Mach sound system sub isn't working?

[tshannon76]

Hi!
I have an 02 Eddie Bauer and I love it. I am second owner and original owners were really up there in years (put 34k miles on it in 10 years!). The only thing I can find wrong with it is the sub doesn't work making for a really annoying high pitched stereo. It's the Mach system, and I have heard they are pretty complicated. Any ideas? Maybe they unhooked it from the head unit? HELP!
Thanks,
Tim

 

[tshannon76]

I may have solved my own problem. Evidently the sub might be blown causing no sound to come out? Evidently they blow really easily, I just always thought that if a speaker was blown it made a crackly sound, not no sound at all. I am going to tear into the rear end this weekend and see.

 

[splintrcel]

If you are getting no sound what so ever its prob your amp, not your sub. The amp really isnt that strong. I had the same issue actually. You can check to see if its your amp by opening the amp and looking at the four transistors. These are the usual source of failure for those amps. It will have physical damage if they are bad. Mine had a transistor split in half. These four transistors are the four black three pronged things clamped to the outer casing. I bought an after market amp to replace it. I just havent gotten around to installing the new one. Dont bother trying to get a new transistor for it, i already tried and it blew up right after i installed it.

 

[tshannon76]

Thanks, do you know if the amp plugs are proprietary? Will any amp plug in and work?

 

[jacks3am]

You have to re wire for a new amp, and trust me its well worth it. I went with a polk pa330 amp, a new wiring kit and if your going to go this far, get a good 10 inch or 12 inch sub with good mid and low response. trust me nothing beats actually having body to the music your listening to! ps you may want to check your fuses!

 

[oblivion]

If you have sound from the mids and highs its usually not your amp. The Mach amp is a 5channel all in one unit. If you remove the amp all together you get no sound and no deck power. THere are a bunch of replacements you can get for just the sub with little to no modifications.

Also be prepared to go deep to get to all of this. This is mine when I did it.....

 

[tshannon76]

Yeah, I am not going that deep, that looks like a nightmare! My stereo functions just fine, I just have no lows making me assume my sub isn't working. I am going to tear into her this weekend and see what I find. Thanks for all the input I will keep everyone posted.
Tim

 

[RI-Matt]

Had this happen to my old 02. It was the amp. Swapped it out with one off ebay and was fine after that. When the woofer goes it will make a buzzing annoying sound like totally distorted.

The amp mounted to the sub enclosure is just for the sub ( not a 5 channel )


Matt

 

[squidnut]

Easiest way to see if it is the sub or the amp is to plug another speaker into the wires going to the sub. If it works it is the sub. Just took the sub out of my 97. What a pain in the a$$. The sub is bolted from the back so the pics you see here with all the trim taken off.....yeah you gotta do that. While you are there you might as well replace the amp. My amp is good so I am just going to put in another sub for now. Once you know what you are in for it is not too bad. Here are the steps..

1. Remove the door trim from the middle seat passenger side.
2. Remove the 3rd row seat.
3. Remove the bottom and top plastic around the rear door. They just pull right off.
4. Remove the plastic push bolts that hold the carpet in place at the rear door.
5. Remove the black plastic spacer that is between the sub and the jack well. This is a real pain.
6. Remove the seat belt bolts from the middle and 3rd row seats. The 3rd row has one bolt under the carpet. Just remove the nut that holds the plastic trim in place on the floor and lift up the carpet. Fold it to the middle of the truck.
7. Remove the pillar trim from the middle row and rear door. They just pull off towards the middle of the truck.
8. Remove the net bolts on the rear passenger panel. The little knobs by the rear door opening on the panel where the sub is.
9. Remove the screw that holds the panel in place to the floor.
10. Pull the panel off and thread the seat belts through the holes in the panel. Will have to remove the seat belt bolt sometimes.
11. Remove the 3 gold bolts that hold the sub and amp enclosure in place.
12. Remove the bolt from the rear of the box that holds the sub in place. Yeah Ford really did that just ot piss me off I am sure.
13. Go collect up all the tools you have thrown to the far reaches of your garage or yard and beg forgiveness for that foul language you used throughout.

As you can see there is alot of room in there for another amp and once you know how to get it all apart it only takes about 30 minutes to get it all back together. Hope this helps out. Just got done with mine about 20 minutes ago.

 

[mpsjr]

If your sub is completely blown, the amp will be disabled to avoid any further damage. It's part of how the Mach systems work. I had the exact issue you described and replaced my sub with a new one and it worked perfectly after that. If you have any extra speakers lying around, hook some wires to the amp output and see if anything comes out. A partially blown sub will make a distorted sound, but completely blown will disable all lows and make it sound like you're listening to a tin can.