Subwoofer works, but only when NOT listening to the stereo
As weird as the title of my thread is, it says it all.
I recently added a factory subwoofer to my ’07 Lariat with factory navigation.
I simply plugged it into the wire that was already under the back seat. That did not give me any sound from the sub and I then learned that the navigation head unit had to be reprogrammed to recognize the sub.
I took the truck to the local “authorized” Ford audio shop and they charged me $150 to reprogram the head unit. I got the truck back and still no sound from the sub! The weird thing is that when you perform the speaker walk through test where it sends the sound to each speaker individually, the sub works fine and is quite loud.
So why in the heck does it not work when playing music normally?
The audio shop has no answer for me.
Thank you.
I recently added a factory subwoofer to my ’07 Lariat with factory navigation.
I simply plugged it into the wire that was already under the back seat. That did not give me any sound from the sub and I then learned that the navigation head unit had to be reprogrammed to recognize the sub.
I took the truck to the local “authorized” Ford audio shop and they charged me $150 to reprogram the head unit. I got the truck back and still no sound from the sub! The weird thing is that when you perform the speaker walk through test where it sends the sound to each speaker individually, the sub works fine and is quite loud.
So why in the heck does it not work when playing music normally?
The audio shop has no answer for me.
Thank you.
Originally Posted by NHSP-06
I have no idea what your problem is but you paid $150 for a shop to work on your stereo and it doesn't work?!? I wouldn't have paid them until they got it working...that's what you brought it to them for

The other strange thing is that when performing the speaker walk through test, it utilizes the audio from whatever is playing (e.g. cd or sat. radio) so I know it can work, it just doesn't!
Could be a completely dumb suggestion, but is it just the setup when it is in normal mode? My deck allows me to have completely different setups when I'm running a CD vs TV vs DVD vs radio. I can change each one to have different sound setups. Maybe you just have to change something stupid like that when it is in the different modes. Makes sure the unit is allowing for the sound to get to the correct speaker/sub and the amp is turned on in that specific mode. That's my dumb suggestion of the day. I'm sure it was already looked in to.
Originally Posted by NHSP-06
Could be a completely dumb suggestion, but is it just the setup when it is in normal mode? My deck allows me to have completely different setups when I'm running a CD vs TV vs DVD vs radio. I can change each one to have different sound setups. Maybe you just have to change something stupid like that when it is in the different modes. Makes sure the unit is allowing for the sound to get to the correct speaker/sub and the amp is turned on in that specific mode. That's my dumb suggestion of the day. I'm sure it was already looked in to.
I had a Jaguar that actually had a seperate volume control for the subwoofer and for the longest time I had it set to zero. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I found it and started using it.
I was hoping it maybe something as simple as that on my F-150 but I cannot find anything in the set-up for that.
Weird, I don't know much about the factory navigation so I can't give anymore advice...sorry. Did you take it to the actual dealer?? I doubt they would know anything if a stereo shop couldn't help but I figured I would throw that useless question out there.
Not all factory navigation head units can be made to power the Audiophile subwoofer. The awesome guys at the audio shop swapped out my navigation / head unit with a brand new one and it works great now. I sat with them during the swap and we were all perplexed but they verified that the serial number on my unit did not match their reference for an audiophile unit.
Anyway, if anything, I hope this information cautions future folk from blindly buying a navigation / head unit without confirming that it is indeed an “audiophile” unit. I saw both units side by side and they are identical so there is no way to know.
Thanks.
Anyway, if anything, I hope this information cautions future folk from blindly buying a navigation / head unit without confirming that it is indeed an “audiophile” unit. I saw both units side by side and they are identical so there is no way to know.
Thanks.


