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Radio speakers not working

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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2forty
Posts: 114
Joined: 21 December 2011
Year and Model: 850 1996
Location: Albuquerque NM
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Radio speakers not working

Post by 2forty »

I own a 97 850 and there is sound coming out of the right front dash speaker only. I have a little sound from the rest but not good at all. When i play with the fader on the radio it changes the sound a little. I took a speaker from my other volvo and that did not fix it. I also took the radio out of another 850 and that did not change anything so I presume I have wiring issues but how do I test the wiring. How many amps or volts or??? should I have at each speaker? What else should I test?
Thanks

Ozark Lee
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Post by Ozark Lee »

My guess is that you have an amp installed in the car and it is either bad or it possibly just blew a fuse. With an external amp the only speakers that work directly from the head unit are the dash tweeters. Depending on which head unit you have you can usually bypass the amp by swapping the connectors from the head unit to and from the amp. The connector that plugs into the amp will also plug directly into the headunit. The connectors to and from the amp are usually hidden in a gob of foam covered tape

There are some head units that have no internal amplifier at all, like the SC901, but most of the SC815 /SC816 units do have a decent size amplifier built in.

Check the fuses first though.

...Lee
'94 850 N/A 5 speed
'96 Platinum Edition Turbo
Previous:
1999 V70XC - Nautic Blue - Totaled while parked.
1999 V70XC - RIP - Wrecked Parts Car.
1998 S70 T5
1996 850 N/A
1989 740 GLT
1986 740 GLT
1972 142 Grand Luxe

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E Showell
Posts: 3275
Joined: 16 October 2008
Year and Model: ‘07 S80 3.2
Location: Long Valley, N.J.
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Post by E Showell »

Are these fuses in the main fuse box or located somewhere in the external amp?
'98 V70 NA FWD 5 spd, silver sand metallic (sold)
'99 V70 NA FWD Auto, dark blue (sold)
'99 S70 NA FWD Auto, black (sold and resurrected -- Don't cry for me Argentina . . . )
'07 S80 3.2 FWD Auto, Barents Blue Metallic
'06 V70 R AWD Auto, Sonic Blue Metallic (sold)
'04 XC70 Ruby Red Metallic (sold)
'95 855 auto (sold)
'86 245 manual (sold)
'05 V70 T5 M (totalled)
'06 V70 FWD Auto (totalled)
'02 Honda Insight CVT
‘04 Honda Insight CVT — “Yesterday’s car of tomorrow” (sold)
‘06 Honda Insight CVT

Ozark Lee
MVS Moderator
Posts: 14798
Joined: 7 September 2006
Year and Model: Many Volvos
Location: USA Midwest
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 75 times

Post by Ozark Lee »

I pulled up the schematic and the same fuse feeds both the headunit and the external amp so if the headunit is working then the amp is getting power - as long as it is factory.

...Lee
'94 850 N/A 5 speed
'96 Platinum Edition Turbo
Previous:
1999 V70XC - Nautic Blue - Totaled while parked.
1999 V70XC - RIP - Wrecked Parts Car.
1998 S70 T5
1996 850 N/A
1989 740 GLT
1986 740 GLT
1972 142 Grand Luxe

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