Engine noise through my new stereo!

Gee aftermarket tinkering is filled with new problems one after the other.

Ok, I've never ever had this problem before, but always heard other people talking about it..

Howcome I am getting a really loud engine frequency buzz through my speakers out of this new stereo??

The whole system is new, I installed it when the engine was broken, so this is the first time I've tested it out with the car actually started.

At present: there's just a pair of front splits running through a response amp, and a pioneer 5750 head unit.

Does it need some filter or something? I thought the new head units had all that stuff built in. Or is it the amp picking something up??

Yep check the grounding.

Are all speakers amped? Is it only the amped speakers which are making the excess noise?

Yes the pair of splits are amped.

I don't have any other speakers hooked up at present.

Did some reading, apparently it could be caused by a ground loop etc? I'll go have a play grounding the amp and changing its ground etc etc.

Any other ideas?

Run a new RCA cable from the HU to the AMP. Run it nice and high where it won't be near any other electronics. You don't have to install it or anything, its just a testing method.

If the noise goes away then you've got interference through the RCA cables and you can attack them with a different route.

Apart from that, and all the wiring is done properly I wouldn't have a clue and i'd probably head over to www.caraudioaustralia.com mabye .au and ask the gurus over there.

hmmmm, dammit i had that with my old celica, and i fixed it but i can't remember what i did, i bought a gadget from jaycar to stop engine noise but then sorted it out before fitting the noise supressor thing. Took the noise supressor thing back for refund. Argh,

i'll post right away if i remember, my interference changed with engine revs, like with spark ignition.

Alex

cisco you need something called a ground loop isolater. i have a spare one but im in the uk so posting might be expensive. just search on the interent and im sure you can get one. should be about 15 gbp depending where you get it from. this is a common problem and this thing should clear it right up.

yes definatley, a gound loop isolater. thats what i had to sort mine out.

Yep I can also Comfirm you Need the 'Ground Loop Isolator'. You need to link it between the headunit and the amplifer. That will do the job for sure! I had this problem in mine when installing an amplifer for the first time.

Cisco, you should be able to get one at Jaycar in Fyshwick or I guess any decent car sound place.

CAT. NO. AA3085 and should be around $20

Jaycar call it a "Car Stereo Line Isolation Transformer", This transformer coupled network will remove any Ground Loops in your car stereo. There is absolutely no attenuation when the unit is connected. Supplied with gold RCA plugs and sockets for low level inline connection.
- Freq resp: 20 to 20kHz
- No power required.

Thanks everyone. Appreciated.

Now everyone on caraudioaustralia seem to not be keen on these gadgets. They say that if your earths are all setup properly, then you don't need one at all.

They actually say to fix the problem by upgrading earth wires and re-routing and re-grounding etc And then to ditch any ground isolation gadgets etc.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm. I'll have a play around tonight..

yeh, right on cisco, i can't remember what i did that caused it, think i had the speaker wires running along the 12v or something, not sure. but i didn't need one of those gadgets,

Alex

technically they are right but the quality of the metal on the car degrades after years and years so the resistance will be slightly more which wont give you the best earth. you can either spend more money on thick cables to re route it back to your battery or somewhere near or you can spend a tiny amount of money on one of these and have it fixed in 5mins lol

Cisco, pretty sure on mine it was the earth straight off the battery that was causing my problem with my last car, with your new battery under the seat, does it have a good earth?, i ran my earth from the orignal position in the engine bay AND another point beside where the battery is in the cabin,

Alex

Hmmm.

My battery's earth is under the big bolt that the seatbelt's large metal sliding rail thing bolts onto the chassis. You know that metal rail down behind the front seats on each side of the car?

It looks like a really good earth but hmm.

The amp's earth goes directly to the battery terminal too.

Hmm! Gotta play with it tonight..

Are your Cables (guess it's chinch) from the headunit to the amp in the same route as your positive+ from the battery? if so, you have to reroute one of them, that they don't cross much.

I had the same problem on my old car (fiat punto), the problem was the fuel pump. My chinch cables where runnig over the fuel pump, and this was the problem, i located them then in another way and the problem was done.

Another advice is, you install two flexible empty tubes. one on the left and one on the right side, then you run your cables through those tubes. So they are a bit more shielded.

Just my thoughts maybe, it helps.

Thanks a lot Mick, appreciate it.

You're spot on, the cables are routed down the same path as the battery. Tonight I will get out there and undo everything and try to move the cables away from each other and see how that goes..

Last night I played with earths and grounding everything and adding and moving extra grounding cables etc. But I didn't bother pulling the head unit out, will take it to that stage tonight.

Thx again.

No Problem, at all. Tell me if it worked out for you.
But i'm shure, that this will be the problem.

hey without you having to rip and change everything out of you car, you might wanna check this lil gadget out.

you can buy it online, or if you are paranoid about the whole online credit card thingo, i could buy one and mail it out to you and you mail me the cash when you feel like it.
i used it in my car cause the sound is also unbearable. this removes just abt all kinds of unwanted and only leaves the wanted sounds you want. i live like 10mins from Jaycar, so its all good if you want me to grab it for you.

Just in case the bottom link dont work, plug in CAT. NO. AA3081 under the search at http://www.jaycar.com.au/ the doohickey is called:

40 Amp Car Noise Filter

This unit is effective against 'engine hum' and 'ticking' caused by alternators, ignition coils & spark plug leads in automotive car radio & stereo installations. Connects in series with the battery supply (hotline).
- Gold plated cable termination
- Chrome plated case
- Size 75(L) x 40(Dia)mm

Check out the URL http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=AA3081&CATID=&keywords=noise&SPECIAL=&form=KEYWORD&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=

Thanks a lot Kirby, I'll seriously look into that.

Something's going on!

I completely re-routed my fat battery cable and my RCA cables separately and tidied up some stuff.

EVERYTHING with the wiring looks perfect. And all grounds have really decent fat cables, So really weird. I tried to earth and un-earth the amp. All kinds of combos of earthing this and that didn't seem to help.

Well the sound got a fair bit quieter, but hasn't gone completely, and now seems to have gotten a bit louder again.

Really yeah getting a bit of sick of this and just give me some gadget that fixes the problem magically!

Will check these things out, thanks everyone.

So this thing intercepts the amp's power supply?

Not the head unit?

Cheers.

basically the "40 Amp Car Noise Filter" thingo is wired like this:

Batteries > 40 Amp Car Noise Filter > Power to your Amp

the beauty of this thingo is, you dont really have to re-route your whole getup, all you do is, select a section of you power cable, splice it in, and *twing* all good. the other thing that makes this thingo SOOO sweet is, its only $24.95 man.

i actually bought this other set that does exactly the same thing only more expensive, and felt pretty dumb after that. its the Pivot Volt Stabaliser for $100 bucks. it looks cool and all tho, but not much point really.
http://www.the-pivot.co.jp/product/se/raizin-e.html

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