pezter22

I haven't had much time lately to do an install of a new stereo in my '91. It suffers from the usual Bose issues. No volume in the left and low volume in the right speakers.

Recently I purchased a Pioneer double-din and the Metra 70-1857 Bypass Harness. I scheduled a install at a local nameless (geek squid) big box store and figured, I'd let the professionals do the install.

The installer (kid) called me the day I was to bring it in and said, "No way. It's too much work!" He said he did not like working on cars older than he was and that these cars usually sit out in the sun and the plastic is all brittle and break easily. He "knows these cars" and he did not want to rewire an entire car.

I was a bit taken back by his attitude and wrong description of my car. It's not a babied car but it certainly doesn't sit out in the sun.

Is the kid right? Does the fact that I have no volume in the left speakers means the amps are gone? It's not a matter of money, but more a matter of time that I don't have to work on the car. I'd like to be able to have a working sound system this summer.

Any help would be appreciated.

kenpeindl

The commen issue are the speaker amps which go out but can be repaired or replaced. You can usually find them on eBay. As for replacing the Bose system the tech is correct. To do it right you need to replace all speakers and run new speaker wires. There is an adapter you can purchase that will allow you to use the current speaker system but since your amps are bad that is not a good options.

Big Bird 88

Have you looked at the Crutchfield web site ?

They have a bunch of adapters and installation kits that it appears would make the install easier and allow you to keep the factory wiring.

I have not done business with them but that's where I would look.

FAUEE

He's right, your amps are gone. He's also right, most 90s era GMs are made with the cheapest plastic you can imagine and will crack immediately if you try to remove them. He's also right that the easiest way to deal with the system is going to be to rewire it.

Where he's wrong is that it's not that difficult to do. The door sills come off pretty easily, and the speakers are in the kick panels and are fairly easy to access. The hardest part of the job is the dash IMO.

FWIW, I spent 5 years in college at Best Buy doing installs. You've got to keep in mind, there's a lot of scamsters out there, who knows BBY is insured and will file claims to get their cars fixed. And most stores just fire people when there's a claim - valid or not. So in a lot of cases, it's just not worth the risk to your job to take on a car that is high risk. FWIW, after one of my friends got fired for a bogus claim (I saw the damage in the car when they pulled it in, they kept coming back in until they found someone who didn't know what was up, and it got processed and there was nothing anyone could do to save his job), I started taking pictures/video of all damage and non functional items along with exact times in and out. Saved me a few times actually, but took WAY longer for the customers and lowered the productivity/profitability to the store.

Cruisinfanatic

You probably wasted your money on the radio. Chances are there is nothing wrong with it. You need your speakers and or amps fixed

PatternDayTrader

There is nothing quite like a "cant do" attitude from a big box retail outlet.

Cruisinfanatic

I wrote what I did because the new radio wasn't going to fix the problem

PatternDayTrader

Does that mean you can use the play list on your phone via Bluetooth ???

kenpeindl

You will find a lot of pro's and con's with regards to this subject. When I bought my 90 it had an aftermarket stereo system that obviously was installed by an amateur and sounded bad. I must of read hundreds of post before I decided to restore the Bose system and I'm happy with the results. For me I found the speaker amps not hard to repair but not everyone is comfortable with with doing soldering on a circuit board.

PatternDayTrader

Nice .... I wont be fixing mine in the event it fails (which seems inevitable).

RuckusZ28

It's it (or at least was) from top down.

I was an install lead for bby in michigan back 6 years ago. The idiocy that the average installer had to deal with on a daily basis due to management and corporate regulations was unreal. Unfortunately, the installer was typically the messenger.

I'll agree with the previous comments though. Anything can be done, just do your homework and find the right person to do the work. You usually get what you pay for. Cheers

skyhawk50

I've used Crutchfield radios in 4 of my C4's over the years I didn't waste 1 dollar on fixing an old Bose units. They are outdated in this day an age. I pulled head, under dash units and amp'd speakers and sold em on Ebay as is. It was very easy to rewire the speakers and use the harness adapters to put nice double din units in my cars. I like the Bluetooth features along with Sirrius sar radio. 2 even had navigation. I got C7 technology in my C4's. Only issue is, that at 65, I have a few aches and pains afterward.