Driver side front speaker dead

[roland]

Hi,

I've noticed that the front right hand side speakers are no longer working, though all the others are working fine. I've reseated the big connector on the back of the radio multiple times and none of the pins on the radio (or sockets in the connector) appear to be "bad", so I'm hoping there is nothing wrong at this end.

A quick search of the internet suggests that some people have had a relay die inside the amplifier that sits in the door, and that giving the little amplifier a slap can sometimes make it work for a short period - I've had the door panel off and given the amplifier a slap and got nothing. I guess this doesn't rule out a dead relay, but its difficult to tell.

I guess one of the most basic tests to do would be to check continuity between the connector and whichever wire is the speaker wire in the door card. Does anyone know which wire is what in the door panel?

It is a little bit suspicious as I did have the radio out earlier... Not sure what I could have done to break it in this way

[350matt]

I'd crack on and remove that door amp and replace the relay

mine was intermittent for ages then stopped altogether parts from farnell were about £3 and it was an easy fix

[roland]

Okay, definitely worth a try! I'll order a relay and give it a go

[roland]

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=76028

[roland]

Okay, it's taken a while but the relay has arrived and I've replaced it on the board. I'll get the rx8 out of my narrow drive soon so I can get the amplifier board back in and give it a test.

I did have a thought though - something I did right before this was removing the satnav unit from the car (I had just completed removing the DVD drive in the back and fitting a new rear console piece.) I wondered if the audio actually runs through the rear satnav unit in order to add the navigation voice...

Pulling the workshop manual up, it does appear that there are audio inputs and outputs on the nav unit (under Body & Accessories -> Entertainment -> Car-Navigation Unit Construction.)
I see PR (?) and front speaker in/outputs. If I get no joy with the replacement relay I might pull the centre piece out again and re-fit the satnav unit to see if that resolves it. If so, I guess I'll need to make a passthrough connector

[warpc0il]

You didn't mention the removed satnav, and you may well be on to something there...

[roland]

It was the satnav removal. With the unit connected, sound was working.

I used two small wires to bridge PR front speaker input to PR front speaker output and that's also working now. The non-PR in/outputs don't appear to be connected so perhaps they're used in LHD models or something

[warpc0il]

That's handy to know, for the next guy with the same issue...