Help with Engine Whine - Just Installed Front Components

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

I finally got a front stage in my car this past week.

I'm running a Kicker ZX850.2 and Boston PRO60's passive.

I'm using a David Navone LOC that is tapped into the rear speakers. This LOC can not be the cause of the whine because all of the wiring is the same from when I ran a sub amp off the LOC and there was no whine.

This is everything I have tried.

1. Thought it was induced by the crossovers being mounted up in the front under the dash with all the other electronics, so I uninstalled all of that and moved them to the trunk. Nothing different.

2. I tried each side at a time to see if it was both sides, it is both sides.

3. The whine increases with the RPM's. It is a very high pitch whine, but not very loud at low rpm's.

4. I have hooked up an iPod directly to the amp with RCA's and there didn't seem to be any whine that I could hear, so this made me think it was the RCA's. I went out and replaced the Knu RCA's with some Stinger RCA's. No difference.

5. Keep in mind the same exact LOC and RCA setup was used my for my old sub-stage and there was no whine issues.

6. There are two runs of 0/1 awg from the front battery to a G31 Yellowtop in the trunk. One + and one -. These runs are within about a foot of the 4 speaker-wire sets going from the mids and tweets to the trunk. This should not be a problem but there's no other choices for me.

7. The YT and all that wiring is in the left rear of the trunk and the crossovers and speaker and RCA's are on the other side of the trunk.

Someone please give me some ideas on what else to try... It might be the amp because I got it used for an amazing deal, but I wouldn't think so because the iPod seemed to work just fine without the engine whine which also means it can't be the speaker wires being next to the two runs of 0/1 awg either.

Thanks for helping me out.

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[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

It sounds like your headunit (stock or not) needs a new/better ground. Try to find a better ground for your headunit and if that doesn't work, ground the chassis of the headunit.

You could also try grounding the RCAs if they are the Knu RCAs that have center ground wire.

Keep in mind that alternator whine (whine that increases with RPM) is ALWAYS a ground loop issue. One of your electronic component's ground is not at a 0 potential and so there is a voltage where there should not be one.

 

[215"Memphis 10+ year member]

Do you drive a camaro or (chevy/GMC).

 

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

How would I go about re-grounding a stock HU?

 

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

Do you drive a camaro or (chevy/GMC).

No, import.

 

[215"Memphis 10+ year member]

O just wonderin, my dads camaro used to do that when the radio was off. Your ground might connected to your transmission.

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

i had a whine not to long ago through my tweeters after hooking up a new amp. turned out to be shitty rca cables. got some new ones and it cleared the noise right up.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

Try grounding the chassis on the headunit. Basically, remove the unit and attach a ~12gauge wire to the chassis and find a close and short car chassis ground for it.

The big 3 may also help out some.

 

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

Try grounding the chassis on the headunit. Basically, remove the unit and attach a ~12gauge wire to the chassis and find a close and short car chassis ground for it.
The big 3 may also help out some.

Big 3 done in dual 0/1 awg, actually big 4 in my car.

 

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

i had a whine not to long ago through my tweeters after hooking up a new amp. turned out to be shitty rca cables. got some new ones and it cleared the noise right up.

Tried two sets man... And the first set didn't ever cause problems with the sub amp...

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

Tried two sets man... And the first set didn't ever cause problems with the sub amp...

which knu cables were they? are they shielded?

i didn't have any problems with my mids or sub either. it was only the tweeter channels. so saying the problem never happened with the sub doesn't mean much.

 

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

which knu cables were they? are they shielded?

The nice ones, yes shielded, even has the REM wire in the middle, that I don't use.

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

The nice ones, yes shielded, even has the REM wire in the middle, that I don't use.

well the "nice ones" are the krystal kables, they don't have the wire for the remote in them. it could still be rca wires. are you 100% sure the ones you have are shielded?

the ones with the remote wire are the klarity kable, which is their bottom of the line cable. i went from cheap *** rockford cables to the krystal kable and the noise was gone.

 

[MikeyB 5,000+ posts]

I had an issue like this, replaced RCA's and ran them on the other side of the vehicle and it solved the problem. Somehow I was getting interference next to my power runs //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[mike11202 10+ year member]

yeah mine used to do the same thing.. i had a local shop fix it