Radio gets power but speakers are not working

Ransom Keener

Ransom Keener

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Joined
Mar 3, 2024
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18
Location
west virginia
Hello I have a 2000 wrangler sport and I wanted to fix what the previous owner had done to the sound system. I had tracked down all of the stock harness and put in a better head unit than what was in it before (still no sound from the previous head unit) and wanted to put a sub in. I had got all wires hooked up to where they should be but I'm still not getting anything out of the front speakers or soundbar speakers. What could be my issue here cause I'm stumped the stock harness seems to be in one piece. so is there a harness issue and I would be better to make my own harness or is there some sort of security system preventing the speakers from working?
 
Have you downloaded and checked the wiring diagrams in the resources section for your Jeep? Wiring diagrams should show you the color/trace of the wires. If you have a multimeter you can see if you have continuity to the plugs at the speakers.

I personally just ran better speaker wire to all my speakers. Didn't like the gauge or routing of the harness speaker wires.

PO wiring hacks are always the worst things to track down.

-Mac
 
macleanflood said:
Have you downloaded and checked the wiring diagrams in the resources section for your Jeep? Wiring diagrams should show you the color/trace of the wires. If you have a multimeter you can see if you have continuity to the plugs at the speakers.

I personally just ran better speaker wire to all my speakers. Didn't like the gauge or routing of the harness speaker wires.

PO wiring hacks are always the worst things to track down.

-Mac
Click to expand...

Yes I have researched the harness and figured out the colors for the wires and have them wired in correctly. The speakers are just not doing anything. I do not currently have a multimeter so I cannot check the wires for signal. But I've also tried a different wire for both the positive and negative of the radio speaker output wires and I'm still getting nothing. I know for a fact that radio should work considering it's brand new.
 
What you could do is connect speaker wire to a speaker and directly to a HU's speaker wire, bypassing the harness. Then, connect power and ground directly to the HU, bypassing the harness. You should then have sound from the one connected speaker. If not, then the HU is the problem. If it works then you have post HU wiring issues at the harness. My best guess from what you are saying is that the wires from the headunit and the harness are not matching up. So, you need to bypass the harness and make sure the HU is working properly, then trace the wires. The front speakers should be easy. Remove a front speaker and make sure the wires match to the speaker side of the HU. Normally, they are colored and striped. I believe everything is crossed up for the speaker wires at the harness.
 
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i will add to what ChasUGC suggested... you could also take a volt meter and put it on continuity and touch both speaker wires together to see if maybe there is a direct short. Also alternately, touch each speaker wire to a ground source to see if the + wire is maybe shorted. But for sure if you can bypass the Head Unit wiring you can cut 50% of your problem by knowing for sure if its the wiring harness or head unit. Assuming of course you know your speakers are good. PS: Make sure the volume is turned up. LOL
 
Check continuity from the speaker wires at head unit to the speaker wires at the speakers

It is very possible that the prior owner used an amplifier, and routed the new wires from that, but removed it prior to sale
 
mjbcomp said:
i will add to what ChasUGC suggested... you could also take a volt meter and put it on continuity and touch both speaker wires together to see if maybe there is a direct short. Also alternately, to uch each speaker wire to a ground source to see if the + wire is maybe shorted. But for sure if you can bypass the Head Unit wiring you can cut 50% of your problem by knowing for sure if its the wiring harness or head unit. Assuming of course you know your speakers are good. PS: Make sure the volume is turned up. LOL
Click to expand...

I am going to try wiring the speaker directly to the head unit I appreciate the info and I did make sure the volume is up.😂
 
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