Lincoln MKX sound system problems

malkt

We recently leased a new MKX and after
adjusting the stereo, we find that the bass
seems to be missing. We have taken the car to
the dealer and they claim everything is fine.

With the bass turned all the way up, it still
sounds like a cheap transistor radio. No one
would ever guess it was THX because it is so
unimpressive. Has anyone else had this
problem? How was it solved? How does yourystem sound when the bass is turned all
the way up? We think the bass should be so
loud that you can feel it, or at the very least, be
so loud as to ruin the song. Ours is not
anything that you would notice even on a bass
heavy tune.

By the way, we are not audiophiles or overly
picky about sound systems, but know a bad
one when we hear it.

Thanks,
MALKT

akirby

Have you checked all of the DSP settings? It may be set to Talk Radio e.g. Go through all of the options. Also try pressing 3 and 5 or 3 and 6 on the radio presets at the same time (or other combinations). On most Fords this will initiate a self-test of the speakers to see if they're all working.

Are you sure you have the THX system? It is optional.

texases

Also, have you taken it in and had someone at the dealership who knows the systems (some 20-year-old, I'd imagine) to check the settings?

awa1

We picked up our MKX with the THX audio over the W/E and noticed the same problem. I made all the adjustments available and listening to the radio with the engine off, you can hear the bass from the rear woofer but otherwise I agree, it sounds tinny.

What was the outcome of your experience, anything good I hope?

vinnieg1

i find the fm signal week in my mkx does anyone know of a longer antenna?

Phil_W

I had A 2007 MKX that had A THX Sound System with A DVD player and the sound system was awsome. on Jan 3 2009 I leased another MKX 2008 with a THX
sound system and no dvd player this time my wife picked it up on the fifth of Jan 2009 and she told me when I got home that the sound system did not sound the same as the 2007 MKX well that night I took it for A test drive after dinner and with in the first minute on the road and A good song I put the volume at half and found that their was no bass or very little and for the rest of the sound was horrible I was useing the usb port I then tryed the line in and found the same thing I was not happy I brought it back home and found this Web Site then played some more with the settings and it made no differance next moring I brought it back to the lincoln dealer and explaned to them that the 2008 did not sound the same as the 2007 and also said that I wa not happy with the sound system at all I left the MKX with them and later that day they called me back and said that they tryed other MKX`s on their lot and come up with the same sound they then pulled my 2007 in and tryed it and indeed they to found that their was a differance in sound and this is what they found. with the THX sound system and the DVD player it had the propper amp to power the speakers but if you have A THX system with NO REPEAT NO DVD player ford put A cheap under powered amp in so to solve my MADDENESS Just take A guest what they did oh they did fix it and now my THX system ROCKS.

texases

Thanks for the info! Could you get the part numbers of the bad and good amps, so I can check mine?

Phil_W

I would have to go back to the dealer for that but i will do this for every to see!

marks1965

I am having problems with the THX system. Truck is just about one year old. When I turn the car on, the THX Certified words are locked on the screen. I cannot turn the radio off, I cannot change the station, no other buttons work ( I can't switch to the navigational system, the menu, phone, etc). In addition, the controls on the steering wheel do not work either. This happened once before, and the dealer said nothing was wrong. Any suggestions???

akirby

Take it back to the dealer. He can't say nothing's wrong if it's frozen.

stunts1

I leased a Lincoln mkx with THX. It sounds like most of the sound is coming from the center speaker with thx on it. I went up to each of the 14 speakers and the sound is coming out very low. When you sit in the back seat the sound is not very loud. In the manual it says to hit the DSP button on the screen and there should be a screen that says "optimize sound for all seats/driver seat/rear seat" All thats showing up is the "stereo/surround sound" screen. Also the Fade/ballance display is centered.

glakesdivr

My 2009 MKX has scared the hell out of us. Thought we hit a bomb in the road. All of a sudden the amp did one big BANG and went to such a high pich squeel we couldn't stand it. Turning the radio off didn't help. I pulled over, got out the manual for where the fuses are and pulled the one for the amp. Ah, quiet!

Well I'm still waiting for Lincoln to resolve the problem. It's been 6 months! System works again after it cools down. 2nd amp and the rear speakers don't work.

gunsare

If the dashboard speaker the "THX" insignia on it, does that mean that the vehicle has the 14 speaker system?

akirby

Yes

rpoitras

Phil W, any chance of getting those part numbers? I've been dealing with this same issue since I picked up my 2008 pre-owned and have already spent $150 attempting to fix it by getting the radio programmed (which did not fix the problem). I've contacted various dealerships trying to get part numbers for the amp or even some acknowlegment that different amps even exist but that goes no where. I'm completely stuck at this point and also very frustrated. Is there ANY chance you could help out? You are the only person on the web that I can find that had theirs fixed.

roto52

My wife's newly purchased MKX has a sound system that reminds me of a bad 1959 Japanese transistor radio. No matter how bass, treble, midrange, stereo, surround, etc are adjusted, the sound is still tinny. I compare this to my 2011 MKS which sounds like a concert hall.
Dealer advises unit is set to factory specs and won't do anything.
Anyone else having these problems

gjohn7

This message regarding the MKX with the bad amplifier is more than 2 years old, but it caught my attention as exactly the same thing happened to us yesterday (October 25, 2012) with our MKZ. Like the previous driver, it scared the wits out of us as we thought a bomb had gone off, followed by the high-pitched whine which only stopped after we turned the car off. The speakers didn't work but the radio did function although we couldn't hear anything but the whine. Once the car had been turned off, it seemed to function ok when turned back on, but we are interested to know if others have experienced this with their Lincoln. My husband has an appointment with the Lincoln service to take the car in for inspection next Tuesday, but from his conversation with them it appears that they have identified this as a 'known issue'.

Would be interested in knowing what the outcome of this problem by previous owner 'Glakesdivr' was - is all OK now?

fleurdelis

Our 2012 MKX sound system has been working just fine.
Then this summer I figured out that we could download MP3 files (audio only) from our home computer to our Sony Walkman (or Apple I POD if thats what you have), and plug it into our MKX stereo using the USB plug in port. So far I have downloaded about 3 dozen of my wife's favorite programs to our Walkman, which we leave plugged in all the time. It works great. The system even recognizes the names of the programs and displays them on our Navigation screen. The MKX stereo controls also recognize and let you use those controls to navigate files, select programs, and/or control sound from the programs.

My wife just loves it, because it allows her to listen to her favorite programs any time she gets in the MKX (rather than having to wait until a scheduled broadcast time over the radio).

akirby

You can also just put the audio files on a usb flash drive and leave that plugged into the usb port.

res45

So, I believe that OP solved issue

pamkxman

I purchased a nice used 2009 MKX in March of 2012 and as of this posting, I've had the loud pop / bang occur 3 times. Usually 2-3 months apart from one another. Once the loud pop is heard (I thought I hit something the first time it happened.), then the speakers begin with a low whine that eventually gets louder and is almost unbearable. The only way I've been able to make it stop is to turn the car off then back on. Turning off the radio or any other device in the vehicle doesn't stop the whine. Only turning the car off then back on 'resets' it. After it occurred the 2nd time, I turned the bass all the way down and kept the radio volume down, but it still happened again after that. I'm taking the car in for its 45k mileage checkup (I only have 43k miles on it) this week and have asked the Ford dealer where I bought the vehicle to look at it. When I explained these occurrences to the service guy at the dealership, he told me he'd never heard of anything like it. It Primarily bothers me because I have no idea when it's going to happen and that first loud pop is very distracting.

dje3

Just like some other folks our THX system seemed to explode, it scared us as we thought the car exploded like a bomb had gone off, followed a high-pitched whine which only stopped after we turned the car off. The speakers didn't work but the radio did function although we couldn't hear anything but the whine. Once the car had been turned off, it seemed to function ok when turned back on, but we are interested to know if others have experienced this with their Lincoln. We are very concerned that it might happen again and cause a heart attack or wreck. Anyone have a solution yet?

amyandgary

I have just now settled down my wife after she experienced an explosion sound followed by the high pitched whine. Scared the crap out of her. We have a 2009 MKX with the THX system. After I turned the car off and restarted it works fine. Guess we can expect this to happen again.....any way to avoid this happening again?

len777

I too would like to know what is going with the THX system in my 2007 Lincoln MKX. It has been working just fine since the day I purchased this vehicle, and then yesterday while driving down the street the speakers suddenly made a loud pop sound followed by a very loud staticky crackling and popping noise. The entire stereo and navigation system is now unusable due to this constant noise which pours out of the speakers whenever I turn-on the system. The mute button doesn't do a thing to stop it.

1pd

I know this issue is a couple years old now, but was anyone able to find a solution to this 2008 MKX audio issue? RPOITRAS, I have followed your posts on many different forums and I am trying to figure this issue out as well.

I recently bought a used 2008 MKX with the THX sound system. The audio is exactly as you described (Tinny with little bass).

I have now narrowed down the problem to the single amplifier behind the subwoofer in the back right. However, I don't think Lincoln put in a cheap amp on the non-DVD MKX. I think that the physical amp is the same on any MKX with THX, but the actual DSP equalizer is programmed differently on each amp.

Doing some research, I have found there are 3 different amps (all by Pioneer) used on the 2008 MKX with THX. Model numbers are:
8L7T-18B849-AC
8L7T-18B849-AD
8L7T-18B849-AE

There is a 4th model amp, but it is only used on the MKX without THX.

I took apart the back panel on my MKX last night and found that I have the 8L7T-18B849-AE model amp. I called a few Lincoln dealers to try and find a correlation between the amp model number and the DVD feature to figure out which one I need to order, but didn't have any luck.

Going back to what Phil_W said about his 2007 MKX, I believe there was only 1 amp model for the 2007 MKX with THX.
Model: 7L7T-18B849-AL

I am thinking about ordering the 2007 model amp and installing it. Looking at the wiring harness and connectors in pictures, it looks like it should fit. I'm not 100% certain this will work, which is why I am checking if anyone found a solution.

1PD

Jojo58

I know that this is way late but anyone still having radio bass problems, you can add a small aftermarket amp for the Oem sub... the ones hearing the loud pop & high pitched noises, your oem amp is going out. So instead of dealing with the dealership that doesn’t know what they’re even saying just go to a stereo shop and replace the amp, the amp that you’ll end up with will be way better and sound that much better too

POed

I purchased A 2015 Mks in May of 2017. and have been a Ford Tech for 20 years and have been unable to resolve the low volume/low bass issue. if I listen to Gershwin I can turn the volume to max, and carry on a Conversation in a normal voice. I opened a case with tech support, and talked to my area market manager, I was so tired of the run around, I gave up. ON MY OWN CAR. so don’t expect help from the dealer. because we have no help from the manufacturer. the only solution is going aftermarket. good luck.
I like the premium system in my old LS and the thx in the 09 Mks. I paid a lot extra for the vehicle as I had to get the ELITE PACKAGE which adds $3200 to a new vehicle. in order to get the THX audio.🤬

POed

2015 Mks boast 100 more watts of power then the 09 Mks, but the bass is crisp and clear. at half volume you can’t stay in the 09 Mks. all the Fords w/ sony premium audio is the same. max out the speed volume, and the sound is ok at 80 mph. subpar

Mr_Shiftright

Well coming from someone with your experience, that's pretty discouraging. Seems like it is a basic engineering problem with the unit itself.

ErnestRG

To repair any of the MXK Amplifiers un-mount it from the plate tap the back of the amplifier with the radio on see if it starts or stops the tapping or thumping sound if it does, then turn off the car, remove the amp, take the cover off, re-solder all the connectors, the power transistors, anything with large leads that have not had complete solder thru the board, re-solder the larger capacitors, look at the back plate where the dimples contact the board. If the dimples wore thru the gold foil contacts cover the wear marks or holes/scratches with solder. Take small flat file and clean the top of the dimples on the metal case, clean the metal screw wells on the case. Clean all the screw holes on the printed circuit board with emery cloth or an abrasive eraser. Also solder the little power transistor heat sinks. Leave the rest of the chips/ power amps alone. Reassemble reconnect, turn on it will not come on right away since it has to re-sync. Give it 3-5 minutes if you did not make any solder bridges you should be hearing THX sound at this time... Run the THX demo doesn't it sound great?

Model numbers are:
8L7T-18B849-AC
8L7T-18B849-AD
8L7T-18B849-AE

DOCBYMYSIDE

All these comments are somewhat old compared to my current input. I recently purchased a used 2008 Lincoln MKZ with THX Radio Navigation sound system and have had all the problems experienced as mentioned. I did almost everything that was suggested short of replacing or taking the system apart. In fact, I was going to use CRC contact spray before doing what was suggested. Until, I found a comment about on the Lincoln website about telephone syncing (which is part of the THX system) I was always getting error stating no paired phone designation Well, I followed the syncing procedure which incorporated pushing the phone button and turning the off/on button while first off with driver door closed then on with open. Sounds weird but works. Haven't had any problems going on a month. See sync procedure Lincoln website! Good Luck..

HCBFlash

I'm not impressed with the sound in my 2016 (Reserve), it's got a couple option packages, but apparently not THX or anything. I haven't had it long, maybe I need to dig into it!

The car is mighty quiet, so its worth having a good sound system.