I would like to shared some of my experience, which might help someone.
It has been years trying to figure out my alternator whine issue. Especially on a 21 year old car. In addition, I am still a novice to car audio.
I tried everything, such as:
The main culprit was my head-unit.The fix was the RCA connections shielding not being grounded. I tried the pioneer fix (wire wrap) and it worked except it grounds to my amp. It was not grounding to my head-unit.
So I came across BCAE1 (http://bcae1.com/images/rca/temporar...eldrepair.html) and discovered that there is a second fuse inside the head-unit just like the pioneer. It has nothing to do with the fuse on the outside of the head-unit either. The fuse on the outside is perfectly fine.
So I completely disassemble the head-unit, and shined a light on the circuit board. I took a good look near the RCAs, focusing on the ground connections.After a few minutes, I found a burnt trace which in my case is the internal fuse.
Luckily, I have only 1 internal fuse. I went with BCAE1 suggestion and installed a real fuse. I chose a 1 AMP slow blow fuse inline with a jumper wire, and solder them in.
Finally, I hooked everything back up and the alternator whine is long gone, and the RCAs are grounded to the head-unit. Finally, after so many years
So if you tried everything, and feel comfortable with electronics, check your Head-unit's RCA ground and internal fuse.
Head-unit is a Kenwood Excelon KDC-X492 ( 5 year old Head unit)
It has been years trying to figure out my alternator whine issue. Especially on a 21 year old car. In addition, I am still a novice to car audio.
I tried everything, such as:
- Separating the power wires
- Placing RCAs on opposite sides.
- Trying multiple ground locations with the paint removed.
- Grounding the head-unit to another spot other than the OEM location
- Removing the antenna wire completely
- Disconnecting and unpinning any extra wires from the head-unit harness.
- Rerouted my Big3 connections in the engine bay multiple times.
- Tried different AMPs
- Tried different RCAs
- Tried different Power Cables and Ground Cables
- Even installed a new alternator, which really needed to be replaced.
The main culprit was my head-unit.The fix was the RCA connections shielding not being grounded. I tried the pioneer fix (wire wrap) and it worked except it grounds to my amp. It was not grounding to my head-unit.
So I came across BCAE1 (http://bcae1.com/images/rca/temporar...eldrepair.html) and discovered that there is a second fuse inside the head-unit just like the pioneer. It has nothing to do with the fuse on the outside of the head-unit either. The fuse on the outside is perfectly fine.
So I completely disassemble the head-unit, and shined a light on the circuit board. I took a good look near the RCAs, focusing on the ground connections.After a few minutes, I found a burnt trace which in my case is the internal fuse.
Luckily, I have only 1 internal fuse. I went with BCAE1 suggestion and installed a real fuse. I chose a 1 AMP slow blow fuse inline with a jumper wire, and solder them in.
Finally, I hooked everything back up and the alternator whine is long gone, and the RCAs are grounded to the head-unit. Finally, after so many years
So if you tried everything, and feel comfortable with electronics, check your Head-unit's RCA ground and internal fuse.
Head-unit is a Kenwood Excelon KDC-X492 ( 5 year old Head unit)
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