LX470 Subwoofer Isolation Foam

[ForeverOutdoors]

Did the foam ring replacement on my factory sub and am still getting some poor sounding bass.

I suspect it's from the surrounding foam (isolation foam I believe? ) dry rotting as well and coming off in chunks when accessing the four subwoofer mounting screws.

Check out the video below, particularly the top right mounting screw area where you can see where the sound is getting "blown out".

Should I just find some new isolation foam and somehow patch it up to repair?

Thanks!

 

[ranger23]

Seeing as to how no one answered, I can tell you what I did- scrape all the dry rot foam off, get yourself an 18x32 sheet of dynamat and cover the whole box. But if your bass sucks or is blaring that old speaker is probably shot.

 

[ForeverOutdoors]

Did the foam ring replacement on my factory sub and am still getting some poor sounding bass.

I suspect it's from the surrounding foam (isolation foam I believe? ) dry rotting as well and coming off in chunks when accessing the four subwoofer mounting screws.

Check out the video below, particularly the top right mounting screw area where you can see where the sound is getting "blown out".

Should I just find some new isolation foam and somehow patch it up to repair?

Thanks!

So after further investigation it looks I had my cone off center and it was rubbing. I centered it up prior to adding the new foam ring, but it must have gotten thrown off when I put the gasket on.

After a re-glue of the foam and gasket, the speaker sounds great. I’ll leave this post up for future reference.

 

[ranger23]

Glad it worked out!

 

[TLCJC]

Which year is your LX?

 

[ranger23]

Which year is your LX?

2001, tan. Bought it from my parents in 2006 and have been driving it all across the US since. It’s been in Georgia 3 times, Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, Kansas twice, and now going to FLorida in June.

 

[goldLX]

Not sure if this is the right thread to add to, but I just recently repaired my 2001 LX subwoofer. The foam surround had completely deteriorated, and it hadn’t worked right in years. I thought why not give it a shot and see if I can fix it.

I purchased the repair foam from Simply Speakers. Single Foam Speaker Repair Kit FSK-6bt-1

I followed the disassembly and repair instructions of the rear trunk area from clublexus/youtube. Success! Got my sub back!

 

[baltistyle]

Not sure if this is the right thread to add to, but I just recently repaired my 2001 LX subwoofer. The foam surround had completely deteriorated, and it hadn’t worked right in years. I thought why not give it a shot and see if I can fix it.

I purchased the repair foam from Simply Speakers. Single Foam Speaker Repair Kit FSK-6bt-1

I followed the disassembly and repair instructions of the rear trunk area from clublexus/youtube. Success! Got my sub back!

View attachment 4044216
View attachment 4044217

Great job. I did this a couple months ago as well. One tip I suggest is to also look at the paper connection inside the speaker (I think that paper was tan colored ) because some of that could need to be glued down as well. This can only be done before the normal foam ring repair. Personally, I was very impressed with the sound quality after repair as it was like new.

 

[redlandcruiser]

Great job. I did this a couple months ago as well. One tip I suggest is to also look at the paper connection inside the speaker (I think that paper was tan colored ) because some of that could need to be glued down as well. This can only be done before the normal foam ring repair. Personally, I was very impressed with the sound quality after repair as it was like new.

Did you see a space between the cone and surround when gluing the new surround on?

 

[baltistyle]

That seam needs to be glued as well. The foam ring is there to connect the surround to the cone. Two circles of glue, one inner, one outter. Make sure to check under that cone before finishing to see if the paper underneath might be loose as well. I think it’s like a tan colored paper near the magnet.

 

[LC Lurker]

That seam needs to be glued as well. The foam ring is there to connect the surround to the cone. Two circles of glue, one inner, one outter. Make sure to check under that cone before finishing to see if the paper underneath might be loose as well. I think it’s like a tan colored paper near the magnet.

You’re saying that gap in @redlandcruiser ‘s post should be glued closed?

Pretend I’m mentally deficient in your response

 

[baltistyle]

You’re saying that gap in @redlandcruiser ‘s post should be glued closed?

Pretend I’m mentally deficient in your response

Yes. Lots of videos online. But I’m also saying if you were to remove the foam ring that is old and cracked, and then look between the cone and the magnet, and there is another membrane down there that also might need to be glued before gluing the foam ring on and sealing it shut. The paper cone is much stronger than you might think looking at it. I’m about to do a door speaker, maybe this weekend and I will post some more pics but really, plenty of tutorials online and just take the best of what you see from the cleanest processes. It would be very hard to mess up. In the case here where ther is a height difference, it’s because the speaker wasn’t extending as much with the broken foam.

 

[LC Lurker]

Yes. Lots of videos online. But I’m also saying if you were to remove the foam ring that is old and cracked, and then look between the cone and the magnet, and there is another membrane down there that also might need to be glued before gluing the foam ring on and sealing it shut. The paper cone is much stronger than you might think looking at it. I’m about to do a door speaker, maybe this weekend and I will post some more pics but really, plenty of tutorials online and just take the best of what you see from the cleanest processes. It would be very hard to mess up. In the case here where ther is a height difference, it’s because the speaker wasn’t extending as much with the broken foam.

Gotcha. Thanks for the info

 

[redlandcruiser]

Yes. Lots of videos online. But I’m also saying if you were to remove the foam ring that is old and cracked, and then look between the cone and the magnet, and there is another membrane down there that also might need to be glued before gluing the foam ring on and sealing it shut. The paper cone is much stronger than you might think looking at it. I’m about to do a door speaker, maybe this weekend and I will post some more pics but really, plenty of tutorials online and just take the best of what you see from the cleanest processes. It would be very hard to mess up. In the case here where ther is a height difference, it’s because the speaker wasn’t extending as much with the broken foam.

I'm not exactly sure I understand. The gap was because there was like a plastic ring that needed to be removed too, that was glued on top of the previous foam. I took that off and it was a perfect fit.

When I hooked everything back up, it sounded wonderful. A few weeks later on a road trip, I was playing music pretty loud with a lot of bass since I was falling asleep and I think I blew it. The sub is just off now, if I mess with the bass/mid/treble volumes and turn the volume up I can sometimes get the bass to come back for a bit, and it doesn't sound too bad, but it's sort of finicky and if the bass in the song stops, the sub seems to disconnect again and I will have to pump the volume and some settings to try and get it to come back.

ChatGPT seems to think that I burnt or damaged the voice coil. I have not taken it apart again yet. Could this be since I only glued the foam, and not the other membrane between magnet? Not sure, pretty frustrating. And now the foam on the other speakers is definitely broken so will need to figure out the door panel removal.

Edit: Did some more testing, looks like it's the ground tinsel lead which is a cheap fix. Ordered the simply speakers speaker flex leadwire repair kit and will be fixing it when it comes in

 

[baltistyle]

The membrane I am talking about sounds just like a blown speaker, (loose rattle) it doesn’t have anything to do with actual activation, coils or electronics. I wound up doing some extra work on my building this weekend so I didn’t get to look at the speaker. I’m mentioning this membrane because it’s something I never see talked about, but I encountered myself..

 

[redlandcruiser]

Great job. I did this a couple months ago as well. One tip I suggest is to also look at the paper connection inside the speaker (I think that paper was tan colored ) because some of that could need to be glued down as well. This can only be done before the normal foam ring repair. Personally, I was very impressed with the sound quality after repair as it was like new.

I think I messed this up. This is my front drivers side speaker. I just glued a new surround on after lining the cylinder thing up in the slot, and now I still hear the scratching/vibrations with medium bass.

I looked at several videos and have not seen one where this part was broken. Is this what you were referring to?

 

[baltistyle]

Sorry, I can’t help with the separation issue, but it does look like that was glued or epoxied in?

FWIW, the orange membrane is the “other” membrane I have been referencing.

 

[redlandcruiser]

Sorry, I can’t help with the separation issue, but it does look like that was glued or epoxied in?

FWIW, the orange membrane is the “other” membrane I have been referencing.

Yeah, it looks like it was. But that cylinder fits in the little gap which allows it to move up/down, so not really sure where to glue.

Chatgpt hasn't been much help either. I see I can get a new one for about $200. Or maybe a different set that's not 25 years old lol

 

[baltistyle]

That’s a bummer. People are able to get a new speaker in with a little bit of shaving the housing. Might want to search for that.

 

[baltistyle]

The orange membrane is glued down and that is what attaches the speaker cone to the frame. The metal part floats so perhaps you just need to glue back down the orange membrane.