Engine whine and ground loop fixes... take two

[ace_800 5,000+ posts]

Its connected to the a/c controls and everything else on my center console(ie. oem 6.5 display, maintenance controls, etc.)Metra and Schose(sp) don't make and are not in the process of making a kit. Kind of like the Ford kiet that runs like 80 bucks but needs to be much more complicated. A big ass cpu board( or some ****, its about 9"x11") runs through the center console and by removing the oem cd changer/player the cpu board is still there, only the cd slot is all the way through.

pic of behind console

 

[jda 10+ year member]

After fighting alternator whine for some while, as well as the on/off thump, grounding my RCAs has fixed the problem with my 5900. There is not any alternator whine left. I am both angry that I had to do this with a known problem but also happy that the whine is gone.

 

[etznova 10+ year member]

well I've got a Premeir 780

i had it in my bonneville with no noise

i then got new truck i put the deck in and I got a horrible rumble through the sub when volume was at zero and in the background of the music

i tried every other noise remedy with no sucsess

I then grounded the RCA's and atlast no rumble

**** Pioneer's

 

[Ryley87]

There are alot of disappointed pioneer customers on here //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif and tomorrow i plan to install my system which has a pioneer deh-p6950ib HU...

So i had better do this right the first time.

So i have some shielded rca's with some small ground wires coming of the casing at each end, does this mean i don't have to worry about grounding the rca's at the back of the unit with bare wire as previously pictured several times?

secondly can i ground the HU to the firewall or something in that locality and ground the amp to the floor pan under the seat without introducing ground loops? It has been suggested to me that amp and HU grounds should be in the same area, would just like to see how many people can confirm/discredit this.

I plan to wire the rca's and turn on wire down one side of the car and the battery wire down the other as many people advocate this practice. Should i run speaker wire for the parcel shelf speakers down the same side as the rca's away from the power wire?

Cheers.

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

The wire built into your RCA cables is a remote wire, so that you don't have to run a separate wire.

You can ground your head unit to the firewall or what have you, and not have any ground loops, but the safest option is to ground to the same place as your amp(s) or to the negative post of the battery.

 

[SethPhillips 5,000+ posts]

i love pioneer's other then this.................

 

[Home2CarSpeaker]

I have a serious alternator whine problem along with the accompanying thuds during channel switching etc. I have a Pioneer DEH P-880 HU which has performed flawlessly with the amp and sub I use until the other day when I was turning up the power amp sensitivity a little and I got a loud screech. After going through all my speakers, testing the amp with another source etc. I isolated the HU as the culprit. It hasn't screeched again yet but I have the alternator hum quite prominently. Is there any chance something shorted in the HU in terms of grounding or fuses or could my alternator just be about fried. Any help would be appreciated.

System Pioneer: DEH-P880 Head Unit, Sirius/Pioneer Receiver, Jenson 780 Watt Stereo Power Amp, Kenwood Powered Bazooka Sub, B&W 5 1/4" Home Audio Speakers W/ 1" Dome Tweeters in Front, 3D Acoustic 6.5" Home Audio Speakers W/Road Master Tweeters in Back.

 

[Ryley87]

The wire built into your RCA cables is a remote wire, so that you don't have to run a separate wire.
You can ground your head unit to the firewall or what have you, and not have any ground loops, but the safest option is to ground to the same place as your amp(s) or to the negative post of the battery.

Are you sure about that the wires are black with ring terminals...

Can someone tell me how to post a pic so i can show you the rca's and anything else in the future.

Thanks for the reply,

Cheers.

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

This was very useful. I have a Premier 690ub And all of a sudden i started getting the alternator whine. I have not had a chance to do the grounding rcas thing yet, but my local sound shop told me the same thing. they said to ground the rcas though. I will post the outcome after i try this tonight.

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

I finally did it correctly and it worked!!! At first i had it half assed and i still heard a lot of noise. After redoing it, It almost cleaned it up completely. I will try some other suggestions (I have a set on the back of my HU that come out like a Y adapter, and I need to ground those) And i also will try grounding the HU from the factory spot to somewhere else.

 

[Pfuse]

Hey everyone,

***Disclaimer***

I have very limited knowledge of car audio. The extent of my experience has been installing a HU and a portable xm. So, thanks in advance for putting up with my inexperience.

I have a JVC head unit. I have a XM Nexus 50. These are installed in a Kenworth T600.

Since the built in FM transmitter in the Nexus is garbage I decided to hook in directly to the HU through a AUX input. The AUX input required an adapter that went from the CD changer control to a set of RCA outputs. From there I have a RCA to 3.5mm jack adapter.

I get no whine when using the FM transmitter (just other FM interference), CD or regular FM stations. I do get a lot of whine when hooked into the AUX.

Here is my question. If I wanted to do supplemental grounding, where would I start? The adapter, the other RCA outs (like in the pics), or the HU chassis?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. And please, remember that I am not a car audio guy and will probably need any guidance explained to me like I am 5.

 

[hoxie08 5,000+ posts]

maybe this has something to do with why my computer speakers are making a weird whiny noise...like, minimize or restore a window and you can hear a pitch that gets higher or lower...and when you move the mouse you can kinda hear a whiny clicky noise...its werrrrrrrd.

 

[Dana]

Hi All,

The best way to get rid of "Engine whine" is to run a fresh ground to anything your hooking up from a non popular ground area on your vehicle.

Most of the time you'll find after hooking up your entire system that you have some noise there. What most people dont know is that usually that noise is comming through your head unit.

Using your vehicle adapter stereo harness youll use the ground provided and tie right into a high ground traffic area.

Get away from it and you should see a very big difference.

Jason

http://www.StompAudio.com

 

[bigbang 10+ year member]

I have a pioneer deh8600mp that has served me well for 3years. After my new trunk install, terribly loud noise through all speakers even with the engine off.

Grounded the RCAs at the head unit, cleared ALL noise. Only took like half an hour, didnt even unplug the deck to do it. I was really surprised it was such an easy fix.

 

[rrmccabe 10+ year member]

I have posted this elsewhere, but the easiest way to ground and not worry about soldering is to buy these Steren connectors (310-460WH) used for home "in wall" wiring and remove the plastic and add a ring terminal.

Here is what it looks like.

And this is what you would do with the ring terminal

I made these (below) because I did not want to wait, but the Steren connector would work best.