I'd like to get your opinions on a problem with the radio in my 1999 4 Runner SR5.

I have the in-dash AM/FM stereo cassette radio with the separate single CD player. All were factory installed. The radio is Toyota number A51707.

I'm getting no sound from either of the two driver's side front speakers (I have 6 speakers - two small ones up in front of the driver and passenger windows, two in the front doors, and two more in the rear doors). All the other speakers work fine - passenger side front and rear and driver side rear.

Here's What Happened
One of the two bolts that hold the driver's side outside rearview mirror to the vehicle worked itself completely loose over the years inside the triangular black plastic cover that also contains the small speaker (in front of the window). The magnet in the little speaker grabbed onto the bolt when it fell out, and the bolt came to rest across the speaker terminals. Something shorted out when it happened because while driving I noticed an electrical burning smell coming from the A/C ducts in the center of the dash for a few seconds and then the front door speakers went out for good (both the upper AND lower driver's door speakers do not put out any sound).

The radio works fine otherwise - it just won't put out any sound to the driver's side front speakers. The CD player works fine too, except for the same sound problem with the driver's side front speakers.

If I adjust the radio balance to full left, and the radio fader to full front, there is no sound at all unless I turn the radio volume up all the way. Then I can faintly hear the radio sound - but it sounds like the speakers are blown.

Please Help - Your Opinion on What's Wrong
My question is whether you think that the stock amplifier is blown, or both driver's door speakers are blown, or if there's a problem with the radio itself.

I'd like to replace whatever is shot with identical stock units, and I'm not into upgrading the audio system right now. I don't want to buy a radio if that's not the problem, and if it's the little Toyota stock amp that's shot, where can I go to find another and how much do they cost? I haven't seen them listed on eBay (but I have seen the radio listed). And finally, if it's the driver's door speakers that are bad, where can I get replacements (which I tend to doubt since the electrical burning smell came from the center of the dash and not from the driver's door speakers)?

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

Tom Thomas
The Woodlands, TX
1999 4 Runner SR5

 

your speakers are fine (or should be.) If they aren't it wasnt from that...

If you have an oem amp, and im 99.99% sure that you do, you just blew out the left front channel. (The tweeter in the sail panel and the midrange in the door are paralleled off of the same channel.)

Solutions?

1. Get a new OEM amplifier (junkyards are your friend, however there's no way to know if it will work until ya plug it in - also the pigtail going to your radio could be slightly different as there are 2 different types)

2. Bypass amplifier and get a new aftermarket radio. I can do the install myself with nothing more than a curved pick and my cordless drill in under 20 min.

3. Get a new OEM radio that is not meant for an amplified system and again bypass the OEM amp


Unfortunately there is no way to bypass your OEM amp unless you have the openings for the double toyota harness on the back of your radio. Could you post a pic of the backside of your OEM radio?

 

Here is the amp for a 2nd gen (iirc) however becasue toyota corporate loves to keep things cheap and simple, 3rd gens have the same exact amp! See the pig tail coming out of the top? There are 2 different types of those.... The conventional toyota wire pig tails are on the underside of that box and you cant see them in this pic.






The bottom two pigtails I talked about above are seen here plugged into the bottom of the OEM amp:



Here the wires are unplugged from the amp. These wires connect directly to the speakers and these things plug into the back of toyota radios that dont have OEM amps.

 

ps - check ALL fuses with a multimeter. Fuses in the kickpanel, fuses underhood, etc I doubt you have a fuse on the radio, but you might. If so check it too.

 

Thanks for your replies. I kind of think that it's the amp too. I've taken the dash apart and have a couple pictures of the amp but unfortunately I didn't take any of the backside of the radio. The amp looks exactly like the one in your pictures.

I will try and take a picture of the back of the radio tomorrow and post it. By the way, how do you insert photos into these posts? I clicked on the image icon and got a box popping up that wants meto type [IMG]...[/IMG]. I presume that I have to type the full file path to the picture on my PC in between the IMG's?

Thanks...

Tom

 

nope, you have to upload the picture to somewhere such as www.photobucket.com ... (free) you have to "host" them somewhere, instead of directly off of your computer

 

I won't be able to post a pic of the back of my radio until later today, but if it's of any help, there's an eBay item for exactly the same model radio and it does have a photo of the backside. It's eBay item #290024043920. Mine's exactly the same. Maybe you can tell by looking at that one if somehow I can just bypass the OEM amp. If the radio will let me do that, what am I losing bypassing the amp? Will I still have adequate volume?

Thanks again.

Tom Thomas
The Woodlands , TX

 

Nuts, that radio has both of the amplified openings for it.

Ok new radio time or new amp time...

Another interesting option is to add your own 4 channel amp....


And yes for pics you can upload the pics online, the put the whole URL to the pic btwn the image tags.

 

So much for being able to bypass the existing radio. From what you replied I guess it won't work unless it is connected to an amplifier first.

I happen to have another Toyta radio sitting around - maybe you can tell from these pictures if this one will work:


The one main difference I noticed is that I have two antenna connections and this radio has only one. I also have the in-dash single CD player, which I presume connects to on the left in the photo. Let me know if you think this one might work.

You mentioned that there are two different types of Toyta OEM amps that were put in 1999 models. Can you explain the differences between then a bit so I know what to look for when I hit the junkyards or eBay?

I'm going to pull apart the dash again today after work and remove the old amp to get the model number. Are the differences among the same model number amps, or are there two different 1999 model numbers?

Thanks for the help,

Tom Thomas

 

Ok, This afternoon I got ambitious and not only pulled out the OEM amp from my 4 Runner, swapped out the OEM radio with the spare radio I had posted pictures of earlier today. It was a fairly simple job and went quickly.

The spare radio connected to the harness just fine, and not only does it work, but all my speakers are working again. The sound quality is just a bit less than the OEM radio with the OEM amp.

I figured out what that second, smaller antenna cable was for - I think. I have very poor reception or no recption on AM (basically just static). I guess that plug must be some sort of AM antenna. I'm open to suggestions on how to fix the poor AM reception problem. I don't listen to AM radio very often, but the local baseball powerhouse (Astros) are only broadcast on AM, plus it's nice to get traffic reports from the all news station while driving to work.

The old OEM amplifier is a model 86280-35070. I'd appreciate any input as to which other amp model numbers will work with my original radio.

Again, thanks for all your help so far. I couldn't have done this without it.

Tom Thomas
The Woodlands, TX

 

The left plug should plug into the OEM amp, but if you bypass the amp the lower two plugs from that amp will plug into the right two receptacles. As you suggested, yes the small antenna is your AM reception, iirc there is an adapter you can buy to incorporate the AM antenna from crutchfield. another option is to use a metra 40vw53 amplified antenna then a metra 40vw20. This would cost more though...

 

I tried looking at Crutchfield's site for an adapter to combine the AM and FM antenna cables into one. I couldn't find anything that looked like it would work. Do you by chance know who makes it or what the model number is - or where it is in Crutchfield's website?

Thanks,

Tom Thomas

 

honestly, i have no idea...but ill do some searching and tyr find it

 

I found an OEM amplifier on eBay that looked like it would work. Bought it for $5.56, it arrived Friday and I installed it and reinstalled my original radio. Everything works fine and the sound is much better than the spare radio.

The brackets from my amp were a tiny bit wider than the screw holes on the eBay amp, but I finally made them fit and the rest of the install was no big deal.

Thank you again for all your help and suggestions. I couldn't have done this without those very helpful pics you posted.

Tom Thomas
The Woodlands, TX

 

so if I only have plugs like the ones on the left (2 not 1) those go directly to the speakers right?

 

Yes...if both receptacles on the back of your radio are like the one on the left in the photo, then on yours the receptacle on the left would be the input from the CD player, and the one in the middle would be the output to the speakers.