Engine noise in my stereo

I have a 2002 Centurion Avalanche with the Mercruiser 315, I have a whining noise in my stereo when the boats running.

When I got the boat a year ago everything was fine, except the wiring for the amp's looked like a 12y/o did it. So me in my ultimate wisdom decided I needed to clean it up. In the process I disconnected all power from the batteries, I neglected to move the batteries from there boxes and somehow or another the ground cable came in contact with the positive of the battery. Ever since this happened I have been chasing this problem.

I have
Checked all the grounds
Replaced the deck
Replace the batteries
Replaced the alternator
Put a noise isolator in for the deck on the +
Replaced the cap rotor and plugs
Replaced the amps

Anyone have any advice for me, I'm at a loss and am down to replacing the ECM

Marcus - Where are you located? It sounds like you have spent some solid time on the boat. Let me know if I can get in there.

fuel pump?

This may sound crazy but I went thru something even stranger. What deck are you using?

Try an alpine deck if you have acess to one. IT was the only thing that pretty much eliminated my "whine".

I'm in the eastbay CA. i have spent some time chasing this down and like i said i'm at a loss

^^^Before you take it in somwhere double check all your grounds. Did you check back at the block?

Do you have an ohm meter? Start mesuring resistance across grounds, you may be able to find something.

I close to 60-70 hours of my own time diagnosing my issues and spent thousands at two audio shops...no one could ever figure it out...then one shop randomly started swaping HU brands...the Alpine removed almsot all the noise.

This was all on a brand new boat. My problem just all the sudden popped up after my 20 hour service.

Noise can be from something as simple as your RCA's. If you have them split or they just aren't the best RCA's it will cause noise. Try running a ground in with your wiring from the deck to your amps.

i have an 06 avalanche with the same problem has sony head unit
another centurion on my lake does it too
someone told me to put a "noise cancelling diode" in the power supply wires
haven't found such a thing yet
if ya'll figure it out post it up

^^^^ You can buy power filters but 99.9% of engine whine is ground related.

i have replaced the RCA's too, guess i forgot that in my list. i bought a $110 set of 4 RCA's. as well i have routed all power and grounds as far away from the RCA'S as posable

(Message edited by ROCKCRALINJEEP on May 20, 2008)

I had the same issue when my system was installed. No problems with stereo when boat not running, but a whine when I started the boat. Took the boat to the installer and they put a filter in and it immediately fixed it.

you can always try a ground loop isolator.

What kind of amps are you running? I had engine noise through my tower speakers and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I replaced the cheap factory Kenwood amp with a JL 300/4 and the noise disappeared.

The ground loop isolator, does it go on the alternator or on the radio? i put an isolator on the alternator it did nothing so i removed it.

AT THE TIME I WAS RUNNING KICKER AMP'S, NOW IM RUNNING PHOENIX GOLD. I THINK MY NEXT THING IS TO GET A DIFFERENT DECK THEN THE PIONEER'S I HAVE TRYED 3 PIONEERS AND STILL THE SAME NOISE

Why are you yelling? They're only trying to help.

Marcus - I know Sacramento is a drive but I have had people from Tracy, San Ramon, Napa and even San Luis make the trip to us. Let me know if I can help out or if you want me to find a knowledgeable dealer in your area. I do treat all WakeWorlders as best possible.

Marcus,

Search the audio forums there are certain models of pioneers that are natorious for making engine noise. It has to do with the RCA outs ont eh back of the radio not being grounded properly. You basically haev to ground each RCA out back to the radio chasis, if memory serves me correct. Most of the big audio forums haev sticky's about this issue. It's fairly well known.

GLI plugs inline on your RCA's, try it in a few different places, what ever piece of equipment you think is causing the nosie. HAev you tried totally disconnection yrou HU and running an ipod directly into each amp via RCA-3mm plug? This would tell you if it's the HU picking up/causing hte noise.

Marcus,

I would get down to basics and try to isolate the noise as Adam has suggested above. You can also listen to your deck RCA's with headphones. I am local, shoot me a note if you need me to walk you through some troubleshooting.

Mike

possibly the noise reduction unit on your alternator is out, its the small black box looped to the batt post. just a suggestion

i fixed my centurions problem
i took yall's advice and totally isolated my stereo system
did seperate grounds and fused power circuits to stereo system
put relay to the key switch so it's not getting any direct power from the key switch
also had a bad connection at the plug for my tower speakers
it worked for my boat
hope this helps
and thank all you for your experience and knowledge