Radio has the alternator whine in it, that is noticeably worse when 12v acc plugged in..

[8v-of-fury]

Is this poor stereo wiring by installer? or a dieing voltage regulator?

 

[Blackbirdsrt78]

install a diode to the power wire to the radio and check the ground to the radio. What is happening is the current is AC instead of DC to the radio a diode only allows electron flow in one direction which will cancel out the noise.

 

[8v-of-fury]

Why does it appear and/or get worse when a 12v power source is being taken from the lighter?

 

[Jack Meoff]

Ground strap?

 

[Aspen500]

Why does it appear and/or get worse when a 12v power source is being taken from the lighter?

The higher the load on the alternator, the louder the interference will be. You may want to check the diodes in the alternator. If one or more fail, it can cause a whine from the radio too.

 

[Grandmas84]

Check your coil there should be a little resistor of some sort on the postive side i think. It is there to fix your exact problem. If you dont have one. Google it im sure you'll find some info.

 

[8v-of-fury]

Ground strap?

Engine to battery ground strap? Body to engine? Body to battery??

The higher the load on the alternator, the louder the interference will be. You may want to check the diodes in the alternator. If one or more fail, it can cause a whine from the radio too.

Interesting.. could it be a voltage regulator?

Check your coil there should be a little resistor of some sort on the postive side i think. It is there to fix your exact problem. If you dont have one. Google it im sure you'll find some info.

This is a ELB/ESA delete car so it has a new coil, I do not think thre is anything but the white ceramic resistor on the + side.

 

[MiradaMegacab]

The ignition coil condenser added on the positive side of the coil should eliminate the whine.

 

[8v-of-fury]

The white ceramic ballast?

Condenser to my brain is showing me the little one in the distributor of a points ignition.. lolol

 

[MiradaMegacab]

I googled ignition coil condenser.
IDK how to post a link

 

[8v-of-fury]

Ahhh, ok. I saw those but they just looked like the ones from points ignitions so i omitted them from my searches.

Interesting! Ok I will try and source one of those and see how that goes. It just gets annoying when you can't charge your phone and listen to the radio at the same time! Damnit! i thought it was a luxury car! lol

 

[kkritsilas]

Back in 1988, a cell phone didn't need charging in a car, because it weighted 7 lbs. and was good for a week of conversation, and only conversation, as there were no smart phones, text messaging, tweets, facebook, iPods, mp3 players, or anything like that. It was a minor miracle that you could be moving and have a phone conversation without having to go through a mobile operator. Today, people get upset when Youtube videos stutter while they are doing 120 Kph down the highway.

 

[dodger roger]

if its the factory stereo there is the metal ground strap from the back of the deck to the dash

 

[Jack Meoff]

if its the factory stereo there is the metal ground strap from the back of the deck to the dash

That's why I mentioned the ground strap.
Only time I've had that issue is when the ground was off.
I have heard of some cases in the 70's where you needed to install a type of RF filter for AM interference but I've personally never heard of having to do it for FM.

 

[8v-of-fury]

Not the factory stereo, however it definitely is an older model. Perhaps, late 90's.

I will likely be swapping it with the speakers to something modern, and see what happens from there.