Today I was installing 4" Polk speakers in the rear D pillar, I pulled the panel off the D Pillar and located the speaker wires. After connecting the speaker wires to the 4" polks and turning on the Radio...no sound. I double check to make sure the + and - connections are connected properly. Still no sound. I got a volt meter to measure the voltage...nothing. It seems that the head unit is not connected or driving the rear D pillar speakers even though the speaker wires exists. I've tried setting the fader to rear speakers only but still nothing. Have anyone seen the same thing with their 2011? I have the basic factory 6 speaker unit.
2011 D Pillar Speaker - cable exist but not driven.
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I've double checked. It's set to the back. I can hear the headliner speakers but nothing from the d pillar.
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fjman1000, Sorry, your having this issues. Correct me if I am wrong, my understanding is the rear roof speaker (exciter) is connected to the rear, when you adjusted the fader towards the rear did you hear any sound coming down ? If yes, then we know the radio rear amp works. If no, then you, there maybe something with the head unit. If this is the case then put everything back they way it was and get the dealer to look it for warranty repair. Just trying to deduce the problem by porcess of elimination. Can anyone else shed some lights into ?
Yes that is correct. I can hear the exciters when the fader is set to rear only. However, I cannot hear the rear D pillar when I connect a speaker to it. I actually hooked a volt meter to the D pillar and did not get any voltage reading. I don't know if it is because my rig came with the 6 speaker unit. The OEM speaker unit does not come equipped with D pillar speakers even though the speaker wire are installed. They may have changed something for 2011 as I've seen in another thread that the D pillar connectors on the 2011 are different than the 2009-2010. I wonder why? I will need to do some more research before taking it to the dealer. As a sanity check, I've also verified the passenger D-pillar speaker wires as Red/+ and White/-.
Thx.
Just found the same here.
I wasted $150 as there is bottom line is there is no connection to the rear speakers if you have the six speaker sound system for 2011; it's not a warranty issue because it's quite apparently by design. I suspect that the new 2011 head unit for the 9 speaker system has different outputs for the rear speakers now.
I wonder if I can get a refund from Amazon for the speakers; anyone want to buy a pair of rear speaker grilles?
I wasted $150 as there is bottom line is there is no connection to the rear speakers if you have the six speaker sound system for 2011; it's not a warranty issue because it's quite apparently by design. I suspect that the new 2011 head unit for the 9 speaker system has different outputs for the rear speakers now.
I wonder if I can get a refund from Amazon for the speakers; anyone want to buy a pair of rear speaker grilles?
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How much for the grilles?
I may, in time, figure out how to splice the headliner vibrator "exciters" to the factory wiring that runs to the rear pillars, or I may tap into the wiring for them in the driver's side A pillar, where I cut and capped them, or in the driver's side kick panel. I just don't want to go through the ordeal of pulling new wires all the way to the back. If anyone knows where the rear pillar speaker wires terminate in the front, please let me know.
Again, how much for the grilles?
-FJ Florida-
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There are a few connectors for the rear speakers and both of them are a good ways up inside the dash and difficult to get to. It'd probably be easier to run new wires and tie them in at the head unit's plug if you wanted to go that route. I don't have a wiring diagram for the 2011 so I can't give you any exact locations.
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UGH! Toyota is making me really mad! :flame:
Well, I already know where the rear wires (vibrating headliner "exciter" thingies) are in the driver's side A pillar since I already cut and capped them there. I guess if I really want to mess with the rear speakers, the easiest solution is to solder onto the wires I already cut in the A pillar and pull them to the back. UGH!
-FJ Florida-
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If I mess with this any more, I'll probably pull new wires to the back from the driver's side A pillar. The A pillar is the easiest access to the wires IMHO. As I said earlier, just make SURE you do not mess with the red wire that carries +12 volts to the map and dome lights. Make sure you have the right wires.
Remembering past experiences pulling new wires leaves me not wanting to bother. I used to rip new cars apart and run Monster Cable everywhere. Not this time. I'm getting too old for that.
-FJ Florida-
We'll I am glad someone has confirmed my findings. That really sucks!!! I have already returned the 4" polks and got some 3.5" for the fronts instead. I hope you can recover the $150 that you've spent.
Amazon's got a good return policy, so I'll be able to get back what I paid except for shipping.
I also have someone interested in the grilles, so I think aside from the 90 minutes it took me to install and remove the rear speakers, no harm no foul except for the knowledge that I will have to go custom if I want to do anything more sound-wise other than replace the dash and door speakers.
I'm adding this as a process of elimination as I have not figured it out either yet.
I too have a 2011 (with a 6 speaker system) and installed speakers in the D pillar.... no sound. I've checked the plug for the rear speakers. (to reach it you'd have to remove the glove box and upper glove box panel). To verify I had the right plug, I unplugged it. This does disconnect the exciter speakers in the headliner.
It's difficult to get a camera up where the plug is. I'll describe it.
Once the glovebox and upper glovebox panel is removed and you look under the dash, you'll see a block with eight plugs of approximately the same size plugged into it.
It's the lowest plug facing the cabin of the vehicle.
This plug only has 4 wires colored: red, yellow, black and white.
Now, my Brother has a 2010 and his speakers had sound once plugged into factory speaker wires in D pillar.
Not sure why Toyota went through the trouble of making a different harness than previous years.
I too have a 2011 (with a 6 speaker system) and installed speakers in the D pillar.... no sound. I've checked the plug for the rear speakers. (to reach it you'd have to remove the glove box and upper glove box panel). To verify I had the right plug, I unplugged it. This does disconnect the exciter speakers in the headliner.
It's difficult to get a camera up where the plug is. I'll describe it.
Once the glovebox and upper glovebox panel is removed and you look under the dash, you'll see a block with eight plugs of approximately the same size plugged into it.
It's the lowest plug facing the cabin of the vehicle.
This plug only has 4 wires colored: red, yellow, black and white.
Now, my Brother has a 2010 and his speakers had sound once plugged into factory speaker wires in D pillar.
Not sure why Toyota went through the trouble of making a different harness than previous years.
I suspect it's all because of the different head end units; why pay to connect two extra connectors on the radio if you don't have to?
Alternatively, you can use a less powerful amplification chip if it only has to drive the "exciters" rather than actual speakers for the rear channels.
As far as the plug to disconnect the exciters, does pulling that plug remove 12v power to the rear interior light?
Alternatively, you can use a less powerful amplification chip if it only has to drive the "exciters" rather than actual speakers for the rear channels.
As far as the plug to disconnect the exciters, does pulling that plug remove 12v power to the rear interior light?
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That is excellent information for anyone who does not want to cut the wires to turn those pieces of <insert expletive here> off.
Well since I already cut the wires in the driver's A pillar, I might as well solder on new wires to pull to the rear from there ... maybe some day. I hate pulling wires these days.
-FJ Florida-
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