Alternator whine (fixed)

[yh125d]

Just installed my stereo, everything works great but theres alternator whine when its running. I've ruled out bad amp ground, bad HU ground, patch cables running along power wire. Any more suggestions on what to check before I take it to a shop and have them try to chase it down?


Edit: Also, in the meantime, til I figure it out, will it hurt it at all if I listen to it as-is? I cant hear the hum over the music, but if it wears on the components to have that going then I dont mind leaving it off til its fixed.

 

[speedy2]

I had a '65 Mustang when I was in high school. It did this to me. And very loud. It got a lot worse with some cheap amp I had. I would try running the speakers off the HU if you can, just to rule out 1 or the other. I also had people tell me to check the parts of the car, like alternator or voltage regulator. I've also heard adding a choke filter to the power line. Although, I think just about all H/U's come with them.

 

[Throckmorton]

I had that on my 240sx and I think a ground loop isolator is what I got to fix it http://www.amazon.com/Raptor-GL15-Gr...uct/B0009O19LQ

 

[DaTT]

The whine will not damage anything. It's just annoying. Is it a cheap amp? I have had this problem before and it was a cheap amp that caused it.

 

[yh125d]

I figured it out. I *thought* I had ruled out the RCAs for the front channels running too close to the amp power wire, because the rear speakers were humming too whose patch cables were running on the other side of the car. Turns out I was wrong, it *was* only the front speakers humming, which meant RCA->pwr wire proximity. I rerouted it and all is good now. Great!


And its an entry level amp, but Eclipse, which is good.

 

[speedy2]

That's good that it was an easy fix. Sometimes that problem can be extremely hard to fix. Or, as mentioned before, a bad amp. Good to hear it was easy in your case!

 

[zerocool84]

I get this as well but I paid to get mine installed at Fry's and I don't have a cheap amp either.

 

[5150MyU]

Gongtats-Nice that you were able to fix it.