Blown speaker or something else?

[SpaceRanger]

Hey guys... So, you may have seen me post about this on the FB group, but I'm posting it up on here for visibility.

The other day, I remote started my truck for about 15 mins (it was about 15° outside), got in and took off. As soon as my music started playing, it immediately became apparent that my speaker sounded blown.



Now, a member of the FB group said that there could be water on a connection or a part of the speaker and could've caused this. Another said it happened to him one day so he parked his truck over night and it never came back. So, I parked mine for a 12 hour shift at work and when I got off, I started my truck and the speaker sounded like it corrected itself.

Well, this morning, it came back. It wasn't as bad this time but it was still unbearable. Oh and it was even colder out, 4°.

So, have any of you experienced this in our Rangers? In ANY car? This is new to me and I'll definitely be calling the dealership but I'm afraid it's going to correct itself and of course they'll say they can't find anything wrong with it and not touch it.

Oh, and I have the Bang & Olufsen sound system and it's only coming from ONE speaker, the driver's side front door speaker.

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[Toytec]

My dad being an electrician by trade always told me about electronics and cold temperatures do NOT mix.
This is a characteristic of an amplifier vs cold.

 

[SpaceRanger]

My dad being an electrician by trade always told me about electronics and cold temperatures do NOT mix.
This is a characteristic of an amplifier vs cold.

That's all well and good, but I've never had this happen before in even colder temperatures. And if that was the case, a LOT of people would be having this issue.

 

[Toytec]

Well, insist on an amplifier exchange since you have proof of it happening. Not all parts are manufactured the same. The same process for solder joints& capacitors in this case.

This reminds me of one of my back stories. I have diagnosed and confirmed customer's concern by putting a ECM or a ECU in the freezer, then plugging it back in.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

That's all well and good, but I've never had this happen before in even colder temperatures. And if that was the case, a LOT of people would be having this issue.

Hi Folks,

Things like this are tested down to -40°F or C (same temp on either scale). Something is wrong and needs to be addressed. Intermittent problems like this are the toughest to resolve...Give the dealer tech a mind dump on everything associated with this even if you do not think it is relevant...Let the Tech sort that out...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retried

 

[SpaceRanger]

Well, insist on an amplifier exchange since you have proof of it happening. Not all parts are manufactured the same. The same process for solder joints in this case.

This reminds me of one of my back stories. I have diagnosed and confirmed customer's concern by putting a ECM or a ECU in the freezer, then plugging it back in.

That makes sense. I'm not saying that the cold and wet weather we're having isn't the cause of this, but it's definitely not the root. There is definitely a degraded component and I hope they won't give me a hard time over this. You hear stories about service departments not doing anything to fix an issue because they can't recreate the issue.

 

[SpaceRanger]

Hi Folks,

Things like this are tested down to -40°F or C (same temp on either scale). Something is wrong and needs to be addressed. Intermittent problems like this are the toughest to resolve...Give the dealer tech a mind dump on everything associated with this even if you do not think it is relevant...Let the Tech sort that out...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retried

Will do, Phil! I always like when you reply to concerns. Haha I'm just worried they'll deny a fix since most likely they will have an extremely hard time of recreating the issue.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

"Not all parts are manufactured the same. The same process for solder joints& capacitors in this case."

they should be no? isn't that why companies have quality control etc?

Hi RP,

When in Train Driver's school at University of Central Florida, we had a lecture by a NASA engineer on the Moon landing program. He said if you have components in the complete moon landing system of the LEM, and each component has a 99.9% reliability, the total system is still only 96% reliable... To me that was startling at the time... Still is and the reason almost every system on the lunar lander had a redundant system.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[RangerUp556]

This happened to my drive side speaker once. I also have the B&O. It only happened once on a very very cold morning and hasn't done it again since then.

 

[SpaceRanger]

This happened to my drive side speaker once. I also have the B&O. It only happened once on a very very cold morning and hasn't done it again since then.

This happened once about 5 days ago and then it happened again this morning. Definitely not a standard I want the truck to.

 

[kcoen]

Had a more subtle sound in the cold-ish on my passenger side speaker. I have the B&O as well. It went away and will occasionally be noticeable. Definitely not like the video posted. I haven't heard it in a while but would be nice to know what it is so it can be addressed.

 

[Zaph]

Possible issues in order of likelihood:

• Voice coil tinsel lead that connects from the terminal to the voice coil has come loose and shows itself when the lead is stiffer in colder temperatures, leading to more breaks in the circuit.
• Adhesive on the voice coil former that connects to the cone has partially disconnected, problem shows itself in the cold because the voice coil support spider is stiffer in colder temps, thus more force pulling/pushing unevenly and causing misalignment in the magnet gap and rubbing.
• Possible disconnected or damaged surround, but less likely as that has a more distinctive sound.

None of this really matters, the answer is you likely need a new speaker and it should be covered under warranty.

Also, while speakers do work in the cold, (and sound funny with less bass because the bass resonant frequency is higher) they do blow easier in the cold. It's advisable to go easy on your speakers until they warm up and your cab is nice and warm. In the cold, speaker adhesives can become brittle.

 

[Michael360wa]

Hey guys... So, you may have seen me post about this on the FB group, but I'm posting it up on here for visibility.

The other day, I remote started my truck for about 15 mins (it was about 15° outside), got in and took off. As soon as my music started playing, it immediately became apparent that my speaker sounded blown.



Now, a member of the FB group said that there could be water on a connection or a part of the speaker and could've caused this. Another said it happened to him one day so he parked his truck over night and it never came back. So, I parked mine for a 12 hour shift at work and when I got off, I started my truck and the speaker sounded like it corrected itself.

Well, this morning, it came back. It wasn't as bad this time but it was still unbearable. Oh and it was even colder out, 4°.

So, have any of you experienced this in our Rangers? In ANY car? This is new to me and I'll definitely be calling the dealership but I'm afraid it's going to correct itself and of course they'll say they can't find anything wrong with it and not touch it.

Oh, and I have the Bang & Olufsen sound system and it's only coming from ONE speaker, the driver's side front door speaker.

I have had this happen twice so far in the past week or so, it has been colder than usual, it did not occur to me that the cold was a factor.

 

[David J Appel]

My driver’s side door speaker was just replaced. Sounded blown. They found a tear. I now have two tears in the pleathet boot covering the E brake. It’s on back order. I’ve had a bunch of little issues so far. Been at the dealer a bunch. My patience is wearing thin.

 

[SpaceRanger]

Possible issues in order of likelihood:

• Voice coil tinsel lead that connects from the terminal to the voice coil has come loose and shows itself when the lead is stiffer in colder temperatures, leading to more breaks in the circuit.
• Adhesive on the voice coil former that connects to the cone has partially disconnected, problem shows itself in the cold because the voice coil support spider is stiffer in colder temps, thus more force pulling/pushing unevenly and causing misalignment in the magnet gap and rubbing.
• Possible disconnected or damaged surround, but less likely as that has a more distinctive sound.

None of this really matters, the answer is you likely need a new speaker and it should be covered under warranty.

Also, while speakers do work in the cold, (and sound funny with less bass because the bass resonant frequency is higher) they do blow easier in the cold. It's advisable to go easy on your speakers until they warm up and your cab is nice and warm. In the cold, speaker adhesives can become brittle.

The dealer is actually looking into it right now. I took it in, but of course the speaker was just fine and corrected itself so they couldn't immediately diagnose it. They emailed Ford with my information and they are waiting to hear back from them on how to proceed. I even showed them the videos of the distortion just as a show of evidence. Hopefully something will be replaced because this is aggravating, especially when my drive to work is 35+ mins one way and music (and coffee) makes it bearable.

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