OK... thanks to a tip from y0sky, we were able to put together this little how-to today.
Do you think your stock sub is blown? did it just stop working? it IS NOT BLOWN! and can be fixed very easily.
I will list my own mistakes so that you do not make the same ones!
Tools needed:
13mm Socket
10mm Socket
Philips head screwdriver
flat head screwdriver
First, start by disconnecting your battery
Now, you do NOT have to remove the sub box to do this fix, but it does make things much easier on your back!
To remove the box, you will take out the 4 bolts (2 on each side), as well as the 4 screws holding the amp in place. you will also need to disconnect the RCA cables from the amp as well as the power supply to from the amp to the subs.
The box itself DOES NOT need to be opened... so do not waste your time taking out all of the screws!
After the amp is disconnected, just lay it off to the side and the box will slip outwards towards the rear of the car.
Once the box is removed, you will need to remove the speaker grill.
Now be careful... the grill is plastic and tears EASILY as we found out.
You will notice a rubber grommet around the lip of the grill. you will want to wedge a small flathead screwdriver between the box and the rubber grommet and pry upwards. Be careful or YOU WILL puncture your grill.
We learned the above the hard way. we wound up shoving the screw driver through the grill at each screw, unbolting the sub then turning the box upside-down and letting it drop out and take the grill with it!
Here is the problem. Kenwood used cheap, weak connectors to put power to the sub. the bass slowly (or in my case quickly) loosens the connectors and shakes them loose killing the sub
Here are the stock connectors:
We attempted to tighten and re-apply the stock connectors; but they were just too crappy and would not hold tightly!
After realizing that these connectors just werent going to work, we moved on to replacing the connectors with some nice beefy ones:
beefy connectors
Cut off the old connectors
Strip a few mm of wire
The finished beefy connectors
the last thing you will want to do is bend the outer terminals inward. in this pic you see the power cables connected and 2 more horizontal terminals. These terminals are actually facing outwards from the factory. We found that the basket the sub sits in is metal... and these extra terminals touch the basket causing unnecessary ground-out of the speaker. bend them inwards to prevent them from touching the basket.
At this point you are done! just reaffix the sub back into the box, stuff the grill back in, re-mount the box, reconnect the amp, and enjoy your bass again without having to deal with warranty work and an ungodly waiting list for an unnecessary "replacement sub"
Do you think your stock sub is blown? did it just stop working? it IS NOT BLOWN! and can be fixed very easily.
I will list my own mistakes so that you do not make the same ones!
Tools needed:
13mm Socket
10mm Socket
Philips head screwdriver
flat head screwdriver
First, start by disconnecting your battery
Now, you do NOT have to remove the sub box to do this fix, but it does make things much easier on your back!
To remove the box, you will take out the 4 bolts (2 on each side), as well as the 4 screws holding the amp in place. you will also need to disconnect the RCA cables from the amp as well as the power supply to from the amp to the subs.
The box itself DOES NOT need to be opened... so do not waste your time taking out all of the screws!
After the amp is disconnected, just lay it off to the side and the box will slip outwards towards the rear of the car.
Once the box is removed, you will need to remove the speaker grill.
Now be careful... the grill is plastic and tears EASILY as we found out.
You will notice a rubber grommet around the lip of the grill. you will want to wedge a small flathead screwdriver between the box and the rubber grommet and pry upwards. Be careful or YOU WILL puncture your grill.
We learned the above the hard way. we wound up shoving the screw driver through the grill at each screw, unbolting the sub then turning the box upside-down and letting it drop out and take the grill with it!
Here is the problem. Kenwood used cheap, weak connectors to put power to the sub. the bass slowly (or in my case quickly) loosens the connectors and shakes them loose killing the sub
Here are the stock connectors:
We attempted to tighten and re-apply the stock connectors; but they were just too crappy and would not hold tightly!
After realizing that these connectors just werent going to work, we moved on to replacing the connectors with some nice beefy ones:
beefy connectors
Cut off the old connectors
Strip a few mm of wire
The finished beefy connectors
the last thing you will want to do is bend the outer terminals inward. in this pic you see the power cables connected and 2 more horizontal terminals. These terminals are actually facing outwards from the factory. We found that the basket the sub sits in is metal... and these extra terminals touch the basket causing unnecessary ground-out of the speaker. bend them inwards to prevent them from touching the basket.
At this point you are done! just reaffix the sub back into the box, stuff the grill back in, re-mount the box, reconnect the amp, and enjoy your bass again without having to deal with warranty work and an ungodly waiting list for an unnecessary "replacement sub"
