Factory Stereo Problems

I am having problems with my '94 G20 Stereo. The rear amp went up and I replaced it with a new amp and it works fine. Now I am having problems with the front speakers. They don't work at all, and I thought it was the front amp (similar to the problem with the rear amp). I tried a working used amp to replace it, but that didn't help. Any ideas on what could be the problem? Thanks

David Savitz

Did you use an aftermarket amp? What kind if yes?
Not to ask a dumb question, but we all do it...
Did you hookup the turn-on so the amp powers up?
Does the power work?
Did you blow the fronts?

It was a used original G20 amp from Clarion. I simply unplugged the old amp and plugged in the new amp. Neither amp allows the front speakers to work. I am fairly confident that I did not blow the front speakers because they worked just prior to my replacing the rear amp...

Hmm...well I can think of a few things.

1) Blew somethin in the headunit.
2) Loose connection in a wiring harness somewhere.
3) A wire broke/melted.

Try swapping out a new headunit im sure u can find those cheap.

If it is a problem with the head unit, would it still allow me to hear the rear speakers?

No because the headunit sends the signal un-amplified (basically like preouts) and if it somehow is not turning the amps on, you would hear nothing from the speakers.

Perhaps I am missing something - I know nothing at all about car stereos. My rear speakers are working, my front speakers are not working. If the problem is with the headunit, the problem could be with the unamplified signal not going to the front amplifier, but still sending a signal to the rear amplifier?

The front amps might also be different than the rear amps (I havent looked) but up front you have tweeters too...so I know it splits the signal. What happens is when you turn on the headunit, it sends a "turn-on" signal to the amps which then allow them to draw power and in turn, power the speakers. This "turn-on" feature is so the amps will not be drawing power when the headunit is off. What may be happening is the headunit is not sending that turn-on signal to the front amps, and therefore, you arent hearing anything. It may be because of a faulty headunit...maybe a loose connection in the back of the headunit.

The best suggestion is to work the problem from the cheapest solution, to more expensive and up...hence check those connections to everything first.

Thanks for the suggestion. Now that I have a better understanding, I will try the connections. I hope that is it, because it looks like replacing the head unit would be more than simply replacing an amp.