Sily_Rabit Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 I installed my F series this weekend and having an issue with the ground. First I tied all the grounds together and attached to the car. I was getting a terrible buzz when the car was running and also had alternator whine. After a lot of reading, I tried grounding the rca outputs. This didn't help. I am installing this with a Metra 70-7551 harness for a Nissan with the Bose amp. I decided to change the ground from the car to the harness. Doesn't make sense, but worth a try. I left the bypass wires grounded to the car. This still has terrible humm when the car is running. The system sounds fine if the engine is off. I tried grounding the RCAs and no change. I remove the RCA grounds and checked continuity from the rca shields to the car and it was good. I assume this means the pico fuse is still good??? Not sure what I was trying, but I eventually noticed that if the headunit did not come in contact with the car ground, the buzz was gone. So I put some carboard spacers between the mounting brackets and the car. I left the grounds in the harness, except for the bypass, and now I only get a faint buzz that is only noticeable at start-up or 0 volume. With the set up, I can not use the screws to secure my headunit to the car, so it is just secured by the dash cover. Its a tight fit, so its not bad, but does bother me. I am lost on why the buzz and humm starts up if the headunit case is in contact with a ground. Same thing if I isolate the headunit and try to ground the RCA connections. I get a loud buzz immediately in either case. I don't see where anything could be connected wrong. With the metra harness the connections were red, yellow, orange, blue, blue/white, and black (2x), plus the F/R RCAs. Everything matches up like it should. I moved the y/b mute and grounded the light green brake. The bypass works. The purple reverse is not connected, the RCAs for the sub are not connected. Sub is off and rear speakers are set to full. Any suggestions? Also I soldered the harness connections before installing it and I removed the ground from the battery before I started the install. I completed all connections before putting the ground back on the battery. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sily_Rabit Posted January 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 I talked to pioneer and they recommended that I send the unit in for repair. I purchased from 6ave and they have a no return policy once the stereo is installed. But, for those that questioned them as being an authorized dealer, Pioneer is honoring the warranty stating that 6ave is an authorized dealer. Hopefully they can identify the problem and I can be done with this. Glad I didn't cut corners with a no name Ebay store. Its frustrating to buy new and have issues right out of the box. Now I get to play the waiting game for 2 more weeks and hopefully all will be right when it comes back. Something noteworthy about calling Pioneer for support. If you don't agree with them, ask for a second opinion. When I first called in, the tech agreed that the unit was defective and suggested I contact 6ave ato ask for an exchange and if they wouldn't exchange it that I could send it in under warranty for repair. When 6ave said they wouldn't exchange it, I had to call Pioneer back. The tech I talked to the second time told me that my problem was my Bose system and that it didn't matter what I did, if I didn't replace the amp and all the speakers it would never work with my car. I told him I disagreed and asked to talk to another tech. When he transferred me, I got the same tech as the first call and he gave the information needed to send the unit in for repair. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cakohl Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Man I'm having this same problem in my '06 Altima SE-R. I've got everything working except for the annoying buzzing sound. Difference between mine and yours is that I've replaced all the Bose speakers and amp with Rockford Powers. So I don't know what the problem is. I'm thinking maybe it's my ground location? I have all the ground wires (from both metra harnesses, pioneer harness, bypass mute, parking brake, and reverse camera ground) all going together with connectors into a steel framing piece underneath my center console. I can't really find a better spot though. And my speakers and amp were all professionally installed (with the power/ground cables from the amp running down the opposite side of the car of the RCA cables.) This is driving me nuts. Any ideas? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sily_Rabit Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 I'm as lost as you are. The install was very basis/simple. I gave in and sent it back to Pioneer to fix, but I am not 100% they will do anything to fix it. I also have a se-r. If I run into the same issue when it comes back, I plan to try connecting a line converter to the speaker outputs to feed the amp instead of the Pioneer pre outs. I am using the same ground point as you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sily_Rabit Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Pioneer called me today and they can't find any issue with the headunit. The pre-out fuses are still good and they can't reproduce the interference. But they aren't installing it, just bench testing it. The tech didn't have a good solution other than trying a difference harness. He didn't think changing from the pre-out to the speaker outputs with a line converter would make any difference. Anyone know of a better harness than the Metra 70-7551 for amp intergration? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cakohl Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Hey man I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem. It was making me feel like an idiot. I guess our situation is a little different though, because I have no Bose left in my car. I didn't even get the Bose wiring harness when I bought my head unit. I think my problem might be that I have my subwoofer RCA cables plugged into the inputs, but I don't have a subwoofer hooked up. I'm going to try that tonight. But is your feedback sound only when the engine is on? And does it coincide with the gas pedal? Because that's how mine is. It's brutal. Also, side note, if you don't have it I suggest you get the PAC steering wheel adaptor because it's easy to install and works like a charm on the SE-R. One more thing: do you know what color the reverse light wire is on the SE-R? Because I too don't have that wire hooked up and I think it will help me to get my reverse camera working (a terrible buy... more hassle than it's worth) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sily_Rabit Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I don't have the noise unless the car is running. But I have 2 different noises. The main one is a loud buzzing noise that is constant if the car is running and the head unit touches any metal part of the car. If I isolate the head unit, I have a faint whizzing noise that fluctuates with the engine. Kinda sounds like a dentist drill, but with the volume over 15 or so, it isn't noticeable. I'm going to order a PAC ROEM-NIS2 and rewire it in place of the 70-7551 harness. Several people have had good results with this. It looks like it is basically a line converter with the Nissan harness plus the standard wires for power, ground, illum.... I should know by the weekend and will post the results. Looks over at www.nissanclub.com for the reverse wire. I saw it mentioned, but since I'm not installing a camera, I haven't hooked it up. What dash kit did you use? I used the Metra one and it's hard to use the volume knob. Was hoping to find something with a better/flush finish. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cakohl Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Yea I have the Metra and I'm not very happy with it. But I can't find another one, so I guess It'll have to do. It's pretty lame how the unit sits so far back. I was going for a factory look, but I guess that's pretty much out the window. I also have a small space at the bottom where you can see throgh to the wires just barely, as well as the volume knob issue you're talking about. I ordered one of those black extended knobs that that one guy is selling on this site (http://avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20147), so hopefully that will make it better. Also the steering wheel controls work, so I don't have to use the knob if I don't want to. Tha PAC adaptor let me program my Mode button on the steering wheel to mute the volume, which I thought was more useful than just changing the source, since I listen to pretty much just my iPod anyway. I've been thinking about you solution to "isolate" the head unit. Maybe just getting identical plastic screws and rubber washers will fix the problem, since it won't be touching metal? Just a thought. Also when you say isolate, is it grounded to the frame or connected to the ground wire in the harness, or does it matter which? Because all of my grounds are going straight into that metal frame peice. Let me know... I'll try a few things tonight if I have time and let you know what happens. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hydrilus Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 I've got the alternator whine sound with my unit as well. At first it was two buzzes like the OP explained, but one was a buzz and the other was whining with the alternator through the speakers. The buzzing was from the internal lights dimmer wheel (2003 tahoe). That dimmer wheel is used to program how loud you want warning chimes and such coming from my scosche replacement wiring harness. I had it set to half intensity and when I turned it up all the way (or off completely) the buzzing went away 100%. As for the alternator whine, I haven't found a solution for it yet. I had the F700 installed, parking brake bypassed, iPod cable and that's it. No other accessories, no amps, no speakers, nothing, everything is stock except the head unit. Obviously it's a grounding problem but from where? I've spent many late nights searching different forums for an answer and none will work for me. Wrapping the RCA outs with copper wire and grounding them can't work for me because I only have the HU, which doesn't have RCA outs, that particular solution assumes that I have an amp that is the issue. It's really frustrating! I have a feeling I am just going to have to deal with the whine... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
another gsxr 1k Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 You could try something like this... http://www.tessco.com/products/getProdu ... ?sku=75074 the other option is to try shielding the ignition. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stout890 Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 it has to do with the stock bose amps. im not sure exactly what but its another harness you have to buy for this to go away. i read this when i searched avic-f900bt reviews and it was a review on amazon.com and the guy had this same problem. ill see if i can find it again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sily_Rabit Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 I re-installed the radio today and I'm very happy to say that all interference is gone. I don't have the odd buzzing and the alternator whine is gone. I used the PAC ROEM-NIS2. This harness uses the speaker (high level) outputs instead of the RCA low level outputs like the Metra 70-7551. I don't understand why the Metra harness did not work for me, but it was a complete failure. I also added the PAC SWI-PS to use the steering wheel controls. It's not perfect, but better than nothing. I was not able to get MUTE to work and volume isn't as smooth as factory, but it works. Next issue to look into is deleting the deeps. The steering wheel volume beeps for each step and its irritating, plus the beep sound has some odd static noise with it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
andrios23 Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I have a 2002 Altima and I just got that stupid whine.....everything was perfectly fine until I relocated my crossovers to the trunk. I dont understand what happened, even when I took out all my front components and just left my subs in it still makes that fucking whine. I even tried 2 amps and the whine is still there. It only happens when the amp is plugged in to the RCAs. My rear stage is on factory wiring, so its powered by the f90. When my ipod is in using the RCAs and ipod cable there is no noise and everything is perfect. Like I said before, everything was working perfect before I dont know what I did to cause this fuckin whine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
andrios Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I just sent my f90 to pioneer. Hopefully they can fix the problem, it was purchased from 6ave and the guy said they are authorized dealers. We will see what happens! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ggarcez Posted February 13, 2009 Report Share Posted February 13, 2009 Guys, I had a problem in a 500bt.....after installing and removing the unit 10 times, checking all the grouding, etc..... I found out that sometimes, depending on your car, you need to use a ground loop isolator to fix all the buzzing. This happens because of impedance difference between the grounds of the car. It costs US$ 12,00, can be bought in any radioshack and it's pretty simple to install. Not sure if this will fix the issue but it worth a try. GUGA Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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