VIDEO: Strange electric noise

[chris]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP8Bb...ature=youtu.be

Hi guys!

Hope you can help me. I recently installed a Kicker component sound system and a Pioneer GPS deck w/ Kicker amp.

It wasnt until I had the speakers put in the door I started hearing a strange electric motor noise shortly after the car is put into either drive or reverse, and reaches around 5km/hour.

It doesnt happen after EVERY time the car starts, only after the car seems to sit for awhile.

The sound seems like its coming from where im pointing the camera in the video, the driver side A pillar/air vents. My dealership tells me it doesnt seem to be coming from the tweeter, which rules the speaker out. They couldnt identify the source.

It almost sounds like the motor for the side mirror adjustments, but i tested what this sounds like and it sounds like its outside the car, not as clear as the mystery sound.

Any idea what this could be? I'm all out of ideas.

thanks
-Chris

[GAbOS]

Mine does the same thing after I installed an AMP. It's a pump of some sort kicking on and feeding a ground loop through the speakers.

[chris]

ok so the noise is coming from the tweeter then? i noticed quite a bit of alternator noise since putting my speakers on my amp too, think going back to the installer and having him look at it would help? or is it unfixable?

[GAbOS]

Yes, take it back to installer. i did mine myself and just have not gotten around to isolating it.

[MTZL]

You probably need one of these.

Ground loop isolator.

http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CIsBEPMCMAM

[chris]

my amp was grounded to the metal ceiling in the trunk. should i get this moved somewhere else?

[Splattj]

It's probably a ground problem. The welds that hold the trunk "ceiling" in are not going to be very good conductors. You should look for something that connects to the unibody more directly.

Here's a quick test though. Take an iPod/etc and connect it directly to the amp. If the noise goes away, it's a dirty signal due to your RCA routing. If it doesn't it's dirty power/ground feed and you should relocate the ground.

If that fails, you can get a ground loop isolator but it may not fully suppress the noise.

[RalliAaron]

Ground and power wires are ran to close to each other.

[chris]

OK guys i need to bring this back from the dead.

Today I got a dedicated 4 gauge of OFC run directly from my amp to my battery, down the separate side of the car from the power.

Dont ask why I did this, it was simply to try and eliminate all of the audio quality issues with my system, as well as to appease my dealership who recently asked me to disconnect my ground for my amp out of fear it was doing damage to the pump in the rear bumper.

Anyway, it was a bad idea. With the ground moved the noise of the pump is still very loud (just as loud, if not louder). Also i can still hear clicking when i push on my brakes and when i signal to turn right. All of this was there with the ground in the trunk as well.

Now with the ground run directly to the battery i have all of the above still, PLUS the worse alternator noise I've ever heard. It goes up and down in pitch when driving as is common.

I'm starting to think the issue is not with my system or how its installed, and that the car just has bad power, either a bad alternator or bad battery. Is this possible?

Original troubleshooting steps included replacing the amp (sound was still there) , replacing the deck (sound was still there), DISCONNECTING ALL RCA's (sound still there). Have not tried any of these to fix the alternator noise though, as it is a new problem from today.

Im almost at the point where im going to disconnect my whole system (making the ground better has only enhanced the bad noises), i actually enjoyed how the car sounded naturally with no white noise and static the few days it wasnt hooked up.

I'm trying to think of fixes, or at least some troubleshooting steps i can take to continue looking into the problem. For the time being, im going to move my ground to where it originally was in the trunk i think, all the noises were less back then.


One idea I had was to have the system run off a dedicated battery. I have some spare power wire and im sure i can get my hands on a car battery, im thinking to hook the AMP up to this battery and turn the car on, rev the gas, and see if the noises are still there. This would proove the noise is indeed being introduced to the system through the power source and its not leaking in from the speaker wires/rca etc. It makes no sense to me how i can be hearing my tail lights blink through the sound system, and this is why i think its coming from the battery.

If this fixes then its a simple case of securing a small battery in my trunk and then figure out a way of it being charged without introducing the noise.

I have used professional installers for all the cable runs and i have used high grade cables, so im not totally convinced all of this noise is leaking into the system from the cables running next to each other.

[chris]

Just did some quick tests.

Obviously removing the RCA from the amp input eliminated the whine.

What I didnt expect, though, was removing the Sub RCA eliminated the turn signal and brake clicking. STRANGE!!! So there is something up with my sub RCA's, they are of much lesser quality than my speaker RCA's (a friend actually donated them to me, now i know why i guess)

So the clicking should be easy enough to trace down an eliminate. The alternator noise will go away if i move the ground back and/or install a ground loop isolator.

But its this bloody pump noise.... how is that getting into the system? Is there a way to put a noise isolator on the power? My battery test should prove that one once and for all i hope!


And so the saga continues....