# Engine Whine



## kbrassfi (Aug 1, 2002)

Does anyone know of a good brand of loop isolator, or any other way to get rid of the whine, I have tried everything, I have routed my wires every way imagineable, have tried several loop isolators, have sanded all my grounding points, have tried several different grounding points, but I still can't seem to locate the problem. I have changed to all new amps since the problem first began, and have new RCA's, recently a new deck, added an equalizer, new crossover, everything, even switched speakers, and I still can't locate it, please HELPPPP!


Rockford Fosgate 1000BD
Rockford Fosgate 200.4
2 12" JL's
2 MB Quart Components
2 Infinity Reference


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## shane (Jul 10, 2002)

I ran my power lead down the driver's side of my car, and the RCA's down the passenger's side, and dont' have any whine. I assume you've tried this combination already, but if not, it works well for me.


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## SentraStyleEMW (Aug 15, 2002)

kbrassfi said:


> *Does anyone know of a good brand of loop isolator, or any other way to get rid of the whine, I have tried everything, I have routed my wires every way imagineable, have tried several loop isolators, have sanded all my grounding points, have tried several different grounding points, but I still can't seem to locate the problem. I have changed to all new amps since the problem first began, and have new RCA's, recently a new deck, added an equalizer, new crossover, everything, even switched speakers, and I still can't locate it, please HELPPPP!
> 
> 
> Rockford Fosgate 1000BD
> ...


Would you care to elaborate on the equipment you are using? You show in your previous post that you are using a Rockford 1000BD and 200.4. But you fail to mention what x-over, EQ, and what wires you are using. Any one of those components can very well be the culprit.


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## kbrassfi (Aug 1, 2002)

for equalizer is logic EQ500 5 band equalizer, and a Coustic crossover, which I have now bypassed. I don't know the current RCA cables using, but have tried several, I am going to try a choke with a capacitor on the accessory lead, an electronics guy suggested this to get rid of the noice, he said it might be from Alternating Current noise getting through.


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## SentraStyleEMW (Aug 15, 2002)

You may want to take your ground cable from your head unit (and EQ if it is a dash mount) and run it back to where you ground your amps at. Sometimes that can help with engine noise. You said that you bypassed your xover and that didn't help any...have you tried bypassing your EQ also. EQ's are notorious for creating engine whine (well, not creating it...but amplifying the noise going to your amps).


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## kbrassfi (Aug 1, 2002)

yeah, the equalizer is a new addition, last couple days, I tried adding the capacitor per the other advice I got from electronics shop, and still no help. The only thing I can think of, is if I can run the RCA cables along the middle of the car, since I have the speaker wires coming along the sides, that is the only thing I can think of where the engine noise might be coming from


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## SentraStyleEMW (Aug 15, 2002)

kbrassfi said:


> *yeah, the equalizer is a new addition, last couple days, I tried adding the capacitor per the other advice I got from electronics shop, and still no help. The only thing I can think of, is if I can run the RCA cables along the middle of the car, since I have the speaker wires coming along the sides, that is the only thing I can think of where the engine noise might be coming from *


There is a very slim chance that the speaker wires are whats causing the noise. Try bypassing the EQ and see if that helps. Capacitors will usually only help to mask the problem, not solve it.


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## kbrassfi (Aug 1, 2002)

no use with eq, the engine noise was there before the eq, and was still there after the eq, but I am going to try to ground at the same point as the amps


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## kbrassfi (Aug 1, 2002)

other info that might help, I forgot to mention, the rear speakers on the same amp are not making the whining noise, only the front two components are picking up the noise, so I thought this might be because the speaker wires run so close to the wires heading to the amps, power source on drivers side, rca's on the passenger, should I relocate one or more wires?? please help, I've about had it


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## Binger (Aug 29, 2002)

*whine*

I had the same problem with my 200sx, I was using Rockford fosgate gama series RCAs (very good sound, hardly any shielding). When you run the cables out from the dash the little black box on top of the transmission hump behind the center console, thats where your ECU is, so that will give you a LOT of electrical interference. In stead of straight down and back I ran them imediatly through the dash to the passenger side, this requires taking the some of the dash apart to get them inside of there, but it is definatly worth the extra effort. 
Personaly I prefer to only use the crossovers built in to the amps, and adjust the bandpass setup on the cdplayer to determine what frequences even get to what amp.
As for EQs I like to only to use them to fix problems in the sound range.

If any of you have any questions feel free to PM me


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## infrared (Aug 1, 2002)

I had the same problem when I installed my amps. The noise stopped when I ran the RCA's down the center.
BTW Where are your amps grounded.


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## landlord (Jun 11, 2002)

i had this problem when i used the din sleve that came with my deck insted of using the stock mounts, just an idea.


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## kbrassfi (Aug 1, 2002)

Thanks, I'll try both, I'm going to try to run the RCA's down the center, and wire a ground to the back of the deck as well, because I am using a sleeve, also, I have the amps grounded in the trunk to sanded metal parts, one amp to the center where the latch is for the trunk, and another on the side where the mount for the jack is, also sanded, any other ideas let me know, thanks


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## kbrassfi (Aug 1, 2002)

OK, I grouned the ground to the back of the deck, switched RCA's, new ground loop, went back to my old deck, got rid of the equalizer, and the Noise is just barely there, so I think I am going to try running the RCA's down the center, and if that does not work, then I am going to try grounding directly to the frame, some drilling required I'm sure, thanks for all the advice, and if there is anything else you think might help, let me know, thanks


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## infrared (Aug 1, 2002)

Better yet, run your power cable down the center. That way, the cable will be fairly straight and it should not cross to many harnesses if any.
How long is your ground cable?


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## kbrassfi (Aug 1, 2002)

which ground cable? they are all fairly short, and I use the same gauge as the power wire as well, but the engine whine is almost all gone, so I'll try a few different things, the easier the better


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## Jay (Apr 29, 2002)

*I need some help too plz!*

im getting some obnoxious engine whine coming from my front driver side speaker. Do any of you guys have any suggestions for me? All four speakers are power by a alpine 4x75 amp. The amp along with my basslink (ground splitter) is grounded on sanded metal in the trunk with 8 gauge wires. The ground to my HU is just with the wire harness (stock point). The thing i dont understand is why is it that only one speaker is making the noise when all of them are connected the same way. All the wiring has been done for like year already and the noises from that speaker just started happening like a month ago. Please help me because i refuse to turn on music now because its so annoying. Thanks


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## infrared (Aug 1, 2002)

Recheck the speaker cable . See if it crosses other cables or harnesses. Sometimes just rerunning the cable clears up those problems.
Did you upgrade or change anything recently on your car ?


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## Jay (Apr 29, 2002)

I recheck all my wire to my headunit yesterday to see if any wires are loose but everything seems to be in place. I thought it might be the speaker itself but i changed it out but the whinin noise was still there. I will probably try and rewire the speaker wires but dont really want. The weird thing is i didnt do anything to my system. At first when the noises started i thought it was my CAI because the noise responsed to throttle but later found out it was my speaker.


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## infrared (Aug 1, 2002)

Are you sure you are only hearing the noise in one speaker? If yes, you only have one spaeker wire to change.


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## CLSo1A (May 2, 2002)

In a lot of cases (most as a matter of fact) the RCAs are run either too close to the power wire or the ground. If they're on the same side, move them. Also, it maybe the actual ground of the car. Don't run it by a shifter or down the center console. When I ran my amp I did power on one side and RCAs down the other. I since then took them out but recently hooked up a monitor. I had the DVD player on the ground in the back and ran my RCAs and power wire down the same side of the center console. I move them and seperated and it sounds good now. I'd almost bet its too close to the power wire.


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## landlord (Jun 11, 2002)

Jay said:


> *I recheck all my wire to my headunit yesterday to see if any wires are loose but everything seems to be in place. I thought it might be the speaker itself but i changed it out but the whinin noise was still there. I will probably try and rewire the speaker wires but dont really want. The weird thing is i didnt do anything to my system. At first when the noises started i thought it was my CAI because the noise responsed to throttle but later found out it was my speaker. *



this happened to me also... whine just came out of nowhere. for me it turned out that the voltage regulator in my alternator went to shit.


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## redviper98 (Jun 15, 2002)

I had a lot of engine noise with my amps (Rockford 400.4 and 360.2), but got rid of it by resetting the gains; turned the gains completely down, volume on head unit to~75%, then adjusted gains for max performance. This way the amps aren't amplifying all that engine noise. May help, may not; just my $.02.


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## Slurppie (Oct 15, 2002)

a good rule of thumb is not to have the ground any longer than 18" and the same size wire as the power. Like other members have mentioned, seperate RCA lines from power. Also using ground loop isolators can at times induce more noise into the system.


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