bugo

I have a 2010 1LT with the stereo with the USB in but without Bluetooth. The speaker on the driver's side in the back doesn't work most of the time, but occasionally will cut in and work. Also, at times the driver's side front speaker kicks in louder than it has been. Is there a known issue with this stereo head unit or with the wiring harness? How hard is it go get to the speaker in the rear door? What tools will I need? I just hope the short is easy to get to and not somewhere buried deep within the car.

tom357d

video for rear door panel removal

hhr rear door speaker - Bing video

video for front door speaker panel removal

hhr front door speaker - Bing video

video for stereo removal

hhr radio speaker - Bing video

Oldblue

Most likely the speakers themselves, they do tend to fail eventually, I doubt it will be the HU

DrTrapper

I just came across this thread since I am running into the same problem with my 2nd '10 LT(which was the wife's and is now "ours"). The speakers on the right side are out-at least the ones in the door, the tweeter in the post between the windshield and the door still works.

I did try swapping out the speakers in both doors thinking it was the speakers(using the speakers from the HHR I am parting out and yes, they worked just fine up until I disconnected the radio) and the best I was able to come up with was some audio temporarily in the front passenger speaker as was mentioned above. The question I have is as above-could it be the head unit? Or is there something else that someone can suggest me trying?

If it is the HU, I can swap it out with my "donor" car HU(and yes, I know the dealer will charge an arm and a leg to do reprogram it).

Thanks in advance!

Grizzly old man

Stereo problems are what first brought me to this forum. For me it was the speakers themselves. I put other speakers but in the end went to walmart and got the cheapest set of 4 they sell.

I have been happy with those for well over a year now.

Oddly enough I put the original HHR speakers in some slapped together enclosures and have them lashed up to the old Clarion in the garage.

They still play just fine out there.

I'm willing to bet if you replace your speakers all will be good again.

DrTrapper

Thanks Grizzly. I'll be making a stop at Wal-Mart tomorrow. It's just weird that when I put them in from my other HHR that they still don't work. As I said, if I have to replace the HU(and the only reason I would keep the same GM radio is because I want to use my Sirius "brain"), then I will. It's not that hard to remove the radio-just a pain because of the fact that the weather here in Chicago is getting cold quickly again.

DrTrapper

And of course, I didn't see that you are a couple of hours west of me-so you know how the weather is turning again quickly!

chaosdsm

I too have a 2010 1LT & have the same cut-in/cut-out issues with some speakers. Probably happened during an improper battery swap before I got the car.


DrTrapper: try resetting the radio... with car shut off, disconnect the negative terminal to your battery & let it sit disconnected for 30 - 60 minutes, then reconnect it. This should allow the radio to reset itself & fix the communication problem with the speakers.


Mine before reset:
1" Pillar tweeters work all time
LF (driver side) speaker no sound ever
RF (passenger side) speaker sometimes 15% volume, sometimes full volume, sometimes out completely
LR speaker either out completely or full volume
RR speaker out all time


Even though reset seems to have worked for me (RR still out), I want a new stereo & new speakers anyway. Definitely want a Bluetooth enabled stereo so I can play any of the 1200+ songs I have in my phone without hooking up an aux cable, & after 5 years of baking, car speakers are on the downhill slide anyway.

DrTrapper

Chaosdsm-Thanks for the information. In my case, I started replacing the speakers-starting with the right rear with some speakers I bought on Amazon. And as soon as I hooked the speaker up, I had sound. So as it stands, I will be replacing the other 3 over the next few days(the weather here in Chicago is just too cold to be pulling the door panels back off-but I had to try with the one). I will be doing the reset no matter what to see if it fixes my other communication problem with the radio that the FM cuts out on occasion.

Grizzly old man

I suppose you could drive over here to Savanna and I could do it for ya,...