The factory sub is working after messing with the wiring and head unit… I think it was just not connected well under the console. Its blown to pieces, so I ordered the $25 Goldwood. The ohms aren’t exactly right, but I’m not sure how much I’ll notice or care. I’ll eventually move to a powered 8" in the console cavity.
lol
Swapped the sub over the weekend. I ran a couple of errands around town and its (obviously) a massive improvement. It’s not cutting out, but I’ve only had it running for 10-15 minutes at a time. I’ll keep an eye on it. My expectations were and are low for a $25 sub, but it sounds fine and the bass is at least present now. Still need to tweak the EQ and settings a bit more.
Now that the sub works and I can actually turn up the volume a bit with out the dramatic clipping from the sub, the front speakers (probably the rears too) are distorting at what I subjectively do not consider to be a high volume. My fronts are Polk DB522s and the rears are still factory. I might be able to compensate for this a bit in the head unit settings, but its probably just the factory amp showing its colors. Now I’m thinking a 5 channel amp might be in my future. I’m not a huge fan of the Pioneer head the PO installed either. We shall see where I land.