nissanguy8

I just ordered the subwoofer repair kit from simplyspeakers.com from Ebay for $20.70 shipped this past week, and it came in the mail today, so I went ahead and started working on it even though I was kind of dreading trying to take the rear seats apart in my recently purchased 2002 UL LS430. I haven't really found any detailed instructions on how to remove the seats but I just went in and starting taking things apart.

Luckily I did not break anything! The seat cushions came out easily, then I removed some screws that loosened the upper seat backs, then removed some center plastic around the "mini fridge" and removed the center headrest. I kind of got stuck for a bit on how the rear panel comes out so I gently started to pry on it and the tabs loosened andit popped up! I was able to wiggle it up enough to have enough space to remove the 4 screws holding down the sub, and it came out easily.

One think I did do was unscrew the 4 phillips screws that hold down the plastic pieces that keep the seat belts in alignment when pulling on them. Once I took the sub out, I just followed the instructions from the video provided on the ebay listing from simplyspeakers.com and it was pretty straight forward, I did take some extra time to remove all the old speaker residue with a really sharp new razor blade and rubbing alcohol and a smaller flat head screwdriver. Once cleaned really good, I installed the new speaker foam. I let it dry for 1 hour for each time I applied the adhesive. 1 for the repair foam to the cone, and 1 hour for the foam to at the frame.

After it dried, I put everything back together and reinstalled everything in the car but before bolting everything, test it first! It worked like factory and I put everything back together and I must say, this was really easy! The seat bottoms didn't go in easily but eventually fit and snapped back in place. After worrying about how much it would cost to replace the sub, it was cool to just spend $20 and some elbow grease and have it sound really good again, I did consider the really low cost method of doing to glue around the rim, but I am glad I went this route instead!

Gronemus

Just did mine on Wednesday. I have to say that I'm beginning to appreciate the sound out of this system the more I listen to it. At least the CD player that is. There's nothing that beats being able to do it yourself and save a boat load of cash in the process...

tallcaguy

Have a new subwoofer. It's now possible to hear and appreciate the system. Nice surround and clarity. Played a CD and got pops and crackles. Wondered about the other speakers. Played another CD and no problems.

paullaxer

I decided that until I get around to replacing or repairing the sub I should just disconnect it. It's easy. From the trunk -- The Sub has a plastic cover that (with some force) rotates. Just rotate it so you have access to the wires and snip them. I think it might even be a better fix to just buy a modest 8' sub in an enclosure and install to the trunk. The wires are easy to extend.

2KHarrier

Welcome aboard Paul. It's almost easier to remove the cover from the top and use some RTV and seal the edge of the subwoofer surround, rather than cut the wiring to the subwoofer. There's a great write up on the forum that discusses repairing the sub.

Jabberwock

Foam sound repair kit sounds like an excellent way to repair and retain the OEM ML sub.

As an alternative for folks that want a replacement subwoofer, rather than doing the foam repair on the OEM ML speaker, I installed this ebay purchased 8" dual VC 16 ohm speaker in my SC430 (SC430 has identical OEM subwoofer as LS430) and it works perfect. The DVC sub has two 8ohm voice coils so it can be easily wired to operate as a 16 ohm sub by wiring the VCs in series to match the very hard to find 16 ohm specs on the OEM ML sub.

Not saying one alternative is better - foam repair is perfectly good repair and should last for years. Replacement subs are very hard to find in the 16 ohm spec so thought I'd list for the forum as an alternative.

Either method is way better than paying dealer huge $$ to replace your sub.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-8-DVC-Su...EAAOSws65Tl2KC

Jkallinen

The route I went to fix my Sub, applied a bead of silicone around the outer edge and smoothed it out and let it dry 24 hours. Worked perfect. And it only cost $3.89 for the tube of silicone.

paullaxer

I'm going against the grain here. Just purchased a basic sub and enclosure from Amazon for around $50 total. I plan on using the trunk hooks and some small load straps to secure down the box. I don't think the factory placement of that sub is ideal. It doesn't have an enclosure, which reduces the impact.



I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Jkallinen

The sub in the car is only 2 ohm, research. Put a 4ohm in and blow the Amp.

Jabberwock

Suggest you definitely not install a 4 ohm sub as the ML amp expects to see a 12-16 ohm load on the sub channel. Attaching and using a 4 ohm sub may damage the OEM ML amp especially at higher volume. Some, but not all, folks have used an 8 ohm sub (note that nominal ohm ratings vary over frequency and also vary a lot by specific speaker) and reported no issues but I would definitely not recommend a 4 or 2 ohm speaker attached to the OEM ML amp sub channel.

paullaxer

Interesting. I was reading all sorts of inconsistent info on this.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...ofer-ohms.html

I have a 2003 ES 300. What sub to put in this enclosure if I want to use the factory amp?

paullaxer

OK I just ordered this instead


8ohm cheap speaker. Hope this works with the factory amp.

Jabberwock

I hope it works for you and does not damage the ML amp. You could spend a relatively small amount of $30 additional and get a 16 ohm sub that would be a ohm rating match for the ML amp. Totally up to you.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160744137794?rmvSB=true

LSxtacy

Where in Alabama are you at? I'm in Huntsville. I'm fixin to have to do this repair on my 04 UL, just got the head unit back from Autobeyours, now I can really hear how bad the speakers are.

LS430Lexus

Another alternative. I shipped my subwoofer to Simply Speakers in FL. They refoamed it and it sounds great. About $75,