vehicle-specific wiring harness. Install was no problem, and I grounded the wiring harness to one of the two vertical M5 screws at the back of the space that's open when you remove the head unit (aftermarket stereo has a ground wire, original Nissan stereo is grounded via the mounts, I assume). Now all four factory speakers work, all of the fade and balance functions work 100%. So the issue was something in the factory head unit itself. I'll install the new 4 ohm aftermarket speakers tomorrow, should be at least a bit of an improvement.

Notes for future forum readers/lurkers:

• New head unit installed: BOSS Audio BV755B (yes it's **** and yes it was cheap)
• Price on crutchfield.ca right now: $230 CAD. At the time of purchase on Dec 26 2023, it was discounted by $100, so it was $130 CAD plus tax, shipping was free, and it included instructions, the dash kit, and the wiring harness for free. If you're considering a cheap touchscreen double din, I would wait for a sale like this, but that's just me.
• Wiring harness for 2006 Titan: Metra 70-7550.
• Dash kit for double din head unit going into my base model XE Titan: Metra 95-7405.
• You will have to figure out which wires you do not need from the new head unit. Things like power antenna, camera wires, etc. You'll need the blue/white remote wire if you're running subs, you'll need the front and rear camera wires if you're running those functions, etc. I am not running anything aside from the head unit and speakers, so my install was very simple. My head unit had each wire labeled on the harness, and the Metra wiring harness also has the colours and labels on the back of the plastic bag it comes in -- don't throw it out if you're new to head unit installs.
• Depending on your head unit of choice, you may run into a "parking brake" wire coming from the head unit harness. Typically this would be grounding a circuit when the parking brake is on. So if you want to wire this in "properly", you'll need to find your parking brake wire circuit and do some research on how to hook it up. If you want to be a smartass like me, wire your "parking brake" wire together with your ground wire. Then you'll ground both of those wires to a chassis ground behind your new head unit. Is this how the head unit manufacturer intended it to be used? No. Do I care? Also no. Now the head unit "thinks" I'm always in park with the parking brake on. I assume there are some settings that only allow for video playback when the parking brake is on, or maybe not all settings can be changed without the parking brake on. I'm a firm believer of "I own the item, I will use it how I please" so I typically avoid wiring in restrictive features when I have the option. Do what you will with the info about the parking brake wire. Bypassing the parking brake wire will be different with different head unit manufacturers. My research told be that these cheap Boss units just look for a constant ground, so that's what I did. Some radios may need some sort of bypass module. Do your own research on this specific thing.