Hey guys,
I recently rewired my amp to use all 4 channels to drive my sub and my rear speakers. Shortly after I noticed that when I was driving on the highway I was hearing a high pitched squeal. It sounded like a whistle so I thought it may have been a hole in the airbox, or something air related but when I parked the car I could replicate the sound by reving the engine around 3k rpms.
Figured it was just a belt and one of them looked loose so I tightened it up and thought it would be fine, it didnt change a thing though. Now, a few days later and im going crazy I was trying everything to figure it out so I took off the face plate to my headunit, which turns off the amp and everything connected to it. The whistle stopped. I can only assume that the increased power being drawn through the amp is making the alternator work much harder and causing this noise?
I'm just looking for some feedback to see if this is a plausible explanation? A side note, I was having some starting/power related problems so I replaced the alternator + the battery about 6 months ago, so I would hope the alternator isnt bad. Like I said it doesnt make a noise if I dont have the amp hooked up. Also, if this is the cause...is it bad for the alternator or is it just working a little harder and making the noise... I dont want to replace the alternator and I dont want to take out the amp, but I will if its going to kill my car.

This post has been edited by Natef53: Mar 14 2008, 12:27 PM

is the noise coming from the speakers or the engine?.
if from speakers u have to make sure ur system is well grounded and if ur RCA cables are good if this didnt help..u have to check ur spark plug cables.

if the sound is from the engine side u have to check ur alternator belt as when the system is turned on the alternator will be in more stress.

Sorry to bump an old topic.

This one is simple, you have ran your RCA leads and your power lead on the same side, when installing an AMP, the RCA leads must run on one side of the car, and the 12V power lead must run on the other.

The RCA leads have a tendency to pick up engine noise if the power cable is next to them, the bigger the gauge, the louder the whistle. The whistle you hear should sound a bit like a turbo.

So your best bet is to not install an amp in your car to begin with. Elantra's and Lantra's have the worst wiring harnesses ever.