Essentially, I’m looking for next troubleshooting steps for figuring out what is “wrong” and what can I do about it. Particularly as a car audio newbie. I’m willing to do a lot of reading and learning but I’m not sure where to turn next.
Following is the description of the “problem” to the best of my ability. Then, the back story (and secondary question) I’ll save to the end to keep this from being TL;DR.
PROBLEM:
Over the last month or so, the dash speakers started cutting out (in tandem). I have not detected any reduction in the quality of the sound...when they ARE producing sound.
I began to detect a pattern that they would cut in and out when there was some sort of impact/jostling (e.g., driving over a pothole). I learned I could get them to cut back on by finding another pothole to drive over. Not the sharpest knife, I know….
This has gotten progressively worse over time with the speakers out more often than in... A call to Crutchfield (more on that later because there IS something I plan to buy so I wasn’t just using them for tech support) lent support to the theory that it was electrical; and the advisor suggested I check the speaker connections at the amp. Cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth at the prospect of disassembling my 4runner (WITH 3rd row seats may I add. They seemed like a good idea at the time we bought the car but ugh). Eventually the problem finally became worse than the solution, so after I found 97BlackAckCL’s awesome thread showing the disassembly process:
Third row seat removal to access rear panel pocket, subwoofer install (and complained for another week about how there was no way I could do that), I got the panel off and inspected things to the best of my ability.
FINDINGS:
No obvious damage to amp or connectors.
Apparently the rear hatch speakers are ALSO cutting out in sync with the dash speakers. Oops. I didn’t notice, I don’t sit back there.
Fiddling with the white connector on the amp (N14 on the diagram linked in this post:
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/1624697-post2.html) recreates the “cutting in and out” problem. However, that’s when I mess with the WIRES not the connector. If I am reading the diagrams correctly, those wires are for the battery and ground.
Cranking the volume way up can also recreate the problem (and usually happens right on bass-heavy beats. But seeing as how the amp sits right next to the sub, I think it’s all still in the realm of “vibration” being the trigger, right?).
There’s been progressive worsening of the problem over the last week. There’s also more likely to be popping/crackling at times (which I understand also points to electrical signal problems).
QUESTION:
Recommendations on what to evaluate next and how?
FOLLOWUP QUESTION:
Obviously this will depend on what the final “problem” is determined to be….
but...
I started reading these forums a while back because I was hoping to “add some bass.”
Overall I have been pretty content with the JBL system. But bass is my stress management tool and….I’ve depended on it more and more since Covid. The JBL system with sub isn’t lacking, per se. Just - if some is good, more is better, right? I just wanted a small step up in terms of thump. I really didn’t want to overhaul the whole system.
Can’t be that hard, right?
Again and again, I saw comments about replacements of JBL system components being all-or-nothing (HU along with speakers) because of the challenge in mixing and matching).
AND I saw what a pain it was going to be to try and access that area anyway (*points to 97BlackAckCL’s thread).
AND I don’t want to reinvent the wheel. I just want my JBL OEM system to thump a little more. And the JBL Sub still works fine. I think.
BUT NOW
The condition of the amp is in question?
First order of business is to figure out what is “wrong” (speakers cutting in and out) Then figure out solutions. But I wanted to put all this out there (that I am interested in subwoofer addition or upgrade) in case it influences possible solutions to the problem.
ALSO, while I’ve got everything disassembled, IF I were going to add anything, I would think now would be the better time to do it (*points to 97BlackAckCL’s thread hahah), right? But I have 2-legged and 4-legged passengers in my vehicle regularly, so I can’t leave it uncovered for long.
Thanks if you made it this far and have any pointers, I'm happy to hear them!