Alternator Whine!

[parimento1]

I just put in a nice system consisting of 2 MTX amplifiers, Polk Audio sub and MB Quart components and a Pioneer headunit in my 97 Avalon. I have alternator whine coming through the system now. The noise increases in pitch with engine RPM so I believe it is alternator whine. If anybody can help with this it would be greatly appreciated.

[Webb26]

Sounds like a case of electrical wiring problem....i'd say the rca's are being ran in a way where they pick up too much engine noise...doesn'tr sound like a alternator problem

[parimento1]

ran power and RCAs on different sides of the car. I tried plugging my portable cd plyer into the amp instead of using the head unit and the noise disappeared! I think the noise might be radiating right into the headunit. Let me know what u guys think

[lucanhookup]

are the amps grounded on the same point??? if not do so cuase thats how i got rid of my whine......

[parimento1]

yea did that too...even grounded my head unit to the same location as the amps...no change I really have no idea why its doing this..i dont think the noise is coming from the amp or cables since there was no noise when i plugged my walkman into it, but then again i dont know much about car audio. Any other ideas guys? or even advice on how to track down which compenent the noise is coming from?

[toyomoho]

The link may help explain the situation:

http://www.carstereo.com/help/Articles.cfm?id=71

[RedPhoenix]

pioneer hu has a blown ground internally. Easy way to see if it will fix your problem. Take a piece of wire and connect it to a extra RCA jack on the outside of it on the headunit and then to a ground. the whine goes away or dims down, thats your problem.

welcome to the world of sensitive pioneer rca's, generally happens plugging in amps with the unit on.

I fixed mine by soldering a new ground internally.

[SolaraTRD]

sounds like a nieighbor installed a supercharger over night fory yah'

[mikegett]

If the pioneer grounding doesn't work, then it may be a hellixcoil (I have no idea how to spell it). The coil from your spark plugs creat a whine that is induced into your cars system. It can be on the positive or negative unlike most ground loops. Placing low resistance spark plugs in the car can get rid of it. Otherwise, there are ground loop isolators that plug into the rca that will fix it as well. In these cases the OEM radio tends to have the isoltator built in. I had a ford taurus that I spent weeks tearing apart for that vary reason. I purchased the spark plugs and all the whine was eliminated. Good luck. Altenator whines can be a real pain to diagnose.

[parimento1]

OK I just ordered 3 ground loop isolators from crutchfield, plus 2 power line noise filters just in case the noise is coming from dirty power. I wonder if this will work...