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Alternator whine in a 92 Civic

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=39889
Printed Date: September 19, 2025 at 9:09 PM


Topic: Alternator whine in a 92 Civic

Posted By: Honda Bounce
Subject: Alternator whine in a 92 Civic
Date Posted: September 28, 2004 at 1:33 AM

I got a 92 Civic Si hatch. The alternator in it is about 6 months old (not saying it's not the problem as i have yet to try a different one... but the problem started after a few months of it being in). I have a Pioneer P80MP, ground is to the chassis of the car, the constant 12v is direct from the battery and the switched power wire comes from the fuse box. I have 4 gauge ground to the chassis using a PG gold negative battery connector. 4 guage running to 2 amps using distrobution blocks on positive and ground. Rockford 500x 4 channel... all speaker wire and RCA's are BRAND NEW with every connection at the speaker being soldered on. My ground in the back is excellent, also 4 gauge.

Now i'm trying to figure out why i have alternator whine. It's not only alternator whine though because the more loads i put on, the louder it get's... also when i use my turn signals i get like a clicking sound out of the speakers, most likely from the tone of the alternator whine changing due to different loads on the system. Is the problem most likely my alternator as i've changed every wire that has to do with my stereo or could the problem be maybee in the switched power wire on my deck being shorted in the fuse box somewhere ? I've tried ground loop isolators, 1 per set of RCA's, i have 3 sets of PG's. This is driving me nuts. I've tried disconnecting the alternator completely and starting the car, I don't get a whine but still get the clicking sounds i described when i use my turn signals and turn on and off different loads. When the car is running and i have the amp connected... the whine goes away when i disconnect the RCA's... so it's not the amp. Also, the whine is more noticeable from my 500x, and not from my sub amp being a Kenwood, although it pops really loud when i turn the volume from 0 to 1...

Please help... this is driving me nuts, sorry bout the long post, i just wanted to try and put up all the info that would be needed all in 1 shot.




Replies:

Posted By: godd dan it
Date Posted: September 28, 2004 at 2:32 AM

Well if all your wiring is properly hooked up. The only thing that I can think of is that your alternator is straining to power all your electronics. Ever think of upgrading your alternator?





Posted By: shadowinfector
Date Posted: September 28, 2004 at 10:05 AM

try grounding ur rca's...not using a ground loop isolator.....from behind ur Headunit,...wrap a bare wire around all ur rca's and ground it to a clean ground that is not being shared...if u hear more whine...switch the ground....if that doesnot work....are u amps mounted on wood or metal....if metal u have to put a piece of wood between the metal and the amp.....let  me know wut happens





Posted By: padawan
Date Posted: September 28, 2004 at 10:11 AM
Upgrade the wire from ur battery's neg post to the chassis, upgrade the power wire from the alternator to battery pos post, upgrade ur engine to chassis ground wire...This should help a lot...Use thicker guage wire...on my mom's 96 civic i believe the power wire on the batt is 4 guage and the neg was on 8 guage...She doesn't have an aftermarket stereo and i did her big 3 upgrade just cuz i didn't like the way it looked, needless to say her headlights got brighter and everythign just worked better...Use some 2 guage or even 1/0 guage for the new wires...i usually just use 2 guage since i got a ton if it.




Posted By: Honda Bounce
Date Posted: September 28, 2004 at 11:45 AM

Here's something I forgot to add... the system ran problem free ever since i've had it. The "big 3" were already done to the car b4 my current install. I'm gonna try grounding out the RCA's... that's about the only thing I can think of rather then my deck went for a crap (never know with pioneer), or my diodes in my alt are gone.

I'm having the alternator checked out today... will see how that turns out.





Posted By: Honda Bounce
Date Posted: September 28, 2004 at 11:06 PM

Well I installed a brand new alternator today and the alt. whine is still there... damn i love lookin for ground loops... i've regrounded everything properly...

Think maybee the deck is shot even though it's only 5 months old... i mean it did work fine for 2 1/2 months... lol





Posted By: forbidden
Date Posted: September 29, 2004 at 1:30 PM

My estimated guess is a poor circuit design in the Pioneer cd player. In particular the ground plane. If you have not tried muting plugs yet, make some. Take an el-cheapo rca cable and cut the ends off. Wire the center conductor to the outer conductor. Plug into the amplifier. Do this to all 4 inputs. Do you still have noise? Unmount the amplifier and place it on cardboard, do you still have noise?



-------------
Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.





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