I installed my system last weekend at home. Me and my brother did the whole thing ourselves and there's noise present when the engine is running which increases in pitch with RPM.

The setup is a CD headunit up front to 2 amps in the trunk. Amps power components up front, rear deck speakers and a sub. Fat 4 gauge power cable runs to a distribution block under the rear seat which splits into 10 gauge (I believe) to each amp. RCAs run on the drivers side, power runs on passenger with speaker wire running from the amps to the components up front on their respective sides of the car.

What are all the possible causes of this happening (and solutions)?

 

i dont know exactly why it does it, but i know its a wiring problem. a lot of my friends have had this problem and they had to go back and check all their wiring, making sure it was connect to the right stuff, and properly taped up.

if i'm not mistaken, this is prolly what it is

 

you need better ground

 

Could be the ground. Could be alot of things. Did you run the rca's and power down separate sides of the car? Is your ground for the amps within 18 inches of the amps? Do you have an aftermarket ignition? Engine noise is one of the most common and hardest problems to fix. An easy test is to slide your deck out and hook up a different set of rca's. Then drape them over the seats to your amps. Plug it into the amp's. If the moise is gone check your original rca's. If it is still there try a different ground.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I have one other question. RCAs and ground were mentioned, but could it also be the speaker wire itself? It had to be run pretty close to the power cable where it enters the cabin from the engine bay. If the speaker wire for the front passenger side (where the power cable enters) is too close, would that cause the same whining?

 

i found this on **********

Sound System Whine
During the day its fine but at night when I put on my lights, or ac, I get the high pitch whine of the engine through my speakers. I wuz told to run a ground wire direct from the battery, and I wuz also told to runa ground to the chassis....

Any suggestions?

faq@**********

Re. 1
Try a filter in the red "hot" wire. it's nothing but interference. your amp (if you have one) may be too close to the alternator, try several things, you can never tell where interference is coming from. did you replace the alternator?

john

Re. 2
Try running the power and signal (RCA) cables down opposite sides of the car. Also make sure that the RCAs don't run near the car's wiring that goes to the rear. Finally, make sure your ground wire is no longer than 18" and that it makes good contact with bare metal.

-Justin

Re. 3
You should make the ground wire as short as possible. If you run the ground from the battery, you're probably more prone to whine. I have two big Alpine amps running in the trunk, and before I added an MSD ignition, I had zero whine. With or without lights or AC. Oh, try upping the gauge of the wire too..

Mike Y.

Solution:

AS TO THE SYSTEM WHINE, BE SURE TO RUN PREMIUM QUALITY RCA CABLES (TRANSBALANCED HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) ALSO TRY NOT TO USE SPLITTERS AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT CAUSES SIGNAL LOSS. AS PER GROUNDING, TRY TO GROUND ALL OF YOUR AMPS TO THE SAME POINT WHILE KEEPING IT SHORT AS POSSIBLE. I RUN ROCKFORD FOSGATE WHITE WOLF CABLES, I FIND THEY WORK GREAT. 3 KICKER ZR AMPLIFIERS, 3 SOLO 12" RS5.2 R3, 460i,3 1FARAD CAPS, KQ5 KICKER EQ, AND MORE........ZERO WHINE....TRY MY SUGGESTIONS AND LET ME KNOW HOW YOU MAKE OUT.

Simon L.
Email: lichcoch@execulink.com

 

no

 

So speaker wire is no issue, only the RCAs? Hmmmm. this is getting more perplexing, I would have thought it was the speaker wire first because that's the closest wire to the power. I guess I'll try different RCAs then.