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99 Ford Expedition, noise problems


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sk8ingsmurf 
Copper - Posts: 198
Copper spacespace
Joined: March 18, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: January 23, 2006 at 1:15 AM / IP Logged  

Please forgive the lenght of this post...

Im really starting to think this one has gotten the best of me.  Ill open up with a somewhat brief summary. 

Car: 99 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer

Stereo: Eclipse 8443 Deck, Fosgate 1001bd Amp (Subs), Fosgate 851x Amp (4-channel), Alpine type X 6.5" components (front), Eclipse 6x8 3 way coaxes (rear), all knukonceptz wiring (4 guage to each amp, high quality rcas) run down opposite sides.

Started having some weird noise in the stereo like 8 months ago, thought it was some blown speakers (amp may be just a tad too powerful for those speakers, haha), warrantied out all four speakers at my local shop where I purchased them.  Got the new ones in and still heard the noise, these are brand new speakers keep in mind.  Started to think it was my amp, pulled my amp, bench tested it, seemed ok; put it in my brothers car, sounded fine; put my brothers amp in my car, his sounded terrible.  At this point I have ruled my amp out as a source.  Re-ground my H.U. and both amps, used a wire wheel on the drill to get the ground locations down to bare metal.  Still sounded horrible.  Went to my local shop and tested a ground loop isolater on it, nothing.  Used two g.l.i.s, nothing.  Used new rcas, no improvement.  Used new rcas without running them (just pulled the deck and ran them over the seats to the amps), nothing.  Connected the power and ground both directly to the battery, nothing.  Tonight I tried switching the deck out for a brand new alpine 9855 (just got it for free tonight from a friend, bids anyone?), really thought the deck was the only thing I hadnt switched out yet surely this would be the cause of all of my troubles, the noise is still there. 

I think this is a good list of everything I have tried, maybe forgot one or two things but you get the idea.  I feel like I have exhausted all trial and error tests and still cant seem to isolate the problem.  If I could at least find out what is causing it I am willing to replace whatever or re-wire Im just frustrated at this point.  If anybody has any ideas on other test please let me know Im willing to try just about anything, or if anybody has any thoughts as to what it could be.  Im really out of any and all ideas on this one, please if you can give me some insight I will be forever in your debt.

Oh the noise is sorta just like a fuzz, its horrible distortion at low volumes (anything below 1/2 basically) where you cant even hear the music.  If you turn it up you can hear the music just fine but its still there, presents itself as almost a white-noise in the background at high volumes.  Doesnt sound anything like alternator whine to me.  Happens when the car is running, off, driving, or parked, its basically always there.

Thank you for reading all of this, and hopefully for your help,

Jeff

nstaller36695 
Copper - Posts: 106
Copper spacespace
Joined: January 20, 2006
Location: United States
Posted: January 23, 2006 at 1:26 AM / IP Logged  
unfortunately engine noise or fuzz is hard to diagnose it can come from anywhere. if u know your electronics are good try checking the battery terminals the fords are really bad about corrosion and loosening and make sure u add more ground wire if necessary u cant have 2 4ga wires leaving the battery and 1 factory 8 ga going back in. check the battery, battery voltage ( at the terminal and the post ) check the condition of the battery wires as well and maybe have your battery tested with a load tester and check your terminals. hope some of this helps
the best part of a job is seeing the bumper get smaller over the horizon
sk8ingsmurf 
Copper - Posts: 198
Copper spacespace
Joined: March 18, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: January 23, 2006 at 10:17 AM / IP Logged  

I probably should have mentioned the charging system upgrades I have done as well.  It has a 225a high output alternator, an optima yellow top, and waiting in the garage for once I get this figured out I have an extra red top with a 200a isolater (this was in when the noise started, took it out to diagnose a charging system problem in my brother's car).  I have actually already cleaned the terminals on the battery (told you I probably forgot some of the steps I took in troubleshooting), didnt seem to make any difference, and those things are spotless.  I have already added some extra 8 awg to the big three, but it was just because I had extra wire lying around, i know I should really go bigger and that may be the next thing I try.  Any other ideas from anybody?

Thanks,

Jeff

nstaller36695 
Copper - Posts: 106
Copper spacespace
Joined: January 20, 2006
Location: United States
Posted: January 23, 2006 at 4:52 PM / IP Logged  
dude ???????? 8 ga ?????????  
the best part of a job is seeing the bumper get smaller over the horizon
sk8ingsmurf 
Copper - Posts: 198
Copper spacespace
Joined: March 18, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: January 23, 2006 at 5:27 PM / IP Logged  
yeah as I said, it was just something extra I had lying around.  So with the 8 awg that was already in the car from the factory it comes out to something near 4 awg, yes I know I could go larger but havent gotten around to it yet.
nstaller36695 
Copper - Posts: 106
Copper spacespace
Joined: January 20, 2006
Location: United States
Posted: January 23, 2006 at 7:37 PM / IP Logged  

yea for sure u always want to add the same going to ground as positive going out. example 4 ga in add a 4 ga ground. the factory 8 ga is only meant to run headlights etc...

the best part of a job is seeing the bumper get smaller over the horizon
sk8ingsmurf 
Copper - Posts: 198
Copper spacespace
Joined: March 18, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: January 23, 2006 at 11:26 PM / IP Logged  
yeah it is the same on ground as positive, dual 8 awg ground and dual 8 awg positive.  I do know I could definitely use some bigger wiring on the big three and plan on doing it at some point in the near future.  I dont really think that its my problem though, although i acknowledge that it could be, I still dont quite get the impression that it is.  Anybody have any  ideas on what to check until I do replace that wiring?
firstrax 
Copper - Posts: 113
Copper spacespace
Joined: January 18, 2006
Posted: January 24, 2006 at 12:09 AM / IP Logged  
This is a shot in the dark but it happened to me about 15 years ago. While putting a car back together I shot a trim screw through a speaker wire. The result was noise similar to what you are describing.
geepherder 
Platinum - Posts: 3,668
Platinum spaceThis member consistently provides reliable informationspace
Joined: October 27, 2003
Posted: January 24, 2006 at 8:58 AM / IP Logged  
Yup, check all the speaker wiring, and if you're sure your ground is good, try turning down the gains.  If the gains are not set properly, you can get this problem.
My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.
sk8ingsmurf 
Copper - Posts: 198
Copper spacespace
Joined: March 18, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: January 24, 2006 at 9:43 AM / IP Logged  

The gains were fine for a long time going up to this and I actually did reset them at one point, because that was also one of my first guesses.  The speaker wire idea is actually a really good one, that seems like the only thing I would have accidently changed without realizing it, I will go through and pull all the speaker wiring and rerun and reconnect.  Anything in particular I should be looking for?  Just exposed wire? or wire that is in some way grounding out?

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