I've read posts over the years about the stereo developing engine noise over time. Now mine is doing it.
I get high pitched whining at idle, louder with RPMs. It also does it with any accy on like the blower or the air pump plugged into the cigarette lighter adapter.
I have:
Head Unit: Kenwood KTS-MP400MR
AMP: Kicker ZX200.4
Stock system, one amp, no sub, no tower speakers. The audio system isn't anything more than the basic stock system.
I have read posts here before and more about engine noise over on wakeworld and it seems the common issue is the grounding going bad over time or being done incorrectly from the factory.
I am the original owner of this boat and it did not start having this issue until the past couple of seasons, it's now so bad the stereo is unusable.
I'm not an audio guy, but I also hate paying to have things fixed and my wife is ready for me to take it to an audio place to pay. I'm hoping someone here can help me out before I admit defeat.....
Grounds: I checked all of these and they are solid and clean. The head unit is grounded to the amp and the amp is grounded to the second battery negative terminal. I read that I should try to run a ground from the HU straight to the batter to see if that works, but I didnt want to cut and redo the ground wire yet if it was something else.
AMP Gain: It was factory set at about the noon to 1 o'clock position on the dial. I turned it all the way down to zero and still had the issue.
Antenna: Disconnected antenna, still makes noise
RCA's from HU to AMP: I unplugged the RCAs from the HU to the AMP and the noise went away. Of course so did the actual music, but when I turned on the blower with the engine off it made no noise and normally in that scenario it would make noise.
So have I diagnosed this properly? Is it the RCA cable from the HU to the AMP that is my issue? I've read that a there is a RCA filter of some sort I can buy? Should I try cutting and rewiring the HU ground wire straight to the battery and not to the AMP?
Thanks!