Hey guys,
I finally found the problem to all of my engine noise since I put in my new amp, speakers, HU, and sirius satellite unit. The culprit is the auxiliary port on the satellite radio. Here is a picture of my setup:

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i35/spect2k/082006_10371.jpg

I have one of those aux105 ports on my eclipse cd3000, and the monster mobile cable going from the sirius unit to the aux105 port. Here are pix to explain it all.

http://www.monstercable.com/images_db/mobile/ipmp3_glam.jpg


http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/products/2006/099/h099AUX105-f_dg.jpeg


http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/products/2005/099/h099CD3000-f_mt.jpeg


So there it is. The sirius unit has the monster mobile cable going into the aux port which then travels to the aux105's RCA cables, which then goes into the HU. Any idea what could be causing the engine noise here? Maybe someone has had this problem...

Also, I get no engine noise when listening to cds, fm, or am radio

do you have a charger of some sort hooked up to the satellite receiver while driving?

No, the top wire that you see is for the antenna, the bottom wire is for the power, and the middle is the monster cable. The power wire is connected in some way to the alternator, but I had it installed by circuit city. Its not directly into the alternator, but it is tapping into one of the wires I was told.

There is no charger of any sort though...just the power wire. The unit starts up with the car unless I turn it off.

if you're getting noise that is in keeping with the engine, it's a ground loop causing the noise.. either change the grounds to a common one..
or get one of these to plug in between the sat receiver and your headunit..


http://www.crutchfield.com/S-IjIBNZQsB9d/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?search=ground+loop&i=127SNI135

try one of those and i bet you won't have anymore noise..

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062214&cp=&origkw=ground+loop&kw=ground+loop&parentPage=search

that would also work, but you'd need some adapters to make it work with your setup..

Awesome, I will try that, thanks for the tip!

I wouldnt need an adapter if I use the 2nd one though (the radioshack one). I would just connect it between the Aux105 and the monster cable right? Or is there a better place to connect it / does it not matter where I connect it as long as its there?

If you can find the RadioShack one it would connect easily between the Aux105 and the Monster - and it just matters that it is SOMEWHERE between the two units. :)

Good luck!

Tomas

Thanks!

I just went out to radio shack and bought that part, it also came with a short wire that has female RCAs on one side, and a 1/8 mini stereo on the other. The actual part has 2 male RCAs on each side. Would it be possible to have the ground loop isolator go all the way from the satellite unit to the aux105 piece and eliminate the monster cable or would that not be wise? Any other suggestions here as I am without the proper amount of male/female to keep the monster otherwise, unless I buy an adapter of some sort...

Again, so long as the loop isolator is between the sat unit and the head unit, all is well. If it will make the connection all the way from one to the other, without the Monster, by all means just use it. The less excess wire length the better. :)

Give it a try.

Tomas

Right. After all, I figure that the signal has to pass through the ground loop isolator regardless of whether or not the monster cable is there. So the signal can only be as good as the isolator. So having the monster cable there is, as you said, excess wire length and therefore basically useless

im confused as to what you are doing.. why not just use the sirius interface w/ the deck? as i see it is sirius ready.. having crap stuck to the dash or windows makes it look cheap IMO.. just curious...

Quite an interesting point, but I like the benefits that the unit gives me, such as song/artist alerts, the remote control, and the ease of use when looking at it...for artists name/song...but I do agree that it looks nicer without it on the windshield

um, my cheap kenwood deck gives me title/ artist, genre, channel name, and some other crap. its all selectable in the deck menu. i leave it on title/artist. plus, i have full control of it. channel change, presets ect. and from the remote.. yours should have those features.. esp if it does it for MP3's

As a follow-up...I put that ground loop isolator in and it solved the problem. Thanks for the help!

The problem is that you are drawing power from the cig plug i bet for the Sirius. If you hardwired it to the radio wire harness it would eliminate the problem. The isolator will not eliminate noise if you end up puting alot of power to your main speakers.

As a follow-up...I put that ground loop isolator in and it solved the problem. Thanks for the help!

you're most welcome.. glad i could contribute (as well as others, like tomas..) to help you fix the noise.. :clap:

yeah i figured the radio shack one was quicker to get than ordering and waiting for crutchfield... i love radio shack for these cool, quick fixes!