Chad Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 hey all, im a new comer to this site, ive been reading around but i cant seem to find the answer to my problem.....so here it is........i got my avic N3 installed by future shop. When i put on the defroster for the rear windshield, have my avic n3 running, and rev the engine, i hear a loud high pitched noise, almost like a turbo. however when i take off the removable face plate and switch on the defroster i dont get any noise, it sounds like it always does.........any reason this could happen? and if so how could i fix it? thanx a million. PS> the noise sounds like it's comming from the speakers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
slyk Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think your unit needs to be grounded better? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tillithz Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 well, since you had a place install it, have them fix it. but maybe they tapped into the defogger for ground or something or the ground isnt good, but still have them fix it, they did it. we cant give much info without knowing the vehicle anyways. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chad Posted January 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 its a 2005 honda civic si 4 door well im taking it in today and see what they say, i was thinking they messed it up bad, my tweeters stopped working too. my left tweeter stopped, and my right tweeter plays sparringly, so i think they messed it up. thx for the reply Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chad Posted January 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 hey all, just an update. i took my car to future shop to have them check out the noise...... they said they dont know what it is, and that it might be my amp's in the car. also that the setup of my 2 amps and the avic n3 maybe pulling too much power....... however i do have a capacitor installed also. anyway the botton line was, they didnt do anything to solve my problem, they have no clue, and they said my tweeters were cheap lol and that it blew due to the higher rms (watts) output of the avic n3.......even though it has the same 4 channel 50 watt rating as my old deck. .......anyway these shops like future shop and best buy, are not very good....... im going back next week....because my motto is......if it went in working, it should come out working...... or they better refund my installation money. thanks again for your time Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cntrylvr79 Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 ....... however i do have a capacitor installed also. anyway the botton line was...... Those don't really do anything anyway. they didnt do anything to solve my problem, they have no clue, and they said my tweeters were cheap lol and that it blew due to the higher rms (watts) output of the avic n3.......even though it has the same 4 channel 50 watt rating as my old deck. ....... That doesn't mean much rms values between 2 different radios can't really be compared honestly to each other unless both radios are CEA 2006 compliant. Besides the 50 watts rms you're saying is the PEAK power not the rms. ...anyway these shops like future shop and best buy, are not very good....... Please don't generalize I work for one of these big box stores thank you very much im going back next week....because my motto is......if it went in working, it should come out working...... Good motto or they better refund my installation money. That probably won't happen, but now it's my turn to ask some questions. What exactly is installed in your civic. Brand names and model numbers please. How old is the battery in the car? How many miles on it? Do the battery terminals have ANY corrosion on them? Can you see where the amp/s are grounded? Where are they grounded? Is the paint removed from the ground point? We might be able to help save you some headaches with that info. Hell if you can snap pics that would help alot too. Thanks again for your time Not a problem Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chad Posted January 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 ive got a 760 watt sony explod amp pushing the interior of the car, (including the tweeters. All speakers are capped inside so the low frequency {bass} is filtered out) Sony Explod XM - 215OGSX 900 watt Rockford Fosgate amp pushing my subwoofer, which is also 900 watts. Unfortunatley i couldnt see the serial # for this amp. The subwoofer is a max caliber woofer. ive got a Dragster Dp701 capacitor installed The battery is 2 and a half years old, 67,000 kilometers on the car. the battery terminals does have a bit of corrosion, i will post pics. The amps are grounded on the body of the car just behind the rear seat in the trunk, the paint is removed for the ground wire......pics included. also one more thing you might want to know.... when i touch the brake peddal, i can hear a clicking noise comming from my tweeters. PS i didnt mean to offend anyone by my generalized statements above... sorry. and once again, thanks for the help. also i didnt get a chance to crop the pictures, sorry its so big. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tillithz Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 HOly crap. Your car even starts? um yeah go ahead and replace that battery. cuz your car is probably starting off of that cap and not the battery itself. also, try resizing the pcis next time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmanfrommars Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Take some baking soda, mix it with water, and pour it over those terminals to clear out the acid. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cntrylvr79 Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 YEah replace the battery. Def consider replacing the spark plug wires as well. Also in that last pic the system it looks at though there's a factory wire grounded to the same point as the power wire for one of the amps. That right there could very well be the cause of your noise. Overall from what I see that is not a very good install at all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mrailing Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Actually what you are hearing is alternator whine caused by a grounding problem, which you will hear when you rev your engine. Your defroster is probably a ground activated circuit, meaning when you activate it, the switch actually grounds the defroster causing it to send electricity to the unit to defrost your glass. Since this is the case, when it's on, it's causing a ground loop which is putting feedback in your system, either at the amps or at the headunit, which is what you are hearing. From the looks of the pictures, you have two amps and a cap, and a crappy install job. I can see that the Sony amp is the black wire with yellow stripe to your ground and it looks like you have the cap grounded to the same location, but I can't tell where you RF amp is grounded. It looks like you grounded it to your cap, and then ran a single wire from the cap to the main ground. This isn't a good way to ground an amp, and could be part of the problem. Also the ground you have running from the cap to the grounding point looks to be to small of a gauge wire and is long. It is recommended to keep all grounding wires as short as possible, and I normally keep my grounds less than 12 inches, preferably around 6-8 inches. You can find many resources as to how to wire your system correctly, and a good place to discuss a wiring install is http://www.the12volt.com/ which also has many wiring diagrams. Now when I mentioned gauge of wire, you should always use the same gauge (thickness) of wire for the ground as you do the battery wire. You should also NEVER connect to grounds to the same grounding point, as this can introduce "noise". The location of the ground is also important, if it's grounded on/near another ground point, it can pick up "noise" from the other ground, and I found that even a 1/5 volt can cause noise. Now narrowing down that problem is sometimes difficult. From the wiring done on the amps and cap, it could be the problem, or it could be the location of the headunit grounding point. To test, do this. Pull the fuses from the power cable heading to your amps, so that no power is going to them, and then start your car. Turn your system on and test with your defroster on, do you hear the whine? If so, it's most likely in the place they grounded the headunit, if not, then it could be in the amps in the back. Turn off your car and put the fuse back in the fuse block. If you hear the whine, ask the installers where they grounded the head unit, did they use the factory ground in the wiring harness, or did they create their own ground to a piece of metal in the dash? If they just grounded it to the dash, then you might ask them to use the factory ground in the harness, or if one isn't there, ask them to ground it to a different ground point, preferably on the frame of the car, and not just in the stereo area. They might have to run a longer wire. I would also look up information on wiring an amp and cap, whoever did that did NOT do a good job, and it could be cause of some of your problems. Amps only need to be connected to the + side of the cap, and should be grounded directly to the car, as should the cap. So you should essentially have a wire from the battery (and in your case no smaller than a 4 gauge wire with a multi amp system) to the + of the cap (if you want both amps off the cap, else split it with a power distribution block). Once the battery wire is on the + side of the cap, you should connect each amps + to the cap. Each unit should have it's own ground, so each amp should be grounded to the frame, and the cap should be grounded. Each to it's own spot, cleaned of paint, and I would do it at least 1 foot apart, although it can probably be closer. Search for alternator whine, Noise, etc over at 12-volt, and you will find lots of good posts about narrowing it down... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mrailing Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Also as a follow up to the battery. You should probably replace it. Depending on the battery, they normally last around 2-5 years, and as a general rule of thumb, I usually replace "normal" batteries every 36 months (3 years). It's better to replace a battery, than NEED to replace a battery. You might look at Optima batteries like a Red top. They are good for sound systems and also give you a GREAT warranty program with 72 months of a full replacement battery. Also the reason your battery is corroding is the wrap around the battery. That rubber portion is something your manufacturer puts around the battery tray to keep everything clean, but it tends to keep the fumes to close to the battery which causes corrosion. When you replace the battery, don't put the wrap back on. Also when cleaning the terminal posts around your battery, make sure you get all the corrosion gone, and put some grease on it (the place you buy your battery from can recommend the grease to get). This will help it from corroding in the future. The battery is not causing the alternator whine, but it could cause you some starting issues... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chad Posted January 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 HOly crap. Your car even starts? um yeah go ahead and replace that battery. cuz your car is probably starting off of that cap and not the battery itself. is it possible to start a car engine off a cap only? i wouldnt think so, but i could be wrong. thanks for the reply Take some baking soda, mix it with water, and pour it over those terminals to clear out the acid. i will try that. I did try using a friends battery. He has a brand new civic and i used that, how ever i got the same whining noise. looks at though there's a factory wire grounded to the same point as the power wire for one of the amps. That right there could very well be the cause of your noise. Overall from what I see that is not a very good install at all. I agree with you, i had it done at one of those non-prof shops, however with my previous deck and the same system setup i have now, i didnt get any noise, don't know if that would contribute to this topic. mrailing, thanks for a great post, i will keep a transcript of your suggestions, they sound excellent, i will try them in the near future, and iwill check out 12volt as well. ill update all of you as i tackle this problem in the future PS. thanks to all for the support and replies......as a first time user of this site, i must say, the help and attention is excellent. thanks again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chad Posted February 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 ok folks, i went back to future shop, and they figured out the problem.... it wasnt the avic n3 it was my xplod amp. for some reason it was picking up engine noise. (my system is bridged) what they did for now was stop the xplod from pushing my front speakers and tweeters, and left it running the 2 rear speakers, and left my rockford pushing the sub. the high pitch noise is gone, however they advised me to purchase a 4 channel amp. the xplod was a 2 channel amp, which was why it was bridged. in any case i was looking at the mtx 4 channel amp 1200 watts max 50 *4 rms not too sure if that would be good as i like to play it loud every now and then. I was thinking to leave the rockford pushing the sub, the xplod pushing the 2 rear, and hook up a mtx to push my 2 front speakers and tweeters. ......anyway not too sure if thats a good idea?......thx alot. oh and i have a pair of infinity 6.5 speakers 90 rms. stock rear speakers......900 watt sub 450 rms (tweeters came with infinity kit) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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