E-Class (W124) 1984-1995: E 260, E 300, E 320, E 420, E 500 (Includes CE, T, TD models)

Randomly lose sound to all 4 speakers

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Old 05-25-2009, 05:55 PM
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Randomly lose sound to all 4 speakers

I got a weird problem that just started....

I lose all sound to all 4 speakers at once. I was just driving and it suddenly happened.
I checked all wiring and everything looks fine! The unit still has power and functions exactly the same......so I figured maybe the internal amp on the Pioneer unit failed. I was indifferent about this unit anyway and didn't like the features too much so I decided I'd take it back and get a new unit. I bought an Alpine CDA-X200 and I am much happier...

...but the problem is still happening. It will all of a sudden while driving gain sound again for 2-3 seconds then turn off. There is a lot of static during + after.

Any ideas? I'm so confused how all 4 speakers would lose sound, but the HU is still be on??
Old 05-25-2009, 06:19 PM
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92 500e, 95 E34 525I Touring
I had this problem and it was because the wires going to my rear driver speaker were shorting. Check all wires a little more closely.

One way to possibly narrow the problem would be to unplug each speaker from the head unit one by one until the problem stops, then check the wires to that one speaker. Let me know what happens!
Old 05-25-2009, 08:33 PM
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2000 e430( w210),1979 240D (w123), 1992 300e(w124), 1990 mitsubishi galant VR4
just May be...
the static sound check your ground wire
for the lose of speaker sound check the wires,check you speaker polarity it might me toucing

good luck
Old 05-25-2009, 09:40 PM
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Could also be a bad fader switch.
Old 05-25-2009, 09:53 PM
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Originally Posted by roach_juts
just May be...
the static sound check your ground wire
for the lose of speaker sound check the wires,check you speaker polarity it might me toucing

good luck
Sorry....Explain please.
Each + and - wire has electrical tape around it....and its all 4 speakers....I'd understand if it were one speaker...but not all 4 at once. Something weird is going on.

Originally Posted by neanderthal
Could also be a bad fader switch.
I have bypassed the fader completely.

Just removed the two rear speakers out of the equation and still no sound.
EDIT: Did the same with front speakers -- no luck. This makes no sense...

Last edited by ps2cho; 05-25-2009 at 10:33 PM.
Old 05-26-2009, 09:52 AM
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Since you have ruled out the connections at the speakers maybe the wires are shorting out somewhere along the way? If you have a DMM check and see if you get continuity between each speaker wire and chassis ground, make sure to wiggle them as it is a random intermittent gremlin. I would assume that in the case of a short to ground, both of the head units you used had a fail-safe feature cutting the amp out to prevent failure? This seems to be the only other possibility now that the speakers have been canceled out of the equation I wish you luck Keep us posted!

Last edited by appatula; 05-26-2009 at 09:55 AM. Reason: Adding stuff
Old 05-26-2009, 12:04 PM
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ps2cho,

How did you go about disconnecting the speakers? Did you disconnect them at the speaker, or at the head unit?

That's an important difference... if the insulation has worn down and is shorting to the chassis on one of your speaker wires somewhere between the HU and your speaker, disconnecting the wire at the speaker will not remove the short from the system... To remove the potential short, you need to disconnect the speaker from the HU itself.

That is, of course, assuming my understanding is correct: that you're running your speakers directly off of the HU's internal amp and you have run your own speaker wires.

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Old 05-26-2009, 01:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Bigpete123
ps2cho,

How did you go about disconnecting the speakers? Did you disconnect them at the speaker, or at the head unit?

That's an important difference... if the insulation has worn down and is shorting to the chassis on one of your speaker wires somewhere between the HU and your speaker, disconnecting the wire at the speaker will not remove the short from the system... To remove the potential short, you need to disconnect the speaker from the HU itself.

That is, of course, assuming my understanding is correct: that you're running your speakers directly off of the HU's internal amp and you have run your own speaker wires.
Exactly. If the short was in the wiring from the HU to the speakers, this would remove the problem, and you would know which wires to service.

I do not think this issue could be due to a short in power TO the HU, because you say all functions and displays on the it seem to be uninterrupted.
Old 05-26-2009, 03:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Bigpete123
ps2cho,

How did you go about disconnecting the speakers? Did you disconnect them at the speaker, or at the head unit?

That's an important difference... if the insulation has worn down and is shorting to the chassis on one of your speaker wires somewhere between the HU and your speaker, disconnecting the wire at the speaker will not remove the short from the system... To remove the potential short, you need to disconnect the speaker from the HU itself.

That is, of course, assuming my understanding is correct: that you're running your speakers directly off of the HU's internal amp and you have run your own speaker wires.
Yes that is correct^ They are running off the internal amp and I ran my own wires for the rear only to bypass the fader.

I disconnected them at the wiring harness at the HU.
Old 05-28-2009, 01:58 AM
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Hmm weird. I removed all the speaker connections and plugged one of the OEM speakers back in. It worked! So one-by-one I added all the speakers in and they all worked.



I already removed the connections yesterday. Well I made dang sure everything was connected up right and taped over and all seems good.

----

Now that its working again...Got a goodie through the mail

This is going on the rear deck. I picked the 8" over the 10/12 as it fits on the flat section perfectly.


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