I picked up a 96 teg for my little brother that has a decent stereo in it. When the car is off, this weird high pitch noise dosen't exist. However, when the motor is running, the weird sound appears. Its like a high pitch buzz and its driving me nuts! The sound gets louder at the RPMs increase. It's kinda like an audible tach and I can't really figure it out. I figure a bare wire has to be touching the something related to the RPM signal. I don't know I'm a complete noobie when it comes to car audio but I'm sure I can figure it out if someone can point me in the correct direction.

Thanks in advance!


Here's the components of the system:
-///Alpine MP3 cd player with detachable face
-Polk audio DX series component woofers
-Sony Xplod 3-way 6 x 9" rears
-Niobium Dome Tweeters (loud as ****)
-Interfire 4 channel amp for all 4 speakers and tweeters
-(2) 12" Kenwood Tornado subs in a ported box

 

Do a search for Alternator Whine... You'll find your answers...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TallGuyTurbo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I picked up a 96 teg for my little brother that has a decent stereo in it. When the car is off, this weird high pitch noise dosen't exist. However, when the motor is running, the weird sound appears. Its like a high pitch buzz and its driving me nuts! The sound gets louder at the RPMs increase. It's kinda like an audible tach and I can't really figure it out. I figure a bare wire has to be touching the something related to the RPM signal. I don't know I'm a complete noobie when it comes to car audio but I'm sure I can figure it out if someone can point me in the correct direction.

Thanks in advance!


Here's the components of the system:
-///Alpine MP3 cd player with detachable face
-Polk audio DX series component woofers
-Sony Xplod 3-way 6 x 9" rears
-Niobium Dome Tweeters (loud as ****)
-Interfire 4 channel amp for all 4 speakers and tweeters
-(2) 12" Kenwood Tornado subs in a ported box</TD></TR></TABLE>

start at the deck...if you can try to get it out and try to bypass the decks' signal out to the amps...the easiest way is to get your radio out...and find a buddy with another honda so it's a simple unplug-plug situation from the factory interface plug...plug in your RCAs and all other necessary wires and try it out to see if the noise still occurs. next you would want to try to run a spare set of RCAs outside the car and connect the respective end connectors to the back of the deck and to the amp to see if the RCAs you have installed are bad. next you would want to check out the amps' grounding points to the chassis to make sure they are solid...they should not twist or move at all and the wire should be in good condition and not fraying like crazy. if you have a 4 gauge ground wire and 10 strands of copper are what's holding the ground connection...you need to fix it.

it's usually caused by bad grounds or bad RCAs. double check your RCAs though because some manufacturers produce "directional" RCAs. if ran backwards...these RCAs can cause alternator whine as well.

 

check all of your grounds... that's where most engine noise come from. also... make sure that the primary amp power wire isn't ran on the same side as the rca cables. i've never gotten engine noise from a radio before and i've installed 1000's of radios so i'd start by trouble shooting at that 4ch amp. some pics of the setup might help a little as well.

 

Use a thicker ground wire on your amp, shortest possible length of ground and main power cable as possible (04 gage or better is good), thicker ground line than primary power line is best, keep them away from your signal lines, USE HIGH QUALITY SHIELDED RCA's like monster cable (unsheilded wires are ehh Monster RCAs cost a chunk tho).

Make sure your ground location is not painted (bare metal) for best conduction.

I've heard a rumor that installing a capacitor at the battery defeats alternator whine on some systems, but I've never tried it.

 

i've installed countless systems myself...and never had any type of alternator whine unless installing old/outdated used/abused equipment or low quality equipment and crappy, unshielded RCAs.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, as soon as I get some free time with my lil bro this afternoon I can hopefully tackle this. I went and purchased some RockFord Fosgate RCAs at a whopping $32!! It seemed to remedy then to problem but only temporarily. So, its time to take some pics get them uploaded and start working on all of the suggestions.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TallGuyTurbo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for all the suggestions guys, as soon as I get some free time with my lil bro this afternoon I can hopefully tackle this. I went and purchased some RockFord Fosgate RCAs at a whopping $32!! It seemed to remedy then to problem but only temporarily. So, its time to take some pics get them uploaded and start working on all of the suggestions.</TD></TR></TABLE>

$32 isn't too bad for decent RCAs man. i've seen RCAs cost over $100... but before you start to spend any more time or money into this...double check your battery as well. if you've been having some trouble with your charging system lately...THAT could also be the cause...it's takes a little time...just a process of elimination.