Zaner

Hello all, I'm new to the form but not new to cars. Been tinkering and repairing and modifying cars since the mid-1990s. I recently bought a 2006 HHR no sunroof and I believe the basic 6 speaker radio, no sub. And like many others I experienced intermittent front door and rear door speaker issues. Some days they wouldn't work some days they wouldn't. So following all the forms advice I replaced all four door speakers. The problem remained intermittent with it not working more days then it was working. So I moved on to replacing the head unit I had a professional shop install the radio. And again same issues have persisted with only the tweeters working most of the time. does this vehicle have an external amp hidden somewhere that could be going bad? I've looked at all the fuses and everything trying to resolve this issue. I also read online one-time that body control module could be at fault so I left the car with a GM tech for a day, he returned to the car saying all is well as far as that is concerned. But take that with a grain of salt because it was a friend of a friend good buddy deal lol. any ideas or information is appreciated as I know this issue is frequently spoken about on here. Thanks

Oldblue

Welcome to the site, when you replaced the door speakers, did you cut and solder the wires to the speakers or use adaptors ?
which speakers did you use to replace the OEM speakers?

Zaner

I used the adaptor harnesses and since I heard our door panels get water in them I made sure to clean the factory harness contacts very well before I put it back together. The speakers are replaced it with are just some cheap 4 ohm pioneer aftermarket speakers. the same problems have always persisted since the factory radio was in the car. No matter what head unit, no matter what speakers, just randomly all four door speakers will just stop working.. what's even more strange as it's never just random speakers just one or two, here or there.. it's always all four speakers will stop working at once and then all start working again. the place that installed the head unit looked over the factory harness behind the radio and assured me it was all clean and put together correctly exit. It's really strange that these cars have so many problems with stereos as it doesn't appear when it's a very complex stereo system. That's why I asked if there were a factory amplifier hidden somewhere that I didn't know about. Chasing down all these issues I've tried putting my factory head unit back in, tried swapping out to other speakers I have laying around. Nothing seems to fix the issue

donbrew

Look at the label on the glovebox door. If you see UQ3 you do have an amp and subwoofer. Otherwise you have compromised wires to the doors, probably in the rubber conduit.

If you see UQ3 the amp is located under the left rear quarter panel trim.

"So many problems"? The only one I am aware of is the door speakers getting wet, and maybe folk replacing the radio the old fashioned way (before theft deterrence and computer generated tones).

Zaner

I just looked and I do not have that code and I do not have a subwoofer in the back that I can see. I have the door panels pulled back apart I'm going to look up into the harness a little bit at each door speaker and see if I can see anything that's compromised. Would one compromised wire at just one speaker make all 4 speakers quit working simultaneously? And I guess I should rephrase my so many problems comment. I guess I should say so many people seem to have the same problem or similar problem. If you go into Google and type in the HHR speakers not working you get a huge amount of returns on that search. It seems like my issue is not an isolated issue. I also have all the other HHR related problems when they get a little older,the flex pipe starts leaking, catalytic converter is rattling, EVAP code from the heart back by the gas tank, inside door handles not working good, and the keyless entry remotes being finicky. It's all part of owning an older vehicle I know this. This car is almost 15 years old, and was the one owner an older couple. It just seems like all of these problems are known to go bad on hhr's and they didn't tend to them during their ownership. All these fixes are well-documented and they look like something I can tackle in my own garage. I'm excited and happy to do some tinkering I enjoy it

donbrew

If one speaker shorts to ground the radio is smart enough to turn them all off in an act of self preservation. My guess is that some previous owner either used 3M splices on the wires or spliced into the wiring to install some after market stuff.

The huge number of results most likely come right here and boil down to the one known issue. All of the problems you cite are well covered on this sight with mostly easy fixes in the how-to area https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-...al-library-21/. I don't know anything about rattling cats, The heat shield, maybe. If the cat is damaged it would be throwing codes all over the place.

Zaner

I think I've mentioned previously this was a one-owner vehicle that an older couple owned and they didn't touch it they didn't add anything after market and they also didn't have anything repaired and that's why I'm having to fix all these little issues. There are no 3M connectors I know that for sure I've been behind the dash and I've been up inside the door panels. The only thing I can think of is from the moisture getting inside the doors maybe corrosion has worked its way up the factory speaker wire harness in one of the doors.the catalytic converter rattling is inside the cat has broken down which is not uncommon after a hundred thousand and yes it had two codes one for the EVAP and one for catalytic converter. I read about replacing the flex pipe and the catalytic converter all in one piece from the information from sites like this. I own several used vehicles of various makes and models and I've owned a many in the past and all vehicles no matter the make or the model all of them seem to have their quirks and inherent issues. That's what makes websites like this valuable is cuz other people have been there and seen those same problems before and can save a guy some time and headache. Thank you for your replies I'll keep digging

Oldblue

It must be in the wire harness , I’ve owned 2 HHR’s both with the Pioneer seven speaker system with amp and never had a problem with the speakers or amp. My 2007 went to 300,000 miles and the new owner still has it and no troubles, my 2011 has 125,000 miles and no speaker issues.
So, a broken wire might be the issue, I do know there are no adapters for the Pioneer system , which tells me the connector is different, so have a close look at those connections one could be loose or damaged by corrosion, I have seen a broken wire in the rubber bellows between the door and the body, it’s a possibility!

Zaner

More food for thought that could further lead me to my answer. I was told in this thread that 1 short in one speaker could cause the radio to go into a sort of protect mode and shut power off to 4 speakers. Sounds plausible and I buy that totally makes sense. But why does the radio never cause the tweeters in the front pillars to go into protect? I've read in other people's threads that when their speakers and their doors start to fail their tweeters always continue working and that is the same thing in my case. No matter what my tweeters are always hissing away. I don't know for sure but I always assumed that the front pillar tweeters 4 tied into the front door speakers in some way shape or form. Just thinking out loud

Oldblue

I think that the tweeters are wired separately from the four door speakers.

this might help, non Pioneer

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/www....ad.php?t=23945

Pioneer equipped
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/www....ad.php?t=54245