I find the idea of opening my door and hearing that repetative chime annoying, and it kinda hurts my ears a little. So, I decided to do something about it. You can do this yourself if you like, or completely ignore my shit lol
Things you will need:
15-30 watt soldering iron
solder
5 inches (approx.) of 26 gauge wire (or simular)
flathead screwdrivers, or whatever you want to use to take the case apart
plyers (again, whatever)
gluegun
Varistor/trim pot (I got mine from some old electronics boards I had lying around.) These can also be purchased at your local Radioshack.
As far as I know, the chimes for the TC/Marq/Vic are the same, but in different locations under the dash. Also, be aware that from year to year the design of the PCB and location of certain componants may have varied. I'm also not sure of how the chimes are set up on newer panthers, or if they are even the same on all years of boxes.
Warning: If you decide to do this, I cannot be held responsible for any damage that is done to the chime itself. Only do this if you have at least some grasp of electronics and soldering. Always unhook your batter before removing or replacing any electric componants, to prevent damage.
The chime. On the TC, it is mounted under the dash on the left side by the floor vent for the heater. It comes out with one screw on the lip under the dash. You can see I removed the mount for the chime as well, which mounts to two clips on the back.
The two parts of the shell is glued together. The way I handled it was I took a pair of plyers and broke the lip off, then used a screwdriver around the seam. You'll know it's coming apart when the glue cracks.
The shell opened, PCB exposed.
The other side. The speaker is just a standard cheapo 8 Ohm .25watt speaker. You can see the wires passing behind the large Capacitor on the right. This is where we make our mod.
The red circle shows what joint to desolder.This is to the + side of the speaker. Desolder this peice of wire from the PCB, and then unsolder it from the leg on the speaker itself.
The trimmer. The leg circled in red needs to be clipped off, otherwise it will ground out the circuit, possibly damaging it. *edit* don't use a shitty trim pot like that one, find something sturdier. I used a trim because of the small size, it fits perfectly under the cover.
The unclipped leg soldered to where the speaker wire origionally was. You can see where the clipped leg would short out on the solder joint under it.
Solder the piece of wire to the front leg of the varistor (trim wire to length). Solder the other end to where the origional peice of wire was on the speaker.
Hot glue the exposed legs to keep them from shorting other componants when you put the shell back together.
Cut a hole in the shell (hopefully less shitty than the one I made lol) so you can adjust the varistor once the cover is reinstalled.
Hot glue the shell back together.
Plug the chime back into the harness, reconnect the battery. Turn the varistor until the chime is at it's loudest, then turn it back to where you like it. Or, you could just turn it all the way to it's off. Replace the chime under the dash, and enjoy a less annoying door chime!
-------
After I got it all back together, put back in the car, I tried it out. The varistor had somehow stopped working, so I had to take the whole thing apart and replace the shitty cheapo asshole trim pot and find a sturdier one. The replacement was exactly the same but made of sturdier material. If you decide to steal a trim from some old electronics boards you have lying around, test to make sure it works okay with a digital multimeter (analog is okay too) to verify it works before you go through all the trouble of having to take it apart if the trim pot isn't working correctly.
I hope it works out for you, I know I like it.
Happy modding!!
Things you will need:
15-30 watt soldering iron
solder
5 inches (approx.) of 26 gauge wire (or simular)
flathead screwdrivers, or whatever you want to use to take the case apart
plyers (again, whatever)
gluegun
Varistor/trim pot (I got mine from some old electronics boards I had lying around.) These can also be purchased at your local Radioshack.
As far as I know, the chimes for the TC/Marq/Vic are the same, but in different locations under the dash. Also, be aware that from year to year the design of the PCB and location of certain componants may have varied. I'm also not sure of how the chimes are set up on newer panthers, or if they are even the same on all years of boxes.
Warning: If you decide to do this, I cannot be held responsible for any damage that is done to the chime itself. Only do this if you have at least some grasp of electronics and soldering. Always unhook your batter before removing or replacing any electric componants, to prevent damage.
The chime. On the TC, it is mounted under the dash on the left side by the floor vent for the heater. It comes out with one screw on the lip under the dash. You can see I removed the mount for the chime as well, which mounts to two clips on the back.
The two parts of the shell is glued together. The way I handled it was I took a pair of plyers and broke the lip off, then used a screwdriver around the seam. You'll know it's coming apart when the glue cracks.
The shell opened, PCB exposed.
The other side. The speaker is just a standard cheapo 8 Ohm .25watt speaker. You can see the wires passing behind the large Capacitor on the right. This is where we make our mod.
The red circle shows what joint to desolder.This is to the + side of the speaker. Desolder this peice of wire from the PCB, and then unsolder it from the leg on the speaker itself.
The trimmer. The leg circled in red needs to be clipped off, otherwise it will ground out the circuit, possibly damaging it. *edit* don't use a shitty trim pot like that one, find something sturdier. I used a trim because of the small size, it fits perfectly under the cover.
The unclipped leg soldered to where the speaker wire origionally was. You can see where the clipped leg would short out on the solder joint under it.
Solder the piece of wire to the front leg of the varistor (trim wire to length). Solder the other end to where the origional peice of wire was on the speaker.
Hot glue the exposed legs to keep them from shorting other componants when you put the shell back together.
Cut a hole in the shell (hopefully less shitty than the one I made lol) so you can adjust the varistor once the cover is reinstalled.
Hot glue the shell back together.
Plug the chime back into the harness, reconnect the battery. Turn the varistor until the chime is at it's loudest, then turn it back to where you like it. Or, you could just turn it all the way to it's off. Replace the chime under the dash, and enjoy a less annoying door chime!
-------
After I got it all back together, put back in the car, I tried it out. The varistor had somehow stopped working, so I had to take the whole thing apart and replace the shitty cheapo asshole trim pot and find a sturdier one. The replacement was exactly the same but made of sturdier material. If you decide to steal a trim from some old electronics boards you have lying around, test to make sure it works okay with a digital multimeter (analog is okay too) to verify it works before you go through all the trouble of having to take it apart if the trim pot isn't working correctly.
I hope it works out for you, I know I like it.
Happy modding!!
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