(I had this posted in the Audio section, but no response. Hope someone here can offer me some help.)

In my '88 coupe, the right door Bose unit makes no sound. How in the heck do I determine if it's the speaker or the amp that's not working?? Or, could there be other things that I should be checking first? Everything else in the my Bose systems works and sounds great. Just the one door that doesn't "speak"!! I have no experience dealing with audio systems. Is there a simple method of testing for these problems??
Thanks for any help!
:)

 

I've replaced a couple of bose amps in my 89 and have not had the sound go all together. mine started squealing, letting me know they needed replaced. the speaker is easy to remove from the speaker box. you may want to remove it and hook it up to an alternate audio source at low volume to make sure it works. if it doesn't rattle or sound bad i would say it is your bose amp. that requires the door panel to come off and a bit of wiggling to get the box outside the door. the box is also glued in place with a white adhesive, so once the screws are out it will still require you to break that seal. after the box is out of the car the replacement is pretty straight forward. several places you can get amps, you can have yours rebuilt or you can go to tech tips and repair it yourself if you are so inclined
good luck :cheers:

 

Remove the speaker. With a spare piece of wire, put the + and - of a 9 volt battery to the + and - of the speaker. If it flexes and makes a noise as the power is connected and disconnected, its the amp. If it does nothing, blown speaker.

 

Have you taken off your cover yet? The reason I ask this is because the guy who sold me my car, 8 months ago, told me that the front drivers side speaker doesn't work, and he was right it has never worked for me either. Last month when I was in the process of taking off my door panel top replace the outer door seal, I figured out why my speaker wasn't working. THERE WAS NO SPEAKER IN THE DOOR :mad

 

Yeah, there is a speaker in the door and I used my multimeter to see if it was getting power, and it was. I'm thinking it's probably the amp, but haven't messed around enought with it to be really sure. Tomorrow, I may pull everything out and try to check the speaker on my home amp. in the house.
Thanks guys for all the input so far. :cheers:

 

You have to get it out to test it like 92TripleBlack states.

Having removed both of mine its a PITA, but doable with a few tools.
Phillips head screwdriver
Flat blade screwdriver
7mm nut driver
10 or 12 mm socket wrench (I can't remember which)
Pliers (needle nose works best, I used a Leatherman type tool)

To remove your door panel:
Remove the positive (or negative) cable from the battery terminal (keeps you from blowing fuses)
unlock the door and using the flat blade screwdriver pop off the lock indicator.
there are several screws around the edge of the panel near the bottom, remove them all. Remove the 4 screws holding your speaker grill on. Remove the one screw on the back of the door above the hatch switch (I didn't even know where the hatch switch was until I did this). Remove the two screws in the arm rest. Gently pull the bottom edge of the door panel out, make sure you didn't leave any screws in.
Lift up the panel and it will come off, there are several wire connectors, gently disconnect each one. For the door lock switch a thin straight bladed screwdriver works the best to get the connector off.
Now you will see a plastic sheet held on by two or three plastic press in holders and a bead of glue around the bottom. Using your pliers gently pry them out and pull the plastic down exposing the inner door panel (silver) and the 4 screws holding in the Bose speaker enclosure.
Using the 7mm nut driver remove the screws holding the silver panel and the bose speaker box.
There is one more "bolt" that goes through the inner door panel and the window mechanisim, use the 10 or 12 mm socket to remove it.
Now you can wiggle the inner door panel out. Push id down and back and the top right corner should wiggle out. Push down and forward and the rest of the top will come out, pull up and the bottom will come out. THere are two bars running along the backside of this panel, one for the lock and one for the door handle. They may come loose, thats OK they pop right back in place.
Now that you have your inner door panel out and just kinda hanging there by these two rods you can work on your speaker enclosure.
Take the flat blade screwdriver and force it between the enclosure and the door skin. Do this in a couple of places and pry gently. The enclsure will release from the door.
Find the plug where the wires connect and disconnect it. Wiggle the enclosure out through where the inner door panel was.
There you go, just reverse when you are ready to reassemble.

Good luck

 

Fixvet- if it turns out to be the amp, i think I have a couple amps from my 89 parts car. Just shoot me an email if ya need one. SCOTT