Reusing stock speaker wiring - Aussie 86

[Z86]

I posted this on an Aussie forum, but thought I'd share with the wider community because I'm sure it applies to other models (not US however).

I'm in the process of upgrading my front speakers and thought I'd share some knowledge on the stock wiring. WOW Toyota do some funky sh!t.
I couldn't find this info anywhere else so I hope it is useful for some people. Personally I think the stock wiring is fine for speaker upgrades, I've used it for mine and the new morels sound awesome!

Please note this is for the Australian 86 GTS - so if you have something different your milage may vary, but I'm sure it applies to lots of countries. If your 86 has no amp, and no 3.5" in the dash (so just tweeters in the dash, 6.5" woofers in the door and 3.5" in the rear panels, this probably applies to you).

So first up - the Australian 86 has no amp. The front speakers consist of a tweeter in the dash and the mid bass woofer in the door. These are all run off the head unit.
The wiring runs from the head unit to the tweeter - now if you check the tweeter you will see 4 wires.
Basically 2 wires run from the head unit to the tweeter, at the tweeter the +ve passes through a pretend crossover that is attached to the tweeter (resistor). The other 2 wires run to the mid-bass woofer.

So what are the colours. Well left and right are different. And the wiring in the doors is different again.

Left side


The four wires are Green, Red, Brown and White (I'm ignoring the stripes for the sake of simplicity).
The White and Brown (next to each other) are both positive.
The Red and Green are both negative.

The White and the Red run from the head unit.
The Brown and Green run to the door (mid-bass woofer).

So in order as shown on the picture
Green is Woofer -ve
Red is HU -ve
Brown is woofer +ve
White is HU +ve

Now when you get in to your door the wires connected to the woofer change.
The white wire in the door is the woofer +ve
The brown wire in the door is the woofer -ve (These are the wires connected to the stock woofer)


Right side


The four wires are Red, Green, White and Brown (I'm ignoring the stripes for the sake of simplicity).
And whilst the colours are the same as the left, they have different coloured stripes and are in a different order. Good one Toyota.
The White and Brown (next to each other) are both positive.
The Red and Green are both negative.

The Brown and the Green run from the head unit.
The White and Red run to the door (mid-bass woofer).
This is opposite to the left

So in order as shown on the picture
Red is Woofer -ve
Green is HU -ve
White is woofer +ve
Brown is HU +ve

Now when you get in to your door the wires connected to the woofer change.
The white wire in the door is the woofer +ve
The blue wire in the door is the woofer -ve (These are the wires connected to the stock woofer)


Good luck with your speaker upgrades using the stock wiring.

[Sewa]

Thanks so much for posting this info. I have a European spec BRZ which also has tweeters in the dash, woofers in the doors and mid-range speakers in the back. I thought all versions were equipped with an amp, but apparently this is not the case.

Yesterday I installed Alpine two-way speakers in the front: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500SPS6...10.html?tp=105
My idea was to disconnect the factory tweeters (which are too 'bright' in my opinion) and use those in the woofers. However, after disconnecting them I lost the sound in the woofers too. Your post explains why this happened.

My question is how to disconnect the dash tweeters properly. I would think that simply connecting cables running from HU to those going to woofers should work. Are there any risks?

[Z86]

Originally Posted by Sewa

My question is how to disconnect the dash tweeters properly. I would think that simply connecting cables running from HU to those going to woofers should work. Are there any risks?

You could run new wires, they are apparently hard to get through the door grommets though.
If you wanted to continue to use the stock wiring, you can simply bridge the stock wiring like @so26 did in this pic
(this is a US model so was done for the dash speaker, but the same thing works for our models - I tried it).

[Sewa]

Great, I will bridge the dash cable then. My current 'double tweeter' setup is driving me nuts!

Did you finally replace the HU or install an amplifier? I have the basic radio/cd receiver (with tiny lcd display) which probably has weak power output. I thought a new unit with 4x 20w rms would bring a bit of extra oomph.

I know an amplifier is a way to go but this is my first DIY and I do not want to complicate things too much.

Thanks for help
S.

[Z86]

No not yet

[Fizz]

Do you know if the aussie GT models have coaxials in the door, or run tweetes in the dash similar to the GTS?

I bought the metra 72-8104 speaker adaptors online.....hope they fit

[Z86]

Originally Posted by Fizz

Do you know if the aussie GT models have coaxials in the door, or run tweetes in the dash similar to the GTS?

I bought the metra 72-8104 speaker adaptors online.....hope they fit

GT and GTS have the same speaker config, just different head units.

[getbent]

Anyone know what gauge the speaker wire is?

[Sewa]

Bridged the dash cables yesterday. It works and sounds much better then before.

Thanks again Z

[Fizz]

Originally Posted by Sewa

Bridged the dash cables yesterday. It works and sounds much better then before.

Thanks again Z

Would you be able to explain further how you bridged those cables? With pics if possible?

And since now you're running 'extra' tweeters do you find that there's too much high end?

[Fizz]

Originally Posted by Z86

GT and GTS have the same speaker config, just different head units.

Thanks mate. Sorry im a total noob on car audio stuff, but what exactly did you change? Just the door speakers? Or did you install a component set?

[Z86]

I put in a set of components, my build is on gt86 forums.

[Sewa]

Originally Posted by Fizz

Would you be able to explain further how you bridged those cables? With pics if possible?

And since now you're running 'extra' tweeters do you find that there's too much high end?

I disconnected the dash tweeters because there was way too much high end. To make this work I had to bridge the dash connectors like shown on the picture in post #3 above.

[Fizz]

Ah ok I see it now...simply run a wire to connect pin 1+2, and 3+4....yes?

Have you noticed any difference is sound quality with tweeters in different locations (i.e. on dash versus tweeter in door)?