bongus Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 I've done a lot of construction but I'm new to the car audio install game. But I've found many similarities between the occupation. The common thing is with both, there are many "short-cuts" that a contractor/installer can make. Some of these "short-cuts" may not rear their ugly head until later in time. The Z1 requires multiple wires to be connected correctly and properly...it takes just one to be "off" and your left with a mess. I would suggest that you ask for references from your installer. The hard part is once you get your vehicle back, everything might look good but you do not know what is lurking behind the dash. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
71Nova Posted September 29, 2006 Report Share Posted September 29, 2006 My avic z1 is doing the exact same thing and sounds like the same setup. I am using 2 new fosgate amps, 4 infinity components and 1 JL12W6 sub. all wiring is new. new rca's ran on the left side of the car. battery is in the trunk with 2 guage wires ran to them on the right side of car. 2 gage wire grounding all the way to the block and to the trunk. 4 guage from batt to amps and 4 ga ground from amps to trunk floor. I have also searched the forums and not found anything except for this thread. My local pro's keep telling me to change to $100 RCA's. I did that and same exact noise. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
whtcrxghst Posted September 29, 2006 Report Share Posted September 29, 2006 Sounds like you all might be experiencing the same problem. Pioneer uses very small fuses on the RCA outputs. If I understand properly, they do this to insure that IF the installer doesn't ground the amp properly, the amp won't seek ground through the deck and fry the board in the deck. Instead it will blow these tiny fuses instead. This can be avoided by leaving the deck unpowered while you wire up the amp. But, as most installers will admit, they wire up the deck first, test it for power, and then go on and install the rest of the system. If the RCA cables are plugged into the outputs, and power and ground are supplied incorrectly to the amplifier, it can blow these tiny fuses on the RCA outputs, and the deck will then have bad engine noise. Very common, but easy to avoid but most installers don't know why it happens. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
71Nova Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 whtcrxghst Thank you for your reply. Where are these fuses located on the Z1. Are they internal or can I replace them? Hopefully on the back of the hu? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cntrylvr79 Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 [quote name="whtcrxghst"]Sounds like you all might be experiencing the same problem. Pioneer uses very small fuses on the RCA outputs. If I understand properly, they do this to insure that IF the installer doesn't ground the amp properly, the amp won't seek ground through the deck and fry the board in the deck. Instead it will blow these tiny fuses instead. This can be avoided by leaving the deck unpowered while you wire up the amp. But, as most installers will admit, they wire up the deck first, test it for power, and then go on and install the rest of the system. If the RCA cables are plugged into the outputs, and power and ground are supplied incorrectly to the amplifier, it can blow these tiny fuses on the RCA outputs, and the deck will then have bad engine noise. Very common, but easy to avoid but most installers don't know why it happens.[/quote] This is a new one on me. For the number of Pioneer units I've taken apart I have never seen these "fuses" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
whtcrxghst Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Its there. Very small fuse on the RCA ground [quote name="cntrylvr79"] This is a new one on me. For the number of Pioneer units I've taken apart I have never seen these "fuses"[/quote] Quote Link to post Share on other sites
whtcrxghst Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Nope, they are internal. Probably a simple repair once you get to the board but would definitely take someone knowledgable to do it. How old is your deck? Maybe you could take it back and tell them its causing engine noise [quote name="71Nova"]whtcrxghst Thank you for your reply. Where are these fuses located on the Z1. Are they internal or can I replace them? Hopefully on the back of the hu?[/quote] Quote Link to post Share on other sites
71Nova Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 I should also mention here that it only makes the noise when the engine is running. Sounds great when it is not running. I also get a hum when I turn on the head lights, even when the engine is not running. Today I re did the grounds to the head unit and xm unit. 16ga ground wire about 8 in long bolted to a sanded shinny part of the firewall. Next I am going to try re running the always on 12v wire directly to the battery instead of under dash wire harness. Ill keep my fingers crossed. The only other thing I can think of if that does not work is replacing the alternator. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wrxsti03 Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 When i was installing my Z1 just this WE I noticed I had a whining noise. Since the noise wasn’t there 5mins prior to hearing it, as I was installing I was confident it was the bunched up wiring. So I simply adjusted and moved the wires a bit behind the Z1 and the noise disappeared. I also used a central point for each leads like battery, acc, and most important ground. If you have another head unit u could try hook it up quickly and see if u can narrow down the noise to HU, RCA'a or AMPs. That should give you a direction at least. Also for testing purpose I would verify the voltage from your alternator and battery... alt should be ~14.4v and battery no less then ~12v. My hunch is it's somewhere in the area of your HU. Since you had it professionally installed and if its really a 71 Nova, I would think your installer would know better to install RCAs say parallel to a 4 gauge lead from a rear mount battery etc. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rwolfman Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 [quote name="maxse"]thanks guys. So Im going to try to ground the RCAs first and see if the problem goes away and see what happens with the ground loop isolator. If not I guess I'll have to take it to the shop. Any1 have any tips on how to ground the RCA's? How d I make the wires stick around the rca terminal? And is it safe to ground all the 5 RCA's to the same point and have the grounds touching? Thanks.[/quote] I also have some noise problems with my Z1, and am wondering if you solved yours and how. Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
03Aviator Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 [quote name="71Nova"]...snip...Today I re did the grounds to the head unit and xm unit. 16ga ground wire about 8 in long bolted to a sanded shinny part of the firewall...snip... [/quote] The firewall isn't the best place to run a ground...especially a ground that is as important as this one is. With the issues you are having, I would buy a junction box, hook it to the firewall and hook your grounds to it. Then run the other side of the junction box directly to the battery...or where the negative cable hooks to the frame or block. You can buy a battery cable that has an aux lead to it you could attach it to. Experiment where you fasten that lead. If it is a ground issue, I'll bet that takes care of it. You are hearing feedback...probably from the alternator. You need to isolate that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
71Nova Posted November 10, 2006 Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 I have now oficially tried everything. Since my last post I have replaced my 100 amp alternator with a new powermaster 140 amp alternator that they said is for stereo competition. Even though I am not interested in stereo competition I figured that means it works great with stereos. I have also re ran the always on power to the battery and installed PAC ground loop isolators. Another thing I tried was I installed a American International S15A noise filter that goes on the always on power line. I found it on crutchfields site. none of these things made any difference so today I mailed my AVIC-z1 into pioneer repair center to have it checked. Hopefully it is those small fuses that whtcrxghst was telling us about. Hopefully I will get it back, plug it in and won't have any noise. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
71Nova Posted November 10, 2006 Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 Oh I forgot to mention to 03Aviator My battery is directly grounded to my firewall. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
71Nova Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 I called pioneer tech line and asked for a status on my z1. They asked me for my tracking number from when I shiped it to them. After I gave her the tracking number she told me it had been repaired by replacing an internal fuse and re setting the system. I think it is cool that they track the repair from the ingoing tracking number. Just remember to save it if anyone needs repair. I should get it back in a couple of days. I just hope that fixed the prob and the fuse never blows again. I will keep my fingers crossed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bdmpastx Posted November 17, 2006 Report Share Posted November 17, 2006 Hey 71Nova, I wonder if it is your spark plug wires. Some of the performance ones are not suited for cars with radios and cause a but load of noise in systems. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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