woofer going on and off sl320 1999-why?

[Darragh1]

http://affordableclassiccarreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Mercedes-Benz-SL-interior.jpg
My car - WDB129064... sl320 1999
As per photo - I have a large speaker (woofer?) at the bottom of the doors and a small (tweeter I presume) up by the door handles and also a tiny speaker of some sort on either side of the dash near the windscreen.

Today the right lower speaker cut in and out several times while the upper one continued to work. It seems that there is no sound coming from the tiny one near the windscreen on the same side.

Is there something obvious I can check before going to the hassle of removing the door cards (which i had off a few months back and the speaker's cone? looked undamaged and not affected at all by any water ingress) - any idea what the problem is?

Thank you,
Darragh.

 

[BlackC55]

I would be looking at the speaker cables in the door hinge firstly.

 

[Sp!ke]

I guess the next thing to do is check the connectors on the back of the stereo. You'll need the removal tools thoough.

Not sure if yours has a separate amp or not. I take it you have back seats?

 

[Darragh1]

Thanks for the replies,
I have back seats. I bought the car with a new JVC head unit. It has worked fine to date with the door speakers.
Neither of the dash speakers work- may be down to unoriginal head unit?But that's a different separate to the woofer problem.
Regards,
Darragh.

 

[Darragh1]

When i quickly turn up the volume the woofer comes on and then dies again, as if it wants to be heard and it is being quelled.

 

[Sp!ke]

I wonder what ohm output your head unit is and whether that matches your speakers.

IIRC the OEM setup differs from most normal setups. Certainly worth researching anyway.

 

[Darragh1]

you may be right spike but it all has worked well for the last three years since i have the car. I will try another head unit to eliminate that as a possible prob before i take the door card off
thanks
darragh

 

[Sp!ke]

i think you might benefit from reading this 100 page thread on R129 head units as it might help you to understand what they've done to your car when changing your head unit.

As you'll see, it isn't a straightforward swap like you'd have an 90% of cars and without knowing what was done, you're probably best investigating it fully and putting right the wrongs.

R129 Custom Stereo Systems - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum