[WiTe)o9(sI]

Ok.. To start things out I have a 09 FG2 premium sound system, non navi still installed. I have a mercman bypass harness for my rca's. I followed Hans suggestion on running a ground to the back of my car directly from the battery alongside my power wire (both 4 guage) and using two distribution blocks. and have my rcas ran under the carpet in the middle of the car. I am using amps from a previous install so they were not ideal but saved me alot of money.. I have on RF 2 channel running one infiniti perfect 12.1 sub, and a RF 4 channel amp running my focal access components in the front. I ran into some bad alternator whine at first, so I grounded the amps seperatly with seat belt bolts under the rear seat with some extra 8 gauge wire I had laying around. That almost took care of the whine however i can still hear a slight hum in the sub if i pop the trunk and listen back there. Now that I took care of the whine I also did one part of the big 3 with the last bit of 4 gauge i had and grounded the battery with it. Thinking i was done i took it for a test drive and found out my when i turn my A/C on, even if just the fan, my sub amp turns off, but the other amp is not affected. Any ideas?

 

[mercman]

You should not have any noise from the alternator or anything else, the fact that you do would indicate poor grounds. You should be able to find one clean ground for both amps (same spot) or use the separate ground wire back to the batt for both amps.

You should also use the amp turn on wire from the harness to feed both amps.

Check to be sure that your RCAs do not make contact with ground; grounding an RCA connector (case) will cause a whine. The RCAs on the balanced feed do not use or connect to ground.

Jeff

 

[HsOffRoad]

The alternator whine is probably from the head unit ground. Try removing the ground wire for the head unit from the factory harness, extending it with some 14 or 16 AWG wire, and grounding it to the distribution block with the amp grounds. You will be better off with the grounds ran back to the battery than you will having them grounded to the chassis. Since you already ran the wire and the block, there is no sense not using it.

As for the amp turning off, obviously that shouldn't be happening. Is the amp going into protect? (There should be a light on the amp to tell you if this is happening). If the protect light is coming on, you have a voltage or ground issue, that needs to be fixed right away before you damage the amp further. Where are you pulling the remote signal for turning the amps on from? It could be a remote issue as well, but if that is the case, chances are both amps would be shutting down (unless one has auto turn on and the other doesn't). Of course, it could also be an internal issue with the amp itself.


Hans

 

[WiTe)o9(sI]

I'm using the remote wire that comes off the harness like mercman said. I have taken the sub amp out of play completley, and just used the ground from the battery straight to the door speaker amp with no distro block and the same with the power. I still have the whine. So I cut off like a 3 ft peice of excess 4 guage wire I had on my sub amp and tried to find about 3 diff spots to ground it with all to no avail. It also seems like my driver side door speaker is playing a lot louder than my passenger side. I have the left bridged on the front channel and the right bridged on the rear and there both set up the same way so Im really at a loss with this install. I've always used aftermarket radios on all my stuff and I think this whole deal has turned me off to the idea of factory integration.. Needless to say this is starting to get very annoying lol. I will try your suggestion on grounding the factory radio at the back because i'm starting to run out of options and this is my last day to work on the car for the next two weeks.. Any further imput would be greatly appreciated by myself and my wife who's starting to think I should have taken it to a shop..

 

[WiTe)o9(sI]

ok so before i started taking the dash off i decided to trace my wires on my passenger side to see if it was grounded there or something, I found nothing however I rewired the speakers so there all on the front channel and the driver side door speaker is barely playing. I looked at the crossover and its def hooked up correctly. Do you think this is an amplifier issue? I will wire in my sub amp to my door speakers and see if the whine goes away and my door speaker actually starts playing..:facepalm:

 

[WiTe)o9(sI]

Ok when I change out amps all it does is make a clicking noise when i turn on and off the stereo. But the power light isn't coming on or anything.. even though it was just working this morning.. Now i'm even more lost.

 

[arrivalanche]

Sounds like something is done incorrectly. Mercmans harness is legit and should allow for no induced noise from what I have gathered. Now I cant say that I have ever (other than in a Porsche)found it necessary to run a ground along with the power, but it is one additional step to grantee no induced noise. Somehow you still have noise. Sounds like you have a problem that might be out of your expertise. You should probably take it to a pro and have them diagnose it. I know most DIYers dont want to pay for any sort of labor, but its better to have someone look at it that does this for a living and knows what they are looking for.

Also, what source are you listening to? CD, AUX, Radio?

 

[WiTe)o9(sI]

I have tried radio and aux with my iphone.. I got the sub amp to play on my door speakers but there no high frequency output, just some mumbling coming from the door speaker nothing from the tweets. I also noticed that it didnt hit as hard on my sub as it used to so I think thats one problem there. For now I still have my door speakers hooked up but there is still my whine. Im about to try to ground the factory stereo harness better as hans suggested... Am I pulling the ground from where it plugs into the back of the head unit or what?

 

[mercman]

Turn off the engine and see if you still have the whine before you do anything else. If you do, unplug all but one of the RCAs and see what happens. It sounds to me that your RF amp is not balanced or there is a short to ground on one of the inputs, perhaps when it is switched to bridged mode. Don’t play with the HU ground, if you didn’t have the whine with the stock amp you won’t have it with the aftermarket. I’ve done over 100 Honda Premium systems and never had an issue with the HU or HU ground. That’s the beauty of balanced lines.


Jeff

 

[WiTe)o9(sI]

Damnit lol i already pulled off half the dash. I started the car and it wont even do anything now. The amp powers up but there is no noise from the alternator or anything else. When I turn the key to ACC the music plays along with a loud buzz. When I unplug all but one RCA the buzz is still there. I will put my dash back together while I await a reply lol..

 

[arrivalanche]

Like I said, take it to someone who knows what they are doing. Not everyone is meant to install their stereo.

 

[WiTe)o9(sI]

Perhaps I will if mercman has no other suggestions.. When I turn the headlights on when the keys on (2) the buzzing goes away.. I searched that and saw some people were having problems with the drls. Im sure thats half my problem there... but that doest explain why it doesn't turn on when I start the car or that it cuts out if I turn it up above about 7-8 on the volume when i can get it to play.. If nobody has any suggestions I will take It to a shop this week and see how much there going to rape my bank account..

 

[mercman]

We can fix this; it will just require some investment of time to work it out. What are the model numbers of your amps so I can check the specs? You should check to see if your amps have an input detection circuit (a mode that allows them to turn on when an input signal is detected), if they do, shut it off.

For the ground, any clean thick metal that is spot wielded to the chassis will work or use the separate ground to the battery. You must use one or the other, not both.

If you can, post a photo of your ground.

If your amp has proper balanced inputs you will not pick up any DRL noise.

Jeff

 

[WiTe)o9(sI]

I have a p600.1bd and a p4004 both Rf. I pulled the sub and the p600.1bd out of the equation so I could just focus on getting the first amp cleanly installed. I have it grounded back to the battery still. I only tried to ground it to the chassis for a bit of trouble shooting.. I will post a pic of my ground as soon as I can figure out how to do it lol