Hey, fellow org. members. I have a question for the 5th gener's. I just finished stripping out my Bose system (and, may I say was a pain in the a**) out of my 2000 SE, and installed my aftermarket stereo from my '95. Well, after all the years of installing stereos in all my cars I owned, for the first time I have "alternator whine". I pretty much pin-pointed where the source of the noise is coming from....my Audio Control EQ. With this disconnected, the noise disappears. In my '95, I grounded all my amps and EQ to the back seat, leaving my system clean from noise. Now, with my 2000 SE, the only good ground places I could see (without drilling into bare metal) is the bracket of the back seat mounted to the chassis of the car. Upon, using this ground point, I, of course, stripped all the paint to bare metal to metal contact. My question is, anyone with amps (and any other accessories) mounted in the trunk, where did you use your ground points? I know it is prone that Audio Control EQ's are sensitive to noise problems, but if you have a good grounding point, the noise is very minimal. I need to find an alternate ground without the hassle of guessing. Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

I used a bolt near the jack(in a 4th gen). Whichever bolt you use, take a small piece of sandpaper and scuff down the paint. You will want metal on metal contact. You also use a bolt on the back seat.

 

I am using the bolt that holds the frame of the seat. Probably the same one you are using.

 

sandpaper it all down. they sell connector paste which is basically fine metal shavings in a paste you can put on your connectors. it ensures a really good connection...its what 2 eletrical engineers i know use for there sub grounds. just an idea...

 

For my system everything is grounded to one of the large bolts that holds down the rear seat belt. I simply sanded all the paint away very good, and then used a large "eye" hook ground on my zero gauge stinger ground wire and installed it there.

Zero "whine", noise, or anything. Ground was good to fuse over 250A of Diamond Audio Amplifiers.

Hope that helps,

Mike

 

mines drilled into the body sheet metal under the rear seat

 

I always ground to a seat belt bolt

 

Thanks for all of your replies, guys. I'll try the seat belt bolt grounding point, and see if that helps any.