Ignition Noise

[sandyhooker]

Just had a new Pioneer radio/cd player installed professionly in my "new" Isuzu Impulse. The old Sony which was replaced produced ignition noise(rpm dependant ) . Unfortunately , the new unit does the same thing. I would suppose a filter(capacitor?) is required . But where and how??

[TO-3]

Originally posted by sandyhooker
Just had a new Pioneer radio/cd player installed professionly in my "new" Isuzu Impulse. The old Sony which was replaced produced ignition noise(rpm dependant ) . Unfortunately , the new unit does the same thing. I would suppose a filter(capacitor?) is required . But where and how??

Sounds like they used the same ground point through the same harness. I would find the ground wire and replace it with a cable directly to the battery, or if it is tied to the chassis, run a cable from the battery to the chassis. I had the same problem in my '95 Saturn and that was the only way I could get rid of the ground-loop

[Dan2]

i Kinda got the same problem with my '84 toyata corolla, engine noise thruogh the radio (Cd's are fine). the radio reception is terrible too. do i also need to ground the antennea directly to the batt???

[cliffforrest]

Originally posted by Dan2
i Kinda got the same problem with my '84 toyata corolla, engine noise thruogh the radio (Cd's are fine). the radio reception is terrible too. do i also need to ground the antennea directly to the batt???

If you have terrible reception your antenna is not getting enough signal to the receiver and it will be operating at maximum gain and therefore sensitive to all sorts of interference.

Fix the antenna problem (new antenna, lead or connections) and you will probably find that the ignition interference goes away.

[lndm]

If you wanted to try a cap, you could try connecting it directly behind the pioneer (both terminals). I guess you could also try a supressor in your power input (there should already be a black box there), I would put the cap after this.

[acebaker]

Grounding is ususally the source of "alternator whine" TO-3 has the answer. Try this first before anything else. Most cars have the neg batt terminal attached to the engine block then a connection from the block to the body. Steel is not as good a conductor as copper. I find that even running an undersized copper wire from the point on the chassis where amps or head units are grounded to the battery helps. High powered pro installs usually come with equal size power & ground cables hooked to the battery. This is best.

[iOrion]

I have a similar problem and I suspect it's my ground causing it. I'm going to try and find a cleaner surface to run the ground to the chasis.

Has anyone tried using filters?

[TO-3]

Originally posted by iOrion
I have a similar problem and I suspect it's my ground causing it. I'm going to try and find a cleaner surface to run the ground to the chasis.

Has anyone tried using filters?

Using a filter only benefits the company that you buy it from. If you have a solid ground, you will not have a ground-loop. Copper is a much better conductor than steel, or fiberglass for that matter , so if you can swing it, run a return cable to your grounding point.

[iOrion]

There could be other problems too, such as Power Cables running too close to RCAs etc etc.

This shouldn't be a problem for me considering that I've allowed enough space between my RCA's and my Power Cable, and the fact that my RCA's are shielded also would help.

So I'm still assuming it's my Ground. I'll fix it up this weekend.

[sandyhooker]

Thanks for your replies -I ran a 10AWG wire directly from the neg battery terminal to the Pioneer unit and that seemed to solve the problem . There may be still some problems on weaker radio signals (most are weak here in the desert) but I can live with that.