SERIOUS Engine noise. Im not that new to car audio...

[conartist007 10+ year member]

Ive done a few setups before and have never had to much of a problem with engine noise. Ive just completed a multi amp setup in my car with a small amp to power my cdt components up front and a big tsunami amp for my brahmas in the back. Well i havent pluged the rcas to that will go to the tsunami in yet mainly because i wanted to tweet the speakers first.

Well anyways, i start up my car with everything hooked up and i move the volume nob to 1, and i get a huge amount of engine noise coming from the cdts (brahmas arent hooked up yet), not a little in the background but there is more engine noise than music until my volume is past half way, and i have my gains set right. When the car is off its very nice to listen to but there is still some light static barely audible in the background. I have stinger rca cables going to the back, and my ground goes to the ground terminal on the yellow top in the back (i have two batteries in the car) and then theres another ground wire running from that ground terminal to what i think is the chasis, or some type of very hard metal under the car. That ground cable is right above the exhaust, might that be the reason there is SO MUCH engine noise? Or is it maybe because my power wire and rcas cross each other once? But keep in mind that this isnt just your normal amound of engine noise, its a huge amount that drowns out every other sound around it. I also still get that annoying thump every time i change tracks.

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[brandontw 10+ year member]

What amp is it? somtimes its just a cheap amp and im sure youve heard to separate the rcas and power wires and make sure you have a good ground

 

[conartist007 10+ year member]

Yeah, i tried my best to get a good ground, its a few year old jbl amp. lc-a304 is the model to be exact (75x2 at 4 ohms)

 

[nosaj070 10+ year member]

Well you should cross the rcas and power at a 90 degree angle, and that should not induce anything. I'd say check your HU ground first, and reground it. Then check your rcas, maybe the shielding was ripped off during your install. There is really a list of a thousand things, I had it really bad with my profile amp, so i threw on an old jensen and it was gone, and its never been back with 4 different amps except the profile.

 

[allyourblood 10+ year member]

i agree, it's just one of those silly things that can differ with each person's setup. i have 2 profile amps running, with no noise, AND i ran my passenger side speaker wire right alongside my power wire (eep! i know!), again, with NO noise.

keep swapping/testing each component, starting at your HU and working toward your amp until you've isolated the problem.

abe m.

 

[cyberbob25 10+ year member]

Another fix to try that I've heard mentioned on these forums more than once is to ground your HU at the same place as your amps (meaning in your case, run a wire from the HU to the negative terminal on the yellow top in the trunk).

Good luck!

 

[pavengmike6 10+ year member]

The exhust will not cause engine noise. Like you may know eng noise is cause by electricity. I just fixed my buddies car for the same problem power wire was to close to RCA's. Mine were shielded, and supposed to be the top of the line, but no matter it still had noise. I re-ran the rca's and all is good. I gave it a good 2 foot apart, and it worked for me.

Also your RCA's may not have good contact with the amp. Wiggle the RCA's at the amp and see if you can make it go away. Just a suggestion.

 

[conartist007 10+ year member]

My rcas are shielded, but anyways im about to go at it and try and fix. If i make any progress ill report back later.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Unplug the RCA's. If the noise goes away then the problem is with your signal path or the HU. Start with that. If it is still there then the problem is with the amp itself.

 

[conartist007 10+ year member]

Ok well i fixed it, i had some of the wires behind my headunit way to close. I know they are close anyways but my power wire and memory wire were sharing the same electrical tape, i dont know how i did that in the first place but i fixed that and it solved that problem.