Loud Interference From Speakers

I was buzzing along the interstate listening to the radio yesterday when all of a sudden over the music was loud, static-y, awful, want to hear the most annoying sound in the world interference. The pitch went up as RPMs increased and went down when the RPMs went down. It's constant and driving me crazy.

I've never had the problem before but I still shut off the cell phone, radar, and anything else that might have been causing interference with no luck.

I do have an aftermarket system in there but in 2+ years there have been no issues. Any ideas as to what could be causing this? Thanks!

sounds like a ground came loose somewhere... when you say aftermarket.. do you mean just a head unit? subs? amps?
more info on the setup would help, also did you install it yourself?

I got the whole thing done. Head unit, speakers, sub, etc. Unfortunately I didn't do it myself, I had it done home in Alaska and I'm stuck in Miami (this superbowl thing is more crazy than you could imagine).

When you say a loose ground...is it something that I could figure out on my own or would I be better off paying a few bucks and taking it in to a shop around here? Thanks for the help!

Is it just one speaker that is buzzing or is it all of them? I blew my right front tweeter in my Xterra and it would buzz really bad when playing certain songs really loud, just a thought....maybe you blew a speaker jamming out?

Bart

PS - Did you drive your VX from Alaska to Miami?

its probably just a loose connection somewhere, so if you are comfortable taking a couple panels off, it shouldnt be a difficult fix

pinpoint the speakers making the awful noise (called alternator whine) and then locate the amp thats powering them, check the neg (-) wire coming out of the amp to make sure its still fully connected, then trace back to where it is connected to the frame of your vx and make sure thats a solid connetion

if theres no amp powering the speakers the problem would be your head unit, check to make sure the black wire coming out of the head unit is connected properly, if nothing sticks out at you, id try hooking up a different head unit in there to see if that makes the problem go away

after that you probably need to try a new ground for your head unit (biju showed me an awesome spot.. a bolt directly behind the factory head unit location connected to the firewall)

if its just one speaker try getting to it and making sure both wires going to it are firmly connected

It's definitely more than one speaker. I think it may be just the rear two but I haven't been out to the truck since I arrived at work this morning because the security for the superbowl is airport X 10 and they make us park a mile away so the NFL and corporate tents can go up in our parking spaces. Anyway, I may try and get in there myself and fix it friday as the NFL is kicking us out of our offices (which is one nice perk of this madness).


and I got the VX in Boston in college...drove to Alaska...back to boston then down to miami last may. so in a not so direct manner, i did drive from alaska to miami. more recently I drove an infiniti fx from miami to alaska as a christmas present for my father. the car was on for 91 hours and from my spot in miami to the garage in anchorage was 5666.6 miles :eek:

Shoota, the advice etlsport gave you is spot-on. It's important to know if you have separate amps for front vs. back.

Out of curiosity, what do you do that you work in the stadium?

You are a serious Road Warrior to do all of that driving!

Well, turns out the guys who installed it originally messed up. They tried squeezing a pretty decent sized 5channel amp under my front seat. Eventually, with all the bumps of the road over time, the connections from the amp to the speakers, woofer, power etc. bent inside the amp itself as they were resting on that lip in right under the front of the seat. So, i may try to get some new amps or i may just return the vx to stock (visions of selling the vx have been dancing in my head). Thanks for the help above!


VehiGAZ-I work for the pro baseball team down here where we unfortunately play in a football stadium. :(

My ex bought a new isuzu rodeo in 99 with the same problem right from the factory.You could here static that would raise and lower in pitch depending on the RPMs of the engine.She sent it back to the dealer 3 times with no luck. Her type A sister in law said if it was not fixed right the fourth time that she would get "7 on her side" or something and they just upgraded her to the six disc changer that had the same problem but to less of an extent. My advice is to rip and isuzu factory stereo out and sh_t can it.Pop in an aftermarket, because the problem is inherit in the system.