Truck Stereo

OUTHERE

MEMBER
1986 CHEVROLET SILVERADO
V8
2WD
AUTOMATIC
83,000 MILES

I have a 1986 Chevy truck. It has a stereo cassette from the same year, but GMC. It's almost
identical to the original Chevy. The GMC looked like it had slid into a mountain side of mud and some of the mud got onto the dash and stereo. I pulled the stereo anyway and put in my chevy truck after cleaning, and blowing away any dusty mud. Looked Okay. After a while I noticed the speaker behind the drivers side wasn't always working. I tried the ground. Put in a new antenna cable. Then I unplugged the front speakers, and put the conrol to the back speakers. I turned the balance from side to side and the drivers side still didn't work, until when I increased the volume control then a pop came out of the speaker and started working.
Is this a internal problem inside the unit itself, or a speaker problem?

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,871 POSTS

First swap the two speakers side to side, then see if the same side acts up. If the other side has the problem, it's the speaker. If the same side acts up, one common problem is the output ICs. True to GM fashion, nothing is cheap. Chrysler output ICs cost around ten bucks. GM's are $43.00. GM no longer makes the parts but I have some from a new company that took over production. They are slightly louder than the original parts so you either need to replace both ICs or you must find a good used one.

Intermittent speaker problems are usually caused by something other than the output ICs. Broken solder connections on the small circuit board the sockets for the harness plugs are soldered to are common, but based on the history, check those socket connections for mud or corrosion.

Caradiodoc