Radio / Speaker Question

[Rolson]

Hi everyone,

I purchased a 1990 Ranger XLT, ext. cab with a seized engine. Replaced the engine with a Mercedes Benz turbo diesel. Now I'm finally driving it and am finishing up all the details.

The radio is the stock am/fm/cassette. It has 4 speakers, 2 in the doors, two in the rear of the cab. My radio powers up. I can change the stations and it tunes in to all the common fm stereo channels around here, but I cannot get a peep out of any of the 4 speakers. Not a chirp, rattle, static, note. Nada.

I have looked up from under the dash and cannot see any wires hanging loose or unplugged. I briefly looked but did not see any obvious way to remove the radio from the dash, but could not figure it out yet to get to where I could physically see the back of the set.

How do I remove this radio from the dash? Is it likely that all 4 speakers are blown and won't make any sound at all? I'm stumped at this point. I'm hoping there is someone on here that can point me in the right direction.

Thanks.

Rick

 

[adsm08]

Get at one of the speakers and check for A/C voltage with the radio on and turned up. If you get anything then all 4 speakers are blown. If you get nothing, you probably have a bad radio.

 

[Rolson]

Thanks for the help.

I got access to the speaker wires behind the driver's seat.

The voltage was 0.39 volts dc, no matter what position the volume knob was in.

High or low made no difference.

What does that tell you?

To me that seems low, and I thought it should increase as the volume was turned up, but I have very little audio experience.

Thanks for the input.

Rick

 

[straycat]

Hi everyone,

I purchased a 1990 Ranger XLT, ext. cab with a seized engine. Replaced the engine with a Mercedes Benz turbo diesel. Now I'm finally driving it and am finishing up all the details.

The radio is the stock am/fm/cassette. It has 4 speakers, 2 in the doors, two in the rear of the cab. My radio powers up. I can change the stations and it tunes in to all the common fm stereo channels around here, but I cannot get a peep out of any of the 4 speakers. Not a chirp, rattle, static, note. Nada.

I have looked up from under the dash and cannot see any wires hanging loose or unplugged. I briefly looked but did not see any obvious way to remove the radio from the dash, but could not figure it out yet to get to where I could physically see the back of the set.

How do I remove this radio from the dash? Is it likely that all 4 speakers are blown and won't make any sound at all? I'm stumped at this point. I'm hoping there is someone on here that can point me in the right direction.

Thanks.

Rick

What trans did you use for the Mercedes motor? Nothing I know of will work in that year Ranger frame from Mercedes. If it is a standard trans wouldn't the shifter be up near the dash or just in front of it? The automatic trans from a Mercedes would take some frame modification. Post some pics. I want to see that.

 

[adsm08]

The voltage was 0.39 volts dc, no matter what position the volume knob was in.

That right there tells me that you either typed something wrong or had the meter set wrong.

AC voltage. Speakers run on AC, not DC.

 

[Rolson]

I did check the voltage in DC. Will recheck it tomorrow with AC and post the results.

Straycat,

I used an AX-15 5 speed manual transmission from a 96 Jeep Cherokee.

My shifter is exactly where the old one was. In fact, the output shaft of the transmission is in the same position as before. The Jeep drive shaft and the Ford drive shaft use the exact same universal joints, so I just had to swap the end from the Jeep shaft over onto the Ranger drive shaft and it was perfect. That was the easiest part of the whole deal.

The Mercedes Benz into a Jeep is a fairly common swap and the adapter kit including the crank shaft adapter and pilot bushing was around $380 IIRC.

I will try to post some pics soon.

Rick

 

[straycat]

I did check the voltage in DC. Will recheck it tomorrow with AC and post the results.

Straycat,

I used an AX-15 5 speed manual transmission from a 96 Jeep Cherokee.

My shifter is exactly where the old one was. In fact, the output shaft of the transmission is in the same position as before. The Jeep drive shaft and the Ford drive shaft use the exact same universal joints, so I just had to swap the end from the Jeep shaft over onto the Ranger drive shaft and it was perfect. That was the easiest part of the whole deal.

The Mercedes Benz into a Jeep is a fairly common swap and the adapter kit including the crank shaft adapter and pilot bushing was around $380 IIRC.

I will try to post some pics soon.

Rick

Cool. I was wondering how that motor fit. You would have to make motor mounts for it as well. How about the cooling area/ That motor is too far up to the radiator isn't it? Are you using a sump setup? The oiling system is so close to the frame and chassis I thought on that diesel motor.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

To remove the radio, IIRC you can pull the dash trim (you'll have to pull the steering wheel trim first). OR you can use a radio removal tool, two U shaped pieces of metal that go into the two pairs of holes, one pair on each side of the faceplate.

Speakers could be blown or the wiring could be damaged. Let us know the AC volts. Also could be a bad radio. I've had to fix a number of hack-job radio repairs now.

 

[Rolson]

lil blue,
Thanks for the info. I will try to get the radio out of the dash tomorrow and see if the speakers are unplugged or broken wires. I will also re-check the voltage as mentioned earlier for AC volts.

Straycat,

I did have to fab up motor mounts, that sit on top of the original mounts on the crossmember. Had to lift the body 3" in order to be able to close the hood. I didn't want to put a hood scoop on it.

That allowed me to keep the stock oil pan, and filter assembly. I had to forego the AC though as the steering box is right there, and the AC exchanger interferes with the turbo and down pipe.

Front end was cut and welded to put the MB radiator and oil cooler up front.
That was not a major problem though as the original radiator frame was rusted out on the lower portion.

When I raised the cab, I was planning on just replacing the shot rubber mounts, and add 3" of pucks. Unfortunately, when I removed the bushings the steel was all rotted out. I rebuilt all 6 cab mounts and built the front ones and rear ones 3" taller, but the middle ones I just added pucks because the frame was too difficult to work around the other brackets for the stabilizers. Later I added 3 inches to lift the box to match. Now it looks like it's a 4x4, but it's only a 4x2.

Last week I got the speedometer working so I will be able to get some mileage figures together. Hoping for 30 plus on the highway. Which is why i did this conversion to begin with. My old 99 Ranger with a 3.0 and 5 speed got only 21 mpg at best, and less if I had a load on.

Now I just want to get some tunes working for all my time on the road. My business has me on the road from 1 to 4 hours each way and it gets old just listening to the tires and wind.

Rick

 

[Rolson]

Couple of pics

Here are a couple of pictures of the truck with the engine complete.

Rick

 

[Rolson]

adsm08

I just checked the voltage in AC on my multimeter and it registers at 0.3 volts. What should the voltage be on a speaker wire? I have no idea what to expect.

Nothing changed on the meter as I twisted the volume dial up or down on the radio.

That would indicate that the output from the radio is not working, correct? Even though the display says it is tuned to the channel I wanted. Also,
when I turned it to the "off" position, the voltage did drop to zero.

Thanks for the input.

Rick

 

[--weezl--]

speakers require a voltage to move, but it's more the frequency that makes you hear noise... honestly, i don't think you have 4 blown speakers, it's unlikely, and typically even with a blown speaker, you still get some noise out of it... when i bought my mustang, the (i think it was the mustang) there was a wire shorted out in one of the doors, which made none of the speakers work...

i see this more being your issue, though it shouldn't give you 3vac if it's shorted out...

 

[adsm08]

The pinpoint tests don't give a spec, they just say "fluctuating A/C voltage". Usually comes in between .3 and 4.0 ish IIRC.

 

[shane96ranger]

there was a wire shorted out in one of the doors, which made none of the speakers work....

I feel this is most likely the cause as well. I had this happen in my Mustang (coincidence?) with one of the door speakers.

 

[straycat]

Here are a couple of pictures of the truck with the engine complete.

Rick

Came out great, Bro. The bl was needed, eh? I was wondering about that. A lot of work went into that Ranger!!! How soon 'till you get to drive it all over the place?