Hi all. First post. I recently bought a 2008 RL and the subwoofer isn't working right, when it works at all. Occasionally I will get a little bit of sound from it accompanied by scratching noises. It will often work briefly – and randomly – and then quit. Today I opened the trunk when it wasn't functioning so I slapped the trunk liner beside it and it started working for a while. It quit after less than a minute, so I slapped it again. It started working again. Unfortunately, as entertaining and stress relieving as it can be to slap inanimate things, it isn't a good long term situation. People look at you funny also. And even when it does work after corporal discipline, it still has the scratchy sound. Based on that, I'm doubting that the amp is bad. So I'm focusing on the subwoofer itself. The funny thing is that I bought it from a couple well into their 70's so I doubt that they were jamming to bass heavy hits from the 1950's.
So my question is sort of multi-part: do you guys think it is a bad sub, and if so should I simply replace it with similar unit or look at an aftermarket solution? I'm not looking to rattle the windows – and certainly not the neighbors windows – but I do like tight, clean bass. I previously had a TL and installed the Infinity powered sub in the trunk and was generally satisfied with it. Unfortunately, the first one failed within a year, and its replacement did also. It wasn't due to me frying the speaker. Bad capacitors seemed to be the issue, so I'm not going that route again. I'm not opposed to a reasonable amount of fabrication. I have access to woodworking and simple metal working tools. In other words, I can make an adapter plate to mount a new speaker.

For what it's worth, I have done dozens of car stereo installs beginning in the 1970's and through the late 1990's. And then things got complicated. I have done just enough online research to know that things get really messy with systems like the one in this car. I don't want to make things overly complicated.

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

I personally like what this user did:

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-rl-a...r-deck-952803/

The simplest bet would be to replace the subwoofer since it seems that's what's bad, but your other option would be an aftermarket setup like this:

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-rl-a...t-pics-878491/