2008 Lucerne - Front speakers and "bing" not functioning

[thegolfer4296]

Hi everyone,

My grandmother's 08 lucerne has had some radio issues for the past year now. And i have been trying to figure out exactly what is wrong. Basically the front door speakers and the chime do not function at all. The radio/cd/aux play fine through the rear speakers as well as the tweeters in the front. But the front door speakers and the center front speaker on the dash do not function. Also the chime when you start the car or are backing up do not function.

The last time she had an oil change she asked them to look into why this was happening and they told her it had something to do with the radio itself and not the wiring /speakers. does this sound right? Has anyone had this same problem?

At the time she just forgot about it because she doesnt drive or listen to the radio much. But as she drives less and less I find myself having the car more and more and would like the radio to work right.

I have seen a few radios on ebay (her car has the single disc non hk version) that claim to be unlocked and plug and play. Is there a specific part number I need? Also I see they made a 6 disc version as well. Would that plug directly into the car even though it only has the single disc?

Also, if it was the radio would it be hard to install myself? It looks like it is only a couple of screws.

Thanks, sorry for all the questions

 

[Johnscsx]

It sounds like a loose wire or connector in the back of the radio, or some other similar connection problem.

The thought of replacing that radio with an aftermarket product wouldn't even cross my mind. You would be amazed at how many of the vehicle systems run through the radio. That said, I'm sure somebody has tried it before, and it would be interesting to hear from anybody out there that tried it.

And by the way, you make me feel bad when you say "My grandmother's 08 lucerne". With the V8 Northstar and magnetic shocks, this thing is faster and handles better than any other car I have owned. It's a wolf in sheep's clothing.

 

[thegolfer4296]

Haha I get it, they are really nice cars. I have a DTS with magnetic shocks as my daily driver, people always call it an "old man" car but I love the thing. Her car is almost becoming a second car as she does not drive much anymore.

So you think that it is the harness connection and not the radio itself? If i were to replace the radio it would be with an OEM one and not aftermarket. I was just curious if the radio failing was a common thing. Sounds like it isnt. Maybe I will try and take it apart and see what the connections look like.

It is just really annoying when the sound only comes from the rear haha.

 

[Johnscsx]

I presume you have the radio balance/fade control set so that all the speakers are playing properly, right? I can also presume that your grandma didn't blow the internal amplifier by playing the radio at full volume all the time, right? Assuming that stuff is OK, it sounds like a broken audio connection somewhere to me, possibly on a common wire. Maybe somebody pulled that radio out before, and perhaps the wires/harness associated with the front audio didn't get fully reseated? I can only guess.

 

[thegolfer4296]

Yes, when you turn the fade to the rear everything works fine (the rear speakers all work) when you turn it to the front you only hear the little tweeter speakers (very faint sound). When it is balanced the sound is mostly coming from the rear. I know that both front door speakers are not functioning and can presume that the center front one is not (I cant get my ear directly up to it as you can with the doors)

I am almost positive she radio was not "blown" because she barely used it at all. When she inquired about it, they told her that the amps inside the radios fail and it was a common problem with that generation of radio. However, this was a local garage and not a dealer.

I just dont want to replace the radio if that is not the cause. Maybe it is best for me to take it out and see that all the connections are in correctly. I would think that maybe a wire was pinched somewhere in the door. but since it is all three I would assume it is something before it gets to the door.

 

[Johnscsx]

You could disconnect the door speakers, and connect them to another radio, to see if it is a speaker problem.

 

[thegolfer4296]

Update: I was going to take the panels off to gain access to the speakers. When I started the car this morning the chime functioned, and all three speakers (both front doors and center front speaker) functioned normally. After about two minutes they cut out again. All three at the same time and I cant get them to work again. So I did not bother taking the panels off as the speakers clearly function.

 

[Johnscsx]

It "sounds" like a bad connection to me. (pun intended) The wiring harness in the back of the radio sounds like it's worth checking. It may be a simple matter of reseating it.

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

The chimes come through the driver's door and tweeter driver side. If it's not the the high end unit Harmon there is no center speaker just a empty grille. Check if the tweeters are working, just set everything to the front. If you get sound check the doors with another source, now you can chase the colored wires from what you see on the door speakers. If you plan on a after market look at the cost for the wire conversion GM to new $100-150 depending if your want all the orignal funtions. As far as getting a used one make sure it's been reset or wiped, if not it off to the dealer fo a $60-$100 charge to program it. A loose connection on the back is unlikely, it can be but when you see you'll understand. Push or wiggle the wires while the radio is on and out, if it's intermittent tuff find. Check some of the other GM forums for the same problem around your year (DTS also) there could be additional info. The radio may be toast and in the right temperature, humidity etc. it will work and just as magically stop. I could suggest door harness conections, ground wire shorts, it's keeps going on a long lists, sorry no quick fix link slam the glove box 3 times while pressing the aux button LOL

 

[thegolfer4296]

I know this was a few months ago, but I had the car this weekend and was able to do some trouble shooting. Not much has changed as the car has only gone 500 miles since June. 🙂 I took both front door panels off and removed the speakers. I gave them to my cousin who works on electronics for a living. He gave them back and said the driver one functioned and the passenger one was dead. (No idea how he knows this but I trust him haha)

Obviously the passenger side needs a new speaker, but the driver side still doesnt work in the car. The connections are all solid in the back of the radio. I am correct in assuming that it is the radio now?

I really want to get these things working as grandma backed into the mailbox recently and the backup sensors probably could have prevented that. (Car "and grandma" were fine, had to have the bumper repainted though) 🙁

Anyways thanks for the help.

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

Check your wiring harness between the door and fender on the driver's door. Pull the rubber boot back to expose the wiring, pull from the fender side and look at the speaker wire, I think it is gray but don't really remember. I have 50k on the 2007 and had to replace mine 2 were broken and the others were on the way. I sleeved the new harness to avoid, hopefully, this again. Chimes and sound all our back with the others conections now newly wired. It's a little tricky for the door lock in the back of the door, but all the other wire conections are pretty much exposed. I wouldn't waste my time with a patch in the harness as these control a lot of fuctions, my harness was shot and ready to have more issues. Found a brand new one for about $110.00 and we'll worth it to not have to guess what went wrong later. You can patch it to see if it returns the sounds to the speaker which is what I did, but seeing all the other cracks in the other wires it became a no brainer to replace.

 

[sonjaab]

The radio is toast!
Thats why no warning chimes and no front speaker.

You have to remove radio and send it to a delco service center for repair.
United radio service in Syracuse is one place.

The only problem with getting another delco replacement from the junk yard
is that the radio is vin# locked after 03 so u have to install it and have the
GM dealer hook the car up to the Tech 2 machine and reprogram/unlock it.

 

[G-816583]

The radio is toast!
Thats why no warning chimes and no front speaker.

You have to remove radio and send it to a delco service center for repair.
United radio service in Syracuse is one place.

The only problem with getting another delco replacement from the junk yard
is that the radio is vin# locked after 03 so u have to install it and have the
GM dealer hook the car up to the Tech 2 machine and reprogram/unlock it.

What if I bought a boss radio. They should work again?

 

[Chuck Hall]

I have a 2010 Buick Lucerne. I noticed the front speakers not working recently. I had replaced an inside door handle, drivers side and thought I might have loosened the wires. Took the inside door apart again and realized I didn't touch the inside wires. Checked fuses and they are good. Pulled the radio and checked connections and did not see a problem. The phone prompt is also very week like it is not being amplified. So, I ordered a rebuilt radio on line which I just received and installed and it says Locked on the screen. Called the company I ordered from and left a message for the code. Called GM and they want $130 to tell me what the code is. I tried a voice call with the new radio installed and got the same weak prompted through the right front speaker. Now I am thinking that it is not the radio but have no idea what the problem is. I had just decided to keep the car. This is getting frusterating!

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

Here's another post on the same problem, but as mentioned it needs to be troubleshooted on what exactly is not working first. If the harness is shorting out nothing with head swapping or speaker replacement will correct it.

I need some help with my 2007 Buick lucerne front door speakers

The front door speakers on my lucerne don't work. I have looked at all the wiring, fuses and connections, but I can't find anything wrong. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you

buickforums.com

 

[thegolfer4296]

Hey everyone, happen to be back on here now that I own an 09 Lucerne myself. Funny to see this post just recently resurrected. The radio / speaker problem in the 08 happened to be that both front speakers were dead. Pulled them out and replaced and now everything works fine!

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

Just to confirm that the pillar tweeters were operating and the doors were dead. This may help others as sometimes those post are not clear on doors and pillar tweeters or just door speakers. Thanks for the update and solution.

 

[thegolfer4296]

Yes, pillars operated only door speakers were out.

 

[StevenCee]

I've had a similar issue, but a little different. My front speakers most of the time don't work. But then they'll suddenly kick on, until they stop working again. Having dealt with speakers and wiring for 40 years, as a musician, my first inclination is a loose connection. I can't think of how else the front speakers would work sometimes, and not others. I just wonder how difficult checking it out might be. I don't think I'm motivated enough to be taking a lot of stuff off, as I don't spend hours driving at a time. It would be nice, however, to have them all work, as it sounds a whole lot better when they do.

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

Hard to know for sure but check other Lucerne posts on the sound issues and its seems it is the speaker itself as they are pretty much junk.

You can pull the head unit fairly easily and check the wiring harnesses, but if it's a short that something there isn't any way other than to trace it down.