Most likely the stock head unit is a least part of the problem. The left side channel was blown in the stock stereo when I bought my XJ. Found the speakers were okay, well, they lasted a short while after putting the new stereo in, anyway....LOL. I have a whole new Sony X-plode system in my XJ now and it works great!! My son got it for me last Christmas.

 

Chances are this is the issue (wires broke in rubber boot going from door to cab), i had it happen on both doors on my 99 one was in the rubber boot, the other was corroded right where the wire connects to the plug on the speaker.......i just got new speakers, an amp and ran new 12G wire! That'll keep it from happening again!

If you wanna keep it stock i suggest tracing the wires back into the cab, and running new wire at least through the door, then if it IS the prob. its fixed, and if not its a preemptive strike against something that will most likely happen

 

I have the same problem on my 99 cherokee sport - rear speakers are fine but the front speakers are essentially dead unless a lot of power is going to them in which case they just crackle and hiss. I replaced the stock radio with a new one but still the same problem. It would be unlikely that both front speakers went at the same time so I'm assuming, like most everyone else here, that it's the speaker wire threading through the boot in the door. I'm going to try replacing it this weekend.

 

luketrash tell us how it goes i wanna do this soon.

 

yessir, they sure were. ripped that cover off and yanked 'em, put in two Xplod's (6X8's btw). A little funny to get them to fit without cutting or otherwise modding...the hatch panel(?) doesn't fit quite as smooth as it used to, however it isn't that noticeable and still functions perfectly. Sounds much better in there. HOWEVER, I am beginning to think that the entire left channel is blown. Driver side door didn't work, and neither rears worked until I swapped the speakers themselves, but even with the Xplod's, only the speaker on the passenger side had the cone moving. Swapped speakers to make sure it wasn't the speaker. It wasn't. Disappointed. Possibly have to re-wire the entire left channel?? Is that as much of a ***** as it sounds like? Ideas/Advice?
Thanks ya'll!! From a newbie Cherokee fan.

 

sounds like possibly that's what happened on my drivers side. It also sounds like a bit of work. Am I incorrect?

 

I fixed the speaker tonight. Well, I should say half of them. The tweeter is blown, so I'm only powering the aftermarket Pioneer speaker. The wiring is too confusing and cramped to work with for me. I just ran new wire straight from the radio right to the speaker.

It's quite enjoyable having stereo sound up front now. I'm not taxing the radio nearly as much either.

Instead of dinking around tracing wires into harness connectors and back to the amplifier, ultimately to the stereo, I think it's just easier to run wires straight from the stereo to the speaker.

IF you have an aftermarket stereo. I have a Pioneer of some sort in there. If you have the factory system with the amplifier, it'd be more of a pain to rewire to the doors, and probably beneficial to try to jumper over whereever the break in the circuit lies (probably at the door hinge.)

 

when u say u went straight from head unit to speakers u do mean through the door hinge or around that area?i got a aftermarket head unit that i need to install would it make my job easier to put the head unit in then the speakers?

 

Yep. I just took two good 14 gauge wires of different colors that I keep stock of and snipped the gray and gray/black wire on the harness (right front speaker) and hooked em up. I ran them under the dash, behind the glovebox, behind the fuse panel, through the rubber bellows into the door, and to the speaker.

The only tricky part was fishing the wires through the door. I used a bike cable housing to tape the wires to and pull them through. You could use a coat hanger or something like that.

I had to remove the console cover, the stereo, the glove box, the kick panel, and of course, the door skin. Fortunately that's about five minutes of work on an XJ.

The aftermarket radio was probably installed by Best Buy or somewhere like that. They used the existing wires. If I am doing an install from scratch, I typically run my own wires like this anyway since the factory wires are usually pretty dinky. When my driver's side speaker connection goes, I'll rinse and repeat the process.

 

cool thank u for the much appreciated info.

 

I had the same issue with mine. Front speakers cracked / wouldnt work unless the radio was up really loud. I just cut the old ones and ran new wires to the receiver / cd player. Works like a charm.

 

I don't know if you all got a responce like this one but, I found one wire in each door jamb harness open for both front speakers. I replaced both sets of wires for the left and right door speakers to the first plug connector under the side panels. This fixed my problem and I hope it helps.

 

if you have a crackling and hissing noise it is most likly due to your speaker grounded out on either the inside of the door or in the door jam or maybe even inside the deck it self or the speaker is blown get a meter that reads ohms check it actually at the speaker it should read depending on the speaker 4 or 8ohms or some where close to that if it is reading that then its most likly grounded out in that case go to the deck unplug the harness from it and check continuity between your ground wire and positive and negative speaker wires if you have ground in those id run new wire all the way from speaker to the deck not just jump it over why put a bandaid on old wire that has already failed once REPLACE IT if theres an stock amp involve then check it from there not the deck

good trick to run wires go to your local hardware store and look for a 4-5ft ziptie there about $1.25 a piece cut the end off tape the wire to it with electrical tape and pull it threw