What did I do wrong? (AMP install)
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Lead Driver
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From: Kuna ID
What did I do wrong? (AMP install)
I had an old kicker amp and some 10" subs in my 67 mustang, I decided to put them in my wifes 79 Mercury Capri since her stereo kinda sucks. Everything worked fine when it came out of the mustang, and the stereo in the capri worked fine before I put the new stuff in. Here's what happens. With the car off, the stereo makes this tick, tick, tick noise, similar to an old CD, but it happens when I listen to the radio as well. When the car is on, I get a whining noise that changes pitch with the engine RPM. Isn't this caused by a having a certain wire too close to something. One weird thing I noticed, is that usually on most radios, there is a solid blue wire to activate the amp, it didn't work on this one, I ended up using the blue/white wire to get the amp to turn on. Where should I start looking. It sounds awesome with the volume way up, but I can't leave it there all the time. 
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Joined: May 2006
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The whining noise is usually caused by a bad ground. Make sure the ground from your amp has a good chassis ground. As for the blue solid wire. That is called your remote wire. On all the cars I have installed, they have mostly been solid blue. If the blue/white wire turns your amp off when the car is off they hey it works. Also I recommend going to your local auto parts store and picking up a radio wiring harness. This will defeat any problems with having extra wires, they are also all labeled.
P.S. I don't advise hooking random wires up to see if something works. I have heard of way too many horror stories of blowing up head units and frying the whole electrical.
P.S. I don't advise hooking random wires up to see if something works. I have heard of way too many horror stories of blowing up head units and frying the whole electrical.
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Lead Driver
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From: Kuna ID
I grounded it to one of the seat mouting bolts. Could it be caused by a ground wire that is too small? Now that I think about it, I used a different ground wire in the capri than the stang because I thought I would need a longer one, and I think it was a little smaller guage. I could throw the bigger guage wire back on.
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I would recommend just going to 8 gauge to be safe. If amp is powered long enough with a small ground you can melt your ground.(I know from expierence)Also, you can make the sub louder with a better ground. Go with an 8 guage ground and that should eliminate all of your problems. I suppose 10 guage should be fine with that small of an amp. My friend is running a total of 3000 watts with a 6 guage ground and that works fine for him. Good luck.
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Lead Driver
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From: Kuna ID
I'll go throw the 10 guage on for now and see if it helps. I have to get some more wire later though, I ran out of speaker wire too.
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Wow that was fast. I honestly don't know, power wire for your amp could be to close to your engine. Whenever I have engine noise through the speakers, I always change the ground and that has always worked. Try changing the ground to a different bolt.
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Lead Driver
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From: Kuna ID
I just tryed grounding it on another seat bolt, the parking brake, the tranny tunnel, and under the dash, it all sounds the same. I even tryed grounding the stereo case. It just keeps ticking.
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Lead Driver
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From: Kuna ID
I went and checked Kicker's website, and it said not to run the RCA cables and the power wire next to each other. I had them zip tied together 
. I rerouted the RCA cables, so the closest they come to the power wire is 12". It STILL ticks and whines. I found that by putting the amp in HP mode, it almost becomes inaudible. Something is still wrong though. 
. I rerouted the RCA cables, so the closest they come to the power wire is 12". It STILL ticks and whines. I found that by putting the amp in HP mode, it almost becomes inaudible. Something is still wrong though.
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: Between Shelby / Avoca Ia
You need a noise suppressor on the power feed wire. The 79 is probably getting interference from the ignition module. Also, you should check to see if the ground strap between the body and the battery or engine is damaged.
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Lead Driver
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From: Kuna ID
I just installed a 20 amp noise filter, and still no change. The stereo doesn't make the noise though, the sounds only come from the subs being run off the amp. I really don't think I can splice the noise filter in the amp power wire though, they are totally different sizes. I also ran a separate ground wire from the stereo case with no luck. I am ready to toss this thing in the garbage. 
Last edited by Sycostang67; May 29, 2006 at 04:51 PM.