Can't Get Rid of Engine Whine

[KCMA 10+ year member]

Hey everyone. Having an issue with engine whine and cant get rid of it. Here is my system:

2010 charger

Kenwood KDC-X994 Receiver

Kicker SS Components in the front & Rear

Eclipse XA4100 4-Channel

2 Alpine Type X 10" Subs

Orion HCCA25001 Sub Amp

I cant figure out why I have engine whine. I have tried:

-Grounding the HU to the chassis

-Re-grounding all amps (currently grounded to where factory battery is grounded in rear)

-RCAs and Power wire ran down opposite sides of the vehicle

-Ran new RCAs for both amps down he center of the vehicle to test (Tsunami Nickel plated RCAs)

-Ground loop isolators

None of these fix the issue. One test I did do was I took my mp3 player and used a y-splitter and plugged that in to the 4 channel instead of the kenwood hu. When I did this, it seemed that the alternator whine went away. Does that mean my headunit is bad or the amp is bad... or does it mean nothing at all? I dont have another 4 channel amp handy to test and i dont have a spare kenwood headunit to just plug in and try.

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[southwest713 10+ year member]

pull the radio out and just plug it directly to the amp without running the rcas under the carpet or anything just to see if that eliminates the whine. if so, then its picking it up somewhere along the route.

also make sure that the rca's aren't running close to a power wire. since the battery is in the back there's most likely a heavy gauge wire running up front as well.

 

[Haunz 10+ year member]

A ground loop isolator should have worked.. which model did you use ?

Anyway, check navone engineering... they've got some stuff that will cure your problem...

 

[KCMA 10+ year member]

I have already pulled the radio out and ran the rcas down the middle. This did not work. The rcas come up the drivers side and the battery is on the right side. Rcas are clear of the wires.

I used a tsunami ground loop isolator and a monster cable ground loop isolator.

I did pull the radio out to try and ground the rcas and that didn't work. But here is the weird thing... With ALL the rcas unplugged from the hu, I still have engine whine with the hu powered on. How is that even possible? Does that mean its the hu or the amp??

 

[KCMA 10+ year member]

Anyone?

 

[Tibyboy03 10+ year member]

I have already pulled the radio out and ran the rcas down the middle. This did not work. The rcas come up the drivers side and the battery is on the right side. Rcas are clear of the wires.
I used a tsunami ground loop isolator and a monster cable ground loop isolator.

I did pull the radio out to try and ground the rcas and that didn't work. But here is the weird thing... With ALL the rcas unplugged from the hu, I still have engine whine with the hu powered on. How is that even possible? Does that mean its the hu or the amp??

make sure that the remote wire is not next to rca's either. or you can try disconecting the remote wire from the amp and make a jumper if you loose the noise then your remote wire could have a exposed area along it.

 

[cmobley 10+ year member]

These cars, (Magnums, Chargers, 300's), all have major noise issues. The main problems being that the main power supply is ran all the way down the passenger side of the vehicle, the battery is in the back located and usually less than 2 feet from the amps, and that the power supply for the fuel pump is ran down the driver side. I ran my rca's up into the headliner and back. It helped quite a bit. I still have a tiny bit of noise but not as much as i orignally had. I also upgraded the factory grounds.

 

[KCMA 10+ year member]

I'll check the remote wire tmr thx.

I did the big 3 as well and factory grounds have been upgraded. No change.

For the rcas... If I ran them down the middle and not either side wouldn't that eliminate that issue? Also, i still don't understand how I have alternator whine even when the rcas aren't plugged in to the head unit??

 

[KyleBechtold 5,000+ posts]

I'll check the remote wire tmr thx.
I did the big 3 as well and factory grounds have been upgraded. No change.

For the rcas... If I ran them down the middle and not either side wouldn't that eliminate that issue? Also, i still don't understand how I have alternator whine even when the rcas aren't plugged in to the head unit??

disconnect the rcas from the amp and I bet it goes away.. if not then you have either a bad ground on the amp.. whether loose bad spot etc.. or something is probably loose in the amp..

if it does go away then its either the rcas whether they are shitty and introduce a lot of noise, you have extensions, your headunit.

the ipod trick can only do one thing and thats eliminate that its a problem with the amp.. it does not use the cars ground or power so alt noise is no issue unless the amp is picking it up..

 

[KCMA 10+ year member]

disconnect the rcas from the amp and I bet it goes away.. if not then you have either a bad ground on the amp.. whether loose bad spot etc.. or something is probably loose in the amp..
if it does go away then its either the rcas whether they are shitty and introduce a lot of noise, you have extensions, your headunit.

the ipod trick can only do one thing and thats eliminate that its a problem with the amp.. it does not use the cars ground or power so alt noise is no issue unless the amp is picking it up..

When I unplug the RCAs from the amp it DOES go away. I have tried 3 different pairs of RCAs, and none of them are cheap so I really dont think its the RCAs but I could be wrong?

Maybe I will pick up another headunit from Best Buy or something just to swap real quick and see if its the headunit. So am I correct in thinking that this narrows it down to the RCAs or the Headunit - more than likely it is NOT the amp?

 

[Tibyboy03 10+ year member]

When I unplug the RCAs from the amp it DOES go away. I have tried 3 different pairs of RCAs, and none of them are cheap so I really dont think its the RCAs but I could be wrong?
Maybe I will pick up another headunit from Best Buy or something just to swap real quick and see if its the headunit. So am I correct in thinking that this narrows it down to the RCAs or the Headunit - more than likely it is NOT the amp?

i would say its not the amp from what i get of all this. and any update on how it sounds now?

 

[KCMA 10+ year member]

i would say its not the amp from what i get of all this. and any update on how it sounds now?

I picked up a cheap Kenwood HU from Best Buy last night but havent had time to swap yet. I will try and do that tonight. I hate ground issues.

 

[tekk45 10+ year member]

I had the same problem in my 99 Grand Am, Pioneer 880PRS head unit. Tried all the usual tricks, grounding thre amps and head unit directly to the battery, ect. I tried several sets of RCA's. The noise was always there with the RCA's plugged into the amp but gone when unplugged. I used a set of shielded RCA's and the noise went away. The shielded RCA's have a foil like material inside the insulation. With these installed, no more noise. I did have ground loop isolators installed but hey kill the SQ. They are no longer needed with the new RCA's.

Team Neo - Eric

 

[KCMA 10+ year member]

Well, for those of you that have been following and trying to help... I finally switched out the HU. No change at all. I ran a new ground for the HU again, nothing. I ran a new ground for the 4-Channel amp again, nothing. I tried re-routing some of the cabling back by the amps, nothing.

At this stage I'm really at a loss. When I return the HU I think im going to pick up a cheap 4-Channel to swap that out just in case. I'm really at a loss here.

I couldnt find the RCAs i use online anymore. They were purchased from circuit city years ago. They are Metra Tsunami's and look like this:

Metra Tsunami 3ft 2-Channel Male-to-Male RCA Cable - Cowboom Store

Except they have black jackets and are silver instead of blue with gold plating.

I tried switching them out with these exact RCAs:

METRA x15-17 RTP X15 Series - 2 Channel RCA Cables 17 ft RCA;

I am really at a loss. Unless people think I had multiple bad sets of RCAs I'm not sure what else to do. When I ran all RCAs I just ran them down the center of the car over the seats real quick to test. Does anyone else have any thoughts??

 

[KCMA 10+ year member]

Ok guys... Switch out the 4ch with an alpine amp to test. No change. Running out of ideas?