Doozy Pt. 2 - the whine strikes...again dammit (56k pic warning)
07-09-2007, 12:02 AM
#1
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 136
Doozy Pt. 2 - the whine strikes...again dammit (56k pic warning)
I'm starting to get agitated by this whole thing. After spending this kind of money on the system I want to quit dicking with it and just enjoy some tunes! Alas, even after drastic adjustments, my alternator whine is still persisting.
I decided to move the crossovers, which were determined in Pt 1 to be the problem, to the trunk from under the dash. I figured why mess around when I can be sure it will work? Thus, I removed the now defunct factory amplifier and purloined the mounting bracket it was on. A spare piece of oak (ooooo, aaaahhh) served as the mounting surface, which was carpeted. The crossovers were then screwed on and the whole assembly mounted and wired up.
Previously, I had also been getting whine even when the head unit and amps were OFF; this was found to be caused by the RCAs. I moved these into a very cramped opening along the side of the rear seat. This managed to fix the problem and no more whine when no power! Small victory.
So after wiring, and testing the RCAs, I started the car and immediately wanted a stiff drink, as the whine was still there, PLUS odd noise. I only have a few theories:
1. Signal wires going through grommet are picking up noise from the wiring loom.
2. Nearby ground point messing with the crossovers.
3. Chassis is just freaking charged and no matter where I put these things outside of a lead ****ing box I'm going to get goddam whine.
One more possible hint: I noticed that when I change CD's the NOISE portion dips considerably, and you can hear the CD loading through the speakers. The WHINE exists no matter what I do.
Good God, if anybody knows ANYTHING about this, please help me. I just want to listen to my music without my ears bleeding from the whine!
Pics below of the install:
New mount:
Bottom:
Mount location (brown wires are chassis grounds for the old amp and brake lights):
Speaker wire thru wall:
More mounting point, with wire looms at the bottom:
In place:
Wide shot:
Medium shot:
Amps moved back (with messy wiring):
Wiring cleaned up a bit:
I decided to move the crossovers, which were determined in Pt 1 to be the problem, to the trunk from under the dash. I figured why mess around when I can be sure it will work? Thus, I removed the now defunct factory amplifier and purloined the mounting bracket it was on. A spare piece of oak (ooooo, aaaahhh) served as the mounting surface, which was carpeted. The crossovers were then screwed on and the whole assembly mounted and wired up.
Previously, I had also been getting whine even when the head unit and amps were OFF; this was found to be caused by the RCAs. I moved these into a very cramped opening along the side of the rear seat. This managed to fix the problem and no more whine when no power! Small victory.
So after wiring, and testing the RCAs, I started the car and immediately wanted a stiff drink, as the whine was still there, PLUS odd noise. I only have a few theories:
1. Signal wires going through grommet are picking up noise from the wiring loom.
2. Nearby ground point messing with the crossovers.
3. Chassis is just freaking charged and no matter where I put these things outside of a lead ****ing box I'm going to get goddam whine.
One more possible hint: I noticed that when I change CD's the NOISE portion dips considerably, and you can hear the CD loading through the speakers. The WHINE exists no matter what I do.
Good God, if anybody knows ANYTHING about this, please help me. I just want to listen to my music without my ears bleeding from the whine!
Pics below of the install:
New mount:
Bottom:
Mount location (brown wires are chassis grounds for the old amp and brake lights):
Speaker wire thru wall:
More mounting point, with wire looms at the bottom:
In place:
Wide shot:
Medium shot:
Amps moved back (with messy wiring):
Wiring cleaned up a bit:
07-09-2007, 11:14 AM
#8
97'scort has exceeded their stored private messages quota and can not accept further messages until they clear some space.
ps Pioneer has bin known to do this
try bench testing the deck and just because you are testing test your amps
b u t Y ?
ps Pioneer has bin known to do this
try bench testing the deck and just because you are testing test your amps
b u t Y ?
07-09-2007, 11:38 AM
#9
50 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 136
Cleaned out the box 
I pulled the HU and bench tested it a few weeks ago while checking to see if the grounds were shot on it. It seemed to perform just fine.
When I get home tonight I'm going to hook a discman up to the amp and give that a shot. Hadn't thought of that one before! That list you PM'd me should help a lot.
I'd still like to know how to make one of these muting plugs. I searched at 12volt.com and found a vague description but no good one.
I pulled the HU and bench tested it a few weeks ago while checking to see if the grounds were shot on it. It seemed to perform just fine. When I get home tonight I'm going to hook a discman up to the amp and give that a shot. Hadn't thought of that one before! That list you PM'd me should help a lot.
I'd still like to know how to make one of these muting plugs. I searched at 12volt.com and found a vague description but no good one.
07-09-2007, 01:27 PM
#10
Take some old rca cables and about 4" away from the end, cut them off. Strip back the insulation and expose the shield of the cable and the center conductor. Strip back the insulation around the center conductor. Wire the center conductor to the shield. Repeat for all other inputs on your amps. You should have a total of 6 if you have a 4 channel and a mono amp.
Plug the muting plugs into the amps, turn on system, if you have noise then it is a amplifier issue. If you do not have noise, it is a head unit issue. Chances are right now that it is a head unit issue. Try borrowing a friends non Pioneer cd player to retest for noise with.
Plug the muting plugs into the amps, turn on system, if you have noise then it is a amplifier issue. If you do not have noise, it is a head unit issue. Chances are right now that it is a head unit issue. Try borrowing a friends non Pioneer cd player to retest for noise with.
