3 out of 4 Door Speakers Not Working (2001 5.3L)

[jayburn22]

Hey all,

I realized last night driving home from work that the speaker on my driver's side door wasn't working.. heck probably been out for awhile and I just noticed hehe.

Played around with the radio settings today (fade/balance/etc) and confirmed the front drivers side is not working and neither of the 2 back doors work either.
Only one that puts sound out is the front-passenger.. Seems like the back/rear speakers in the trunk or wherever they still work pretty well on each side.

All my speakers and the radio are original... After reading around most folks just recommended getting all new speakers whether a set of 2 or 4 and to maybe just get aftermarket/3rd party ones. I honestly do not care about the 2 back doors, I just want my driver's side speaker working again lol.

I highly doubt all 3 got disconnected, just going to assume they all died off they are 24+ years old.. I honestly don't know how to check/test them any further.


What would be a reliable and fairly reasonable set to purchase?

Whether I replace all four or just the two upfront I'm really not trying to rock the entire neighborhood I just can't stand that "mono"-like sound..

Thanks in advance any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[salisburyv]

Ive always had luck with Crutchfield.com . They know what'll fit and work best with your stock set up. Most likely a set of kicker 6 1/2's in the front doors and you'll be good to go. Hope this helps!!

 

[jayburn22]

Ive always had luck with Crutchfield.com . They know what'll fit and work best with your stock set up. Most likely a set of kicker 6 1/2's in the front doors and you'll be good to go. Hope this helps!!

Thanks I will check them out, I remember Crutchfield always being great back in the days.

I was looking at these relatively cheap ones on Amazon.

They don't need to be anything super special and if I remember correctly the worst part of replacing them was popping the door panel off lol. Pretty sure I replaced some on my old S10 Blazes as a teenager.

I do see Crutchfield has a similar Kenwood pair, looks like they come out to about $49 w/ shipping I might go with the KFC-1666S set!

 

[Tonyrodz]

Thanks I will check them out, I remember Crutchfield always being great back in the days.

I was looking at these relatively cheap ones on Amazon.

They don't need to be anything super special and if I remember correctly the worst part of replacing them was popping the door panel off lol. Pretty sure I replaced some on my old S10 Blazes as a teenager.

I do see Crutchfield has a similar Kenwood pair, looks like they come out to about $49 w/ shipping I might go with the KFC-1666S set!

If you wanted to go even cheaper, Advance Auto sells cheap speakers.

 

[jayburn22]

If you wanted to go even cheaper, Advance Auto sells cheap speakers.

I wound up ordering the Kenwood KFC-1666S pair hopefully they arrive early next week, $52 total from Crutchfield.

If they workout well I might just get 2 more for the back.

Crossing my fingers it's just the 3 speakers and nothing else, I can't see what else would be the issue if one is still working (front pass-side).

 

[strutaeng]

Did you get the adapters from Crutchfield also so you don't cut the original wires?

I replaced the front door speaker on my 99 Silverado many years ago (2008?). I finally replaced the factory stereo with an aftermarket from Crutchfield and got the adapter harness a few weeks ago. One of my front speakers kinda cuts out sometimes momentarily. I remember I just cut off the wires and "looped" the wire into the speakers terminals.

The adapter harness is better, or soldering. I think the looping over time corrodes or may loosen up, or both

 

[jayburn22]

Did you get the adapters from Crutchfield also so you don't cut the original wires?

I replaced the front door speaker on my 99 Silverado many years ago (2008?). I finally replaced the factory stereo with an aftermarket from Crutchfield and got the adapter harness a few weeks ago. One of my front speakers kinda cuts out sometimes momentarily. I remember I just cut off the wires and "looped" the wire into the speakers terminals.

The adapter harness is better, or soldering. I think the looping over time corrodes or may loosen up, or both

They threw these in for free with the purchase which was nice, they'll be here tomorrow unfortunately I work all weekend. But plenty of time Monday.

I read the reviews on this harness and saw where a few folks had issues with them being loose, but overall the majority were good ratings. I'll make sure they are nice and snug before I put that panel back on.

I did get my driver-side window's motor replaced about a year ago and saw the guy pop that panel off in about 30 seconds lol.. I just honestly can't remember this speaker ever working since I got the truck a year or two back off my father. He wasn't one for fixing small things like this and he's been a mechanic for close to 50 years.. heck can't blame him he's worked hard haha.

I really do not want to cut or splice anything hoping it's just plug and play.. as long the front 2 work and sound decent I'll be happy.
Maybe down the road I'll grab 2 more for the back doors, I might toss the 1 that works in the back for now, I'll flip a coin for which side gets lucky lol.

 

[Fless]

Can you tell us where your "back/rear speakers in the trunk or wherever" are located?

 

[strutaeng]

Does your rig happen to be equipped with the Bose system? The amplifier can introduce another point of failure. IDK?

 

[jayburn22]

Popped the 2 new speakers in the front doors and they work great.. Sounds so much better!

But now I understand the harness issue some had, honestly didn't even go anywhere and the driver side stopped working, had to take the panel back off and fiddle with it realized exactly what folks were referring to, hopefully doesn't happen again or often I will have to remedy.

Rear speakers I just meant the ones in the trunk believe they are on the ceiling.

Do not believe this is the Bose system.

I put the old stock one that was working in the rear-passenger door and it works decent.. I'll probably order another set of these in the near future.

Honestly pretty happy and content with the front 2 working and sounding as good as they are now.

 

[Fless]

I'd sure like to see pics of the speakers that are in the trunk on the ceiling.

 

[Tonyrodz]

I'd sure like to see pics of the speakers that are in the trunk on the ceiling.

Sounds like an OBS.

 

[Fless]

Sounds like an OBS.

Thread title says 2001, so I'm just curious....

 

[Tonyrodz]

Thread title says 2001, so I'm just curious....

Yup, but they(OBS) have rear speakers mounted in the roof above the hatch or barn doors area--so you never know....

 

[jayburn22]

Since I fiddled with the one harness it's seemed fine but not sure if there is a better set out there or if I should just lose the harness and splice the wiring.. Also my Tape to AUX is garbage and to get the best sound I need to use the old CD Player or Radio. I really need to get a better setup for my Phone.. I have an old Pioneer head-unit in the back garage I'd love to toss in that had an AUX + CD player played MP3 CD's.

When I mentioned the "rear" speakers I meant the ones all the way in the back trunk (Left/Right) which seemed to of held up fairly well over the years.

That original I put in the pass back door seems pretty decent but tempted to buy another set since I can finally hear my tunes again.

Here's pictures of some of the old ones and the "rear" (trunk) speakers I mentioned..

Also I finally snapped the covering piece for the back door's window button.. Haven't checked online to see if there are any replacements yet or maybe I'll just hit the salvage yard.

 

[jayburn22]

Sounds like an OBS.

I'm not sure what type they are but they still work well.

The tweeter on my driver's door is also dead, I thought I heard the passenger side working briefly but it went out.. Might be the old wiring.

Not sure how much of a difference 2 new tweeters would make, 2 new speakers + the 3rd original working in the back sound great.

I did find 2 original stock speakers on eBay for the rear doors for $16 w/ free shipping.. figure toss one into the driver's side rear door since that's currently the only one not working. That's also the only panel I didn't take off.

 

[jayburn22]

Realized those are the rear 1" tweeters (pillars) in the back.. Leaving them alone they sound fine.

Ordered a set of the Memphis tweeters for up front since the driver-side is dead and the pass-side sounds like it goes in and out whenever it wants.
Drivers side one just "hangs" loose kind of and the pass-side one is screwed in well. Not sure if these new ones will be able to screw into anything.

I can just break out the hot glue gun or use double-sided adhesive I've got some good 3M from when I messed up one of my rain guards. I'll even go with EZPass Velcro if needed since I've used it on a lot of random things and always withstands the elements. I've been using EZPass Velcro to mount parts inside my PC Gaming/Towers and that stuff can really withstand the heat lol. Actually holds up a lot of weight too.. Made a custom PC case 15'sh years ago and got my 2nd system in it now still 100% hehe.

Not sure how much the tweeters will enhance the experience but with the 2 new front speakers I've already managed to annoy one neighbor while out in my driveway while listening to a few different CDs.. I think Pantera Cowboys from Hell was sounding real nice, then the WWE Volume 4 when Y2J's track starts.. The Undertakers theme was real nice though

Pretty happy with the 3/4 speakers working again, hoping one of the stock ones I ordered will work out well, heck for $16-17 off eBay worth a shot. But I'm already tempted to buy another set for the rear doors, guess I'd just get another set of the Kenwood KFC 1666S's unless there's another set similar priced that might have a little more bang.

Also ordered one of these $15 Tape to Bluetooth adapters that arrives today, hoping it works well.. The headphone jack on my Moto G Stylus (2022) is a little *****, I tried 2 or 3 Tape to Aux units I own and they all do the same.. sometimes only plays music out of one side unless it's 100%. That threw me off when I first installed the speakers, I should have been using the CD player to test at first.

Loving Crutchfield the tweeters will be here tomorrow and I'll have all day to mess around

 

[jayburn22]

Wound up grabbing a 2 set of similar BOSS speakers from Autozone for about $40'sh after I had some points saved up.. tossed them in the back doors and sound great.

Also added two new 1" tweeters into the front doors, went with these cheap Memphis SRX1's.. Not overly impressive but they seem to work decent. I had to kind of snap out the old mount and used some EZPass Velcro to "mount" them and they are pretty secure where they are lol.

I thought about getting new 1" for the rear pillars but the stock ones in there still seem pretty decent.

I was looking at this 8" Subwoofer for the back.. Original sounds "okay", a little muddy, figured just toss something new in.