VT Rear Door Speakers Don't Work

[rocker_2008]

Hey guys,
My VT Berlina's rear door speakers have stopped working. When i use the head unit and change the 'fad' to just rear i get no sound at all. As far as i am aware the Berlina model has rear door speakers in it stock, and they were working before just not now.
Any suggestions? Is there an easy way to re-wire the speakers without having to take out the head unit?
All help appreciated.

[holdenboy]

Did anything happen / change to explain why they stopped, or was it a case of jumping in the car one day and noticing the rear speakers dont work?

Also, is the head-unit stock or aftermarket?

Sound strange that both stopped, if its a wiring problem it would more than likely only happen with the one speaker, same case if it was the speaker itself.

[rocker_2008]

Yeah nothing changed to my knowledge, i just jumped in one day andlike you said realised the rears don't work. Stock head unit. nothing has been changed. i thought wiring as it was a common fault with these models as the cables apparently break easily with constant door opening (so i've heard). But it's wierd that both have gone.

[CommVTS]

If both went I'd say there'd be a wiring fault at the H/U. You'll have to pull it out and just check out what's happening behind their IMO.

[holdenboy]

Yep i would pull the head-unit out and disconnect it (make sure you have the code). A good way to test whether its the wiring or head-unit at fault is to grab a "AA" battery, get two wires and temporarily attach them to one of the rear speaker wires (just poke them into the rear of the stereo plug) and then touch each wire onto each end of the battery, if the wiring is fine you'll hear the speaker make a crackling sound, if you dont hear a crackling sound you havent got the battery connected properly or there is a problem with the wiring. Do the same for the other speaker.

You havent got the fader all the way to the front have you? Simple i know but ive seen it happen

[rocker_2008]

Nah i dont coz i only found out they didnt work when i put the FAD all the way to the rear and no sound at all.

[holdenboy]

Ahh ok, well i'd be trying the AA battery test to work out whether its the head-unit or wiring at fault.

[rocker_2008]

Hey guys, thanks for the help so far. Just messed around with the speakers today, got the rear right one working, cant seem to get sound out of the left one. Might just pull em out and swap speakers see if it's the speaker thats gone and i'll buy new rear ones. Any suggestions?

[holdenboy]

What did you do when "messing around" with the speakers?

[rocker_2008]

Ok, after some playing with the doors. I have figured out it's not a speaker problem at least not in the driver side rear speaker. Cannot get the passenger side rear speaker to work. When i open the driver side rear door the speaker works then cuts out then works and depending on whether it is in a good 'spot' will continue to work or not work once door is closed. Same with both power window controls. (Main front console control of all windows works everytime but the rear door power window controls also cut out when openeing and closing the door. Sometimes with the speaker sometimes without. Im assuming it's wired fine at the head unit and the problem is something to do with the cabling for power windows and speakers to the rear doors. If i can fix this then the speakers/radio and power windows will work in the rear doors using the controls on each door respectively. Any ideas?

[holdenboy]

Yep, its the wiring in the door jamb, if you look in there you'll see the ribbed rubber tubing running into the door. Inside this you have all your wiring (for the speaker and power windows etc). Sounds to me like you need to replace the wiring. Not a real easy job so if your not confident with auto electrics i suggest not to attempt this yourself. You will need to cut the wiring (one at a time) before it goes into the pillar (and then into the door) and solder / tape or heatshrink new wire onto this, run it through the pillar and then through the rubber grommit. Once thats done its a case of finding the correcr wire and cut that one, solder the new wire onto that.
You'll need to do this for every wire that runs into the door, well you dont HAVE to but you might as well, if 3-4 wires have broken from opening / closing i'd imagine the other wires wont be far off breaking too.