Intermittent alternator whine | Ford Explorer Forums

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Intermittent alternator whine

Mbrooks420

High Voltage.
Elite Explorer
Joined
February 2, 2002
Messages
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Year, Model & Trim Level
1998 Mountaineer AWD
When I'm driving and I let off the gas once and a while I will get an alternator noise that comes through all my speakers. It goes away as soon as I tap the gas. Anyone ever have this? Could it be because I have my deck grounded to the factory harness? I know this is a no-no, but I might move that tomorrow.
I have a slight alternator whine normally due to the fact that I need 2 quality 1 foot rca's. Is there any problems that come along with using an inexpensive noise filter?
 



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Alternator whine

Before hooking up or installing one of those noise filters, go back and check all your grounds. As you mentioned, moving the HU ground will help. Also, install a new ground (same gauge as your power wire) from the neg side of your battery to the engine/chassis. Often these grounds provided by the manufacturer are minimal at best. You did not say where your amp (s) is/are grounded. The ground for these should be mounted no more than 18" away from the amps. One more thing, do have any signal processors installed in your system? If so, these are often the culprits in alternator whine. I had terrible alternator whine in my system after completing the install. Could not find the cause of it anywhere. Finally I unhooked components one by one to discover where it was coming from....turns out that my Audio Control Line driver was the culprit. I simply removed the cover, changed the position of the Ground Isolation Selector jumper and the problem went away. Good luck:D


http://members.cardomain.com/scotts1
 






My ground is about 12inches. I have 3 small amps mounted all on the sub box. I just put on a new neg. battery cable clamp that has three outputs, maybe I'll get some more wire tomorrow. The only things beside the amps is a 2 way electronic x-over.
 






Alternator whine

Where do you have the crossover mounted and where do you have it grounded?
 






It's about 8 inches from my tweeter amp. All my groungs go to a star ground than is behind the piece of metal that covers the gap when the seats are folded down. I think the sound has something to do with interference from something else on the truck. Its only when I let of the gas from 1/2 or more throttle suddenly. It makes a single tone whine. Its not quite alternator whine. The second I tap the gas its gone.
 






Sounds like a bad ground connection or something is loose. Check all your wiring again.
 






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