Audio Systems: auto audio speakers, radio cassette player, digital multimeter

Question
The factory Radio Cassette player in my recently aquired 1991 Acura Integra produced no sound most of the time, even though the tuning indicator showed it was receiving a strong signal (i.e. gets a "Stereo" indication on some stations).  When the car was hot, such as driving home from work in the afternoon after it sat in the sun all day, it would suddenly and unpredictably produce low quality but distinguishable sound, which seemed to come from one or both of the front (door) speakers.  It wouldn't last long though.

I determined all four speakers were damaged (the rear speakers were completely ripped), so I installed some aftermarket replacements (6 1/2 inch, 30 watt, 4 ohm - same as the originals).  The rear speakers work fine now and produce excellent sound, but I was never able to get any sound from the speakers in the front doors so I took them back out.  Can you suggest how I might determine and eliminate the problem with the front speakers?  I suspect it may be a wiring issue but I don't know how to determine that for sure.  I have a digital multimeter (not an expensive one though) and I wonder if it could provide some information. Also, if the radio needs to come out I would request some advice on the best way to approach that task.

Thanks for any help you can provide


Answer
Gary,

 ok first thing is first you need to do some research to see if your car has an amplified system, check your owners manaul or give acura a call and have your VIN ready and they should be able to verify that, if you do have an amp , most likly it is what causes your sound to cut out and play tricks, now you dont need a new amplifier unless you want to pay the high cost of a factory replacement, or if you want to buy an aftermarket amplifier this is fine to you will just have to by pass all of the old wiring tottally, and use a RCA converter box to connect everything if you go this way just drop me another email and i will be glad to help you out .. now if you just want to by pass the amp .. very simple task .. run all new wires from your new speakers directly to your head unit you can find a wire color code diagram for your car at www.streetdreams.com/wires to help you out .. now if you dont have an factory amp, you can do a basic wire test with your meter to check to see if you have any broke or damaged wires, but the easiest and fail proof method is run a jumper lead directly for the harness on the back of your head unit to the speaker , you can jump the lead around from front to back ect.. to test all outputs .. if you get no sound at all with your test, and you tested with a speaker you know works , the problem is in the head unit .. so a simple replacement will fix that .. if you do get sound at the harness but not at the speaker location simply run new wires.... now to remove the head unit the best information is from a haynes repair manual which you can pick up at a local auto repair shop .. this will also give you some great wiring schematics that will help you out as well so this is the best option since you will be getting so involved in the fix .. hope this helps you out if you need anything else let me know

thanks