My amps grounded to my seatbelt bolt. I sanded away the paint on the seat belt connectors, the metal bar beneath them, and the body paint below that.

I thought this would be a decent ground but I have the dreaded whine.

Head unit is double grounded up front.

Looking for ideas...its really very anoying.

Eclipse cd3000, arc 4150xxk amp, eclipse ipod hook up.

Thanks for any help

 

Check the voltage level of your alternator. It should read 12v. Also check the voltage level of your battery. With the car on your battery voltage level should read ~13-14 volts. With the car off it should read 12v. If not, replace alternator.

Also, have you considered the big 3 upgraded? It will help any car with a high powered sound system and it's cheap & easy to do. Read http://forums.maxima.org/audio-elect...other-how.html and http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...?highlight=big .

 

yeah up don't ground to your seatbelt bolt. lol? I am surpized the above guy didn't say anything about that. Its a rather poor place to ground anything especially audio. How do you know what is on the other side of that bolt and seatbelt? Those are painted and use thinner metals. Also even if it wasn't painted a nice clean ground tapped or at least to bolt to anywhere even a seat bracket with no paint is is better.

Also what side are you're RCAs on?

 

Try using the strut bolts in the trunk as ground. I used this in 4th gen max for 6 years no alt whine whatsoever.


Replacing the alt nor doing the big 3 upgrade will get rid of alt whine.

 

Get a better set of RCA's.

 

This is a myth. With a proper set of RCA's, you're fine.

I had my RCA's zip tied to my power wire, and had no whine.

 

Seatbelt bolt is fine.

Also why is the HU "Double grounded" that can be causing a loop and noise.

 

No it is not a myth. Your power wire will emit an electromagnetic field which will interfere with the signal of your RCA's. Most RCA's have shielding in them to take care of it. Whether or not the interference is enough for your ears to pick it up is another story.

 

90% of times the whine is from a bad ground. find a nice piece of the frame. Drill a hole, shave paint off both sides, use an decent oxide inhibitor, flat washers on each side with locks nuts etc, torque to SAE specs and you are good.

oh and no double grounds. It's also not a bad idea to ground your rca shields as well.

 

RCA's run on the oppisite side of the power wire. They are decent quality if price = quality...i didnt buy the lowest price set i could find. i think they are stinger.

I have the big 3 upgraded...maybe i didnt pick the best grounding points in the engine bay.

I will try changing to the strut tower bolt.
Are you drilling through the trunk floor to get to the frame?

 

I remember getting alternator whine as the first sign the alternator itself was on it's way out.

Just another thought.

 

the trunk floor will work fine just like the frame. an anti oxidant is very important.