DIYMobileAudio.com Car Stereo Forum banner

2016 Chevy Cruze Limited Engine Whine

1137 Views 19 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Cross
I just did an overhaul on my car audio which was disconnecting my rear door speakers. Installing new tweeters in the pillars and woofers in the front doors. I left the factory radio so I could retain my steering wheel controls. Installed a sub in the trunk and got 2 amps. One single channel to power the sub and a 4 channel to power the front stage.

I have an LC2i to get the signal from my factory radio. The main output runs to a miniDSP which then runs to my 4 ch amp and then front speakers. Bass output obviously runs to my mono amp then goes to sub. I finally tweaked everything and got the levels at a pretty solid spot that I'm currently happy with but I have a pesky noise that I can't figure out. When the car is in accessory mode I have a slight "static" noise that's sometimes more audible then others and at times it does this weird siren tempo like sound but it's very faint. Kind of sounds like a European ambulance but much higher pitch. When I start my car I have a fairly noticeable whine that increases as the rpms increase. I have a fuse distribution block which I ran 4 gauge Power straight from the battery to the trunk and then ran 4 gauge from the negative to the chassis of the car. Every component I added into my system all taps into the distribution block.

I even took apart my system again and ran a ground from the back of the radio to the distribution block per someone's advice and still no luck. I checked my grounds on my battery and didn't find anything loose. I haven't done the big 3 upgrade which was my last hope. I'm wondering if I should do the upgrade or just buy one of those devices I've been hearing about that is supposed to remove noise.

I don't have an aftermarket radio which I seen people trying to wrap wire around the RCA outputs but I tried doing it to my LC2i outputs just to see and that didn't work either. I've tried pretty much everything but upgrading the 3 wires to my battery ground, alternator, and engine ground. I looked today and they seem to be about 8 gauge from what I could tell. All solid connections. Not sure if bumping them up to 1/0 would change anything or not. I also didn't bump up the gauge of the ground wire on the back of the radio. The factory size is like 18-20 gauge so I just matched it and ran it to the fuse block. I seen someone post that you should splice in 8 gauge to the factory wire and ground it behind the radio.
See less See more
1 - 20 of 20 Posts
Is the ground for all components also running off a distro? or is each component ground at different points (LC2i, mini, amps) Are the RCAs from the LC2i to the min running along with the power wire for any distance?

These things are typically a ground issue, or RCAs running in parallel along with the power wire for some distance.
Without seeing the install (pics/diagrams) it will be very hard for anyone to trouble shoot this...

You can try connecting your phone using an RCA adapter to the input of the Mini to remove the HU and LC2i from the equation...
Is the ground for all components also running off a distro?
I used a Fuse block to run every component through in my install.
Here: Amazon.com: WUPP 12 Volt Fuse Block, Waterproof Boat Fuse Panel with LED Warning Indicator Damp-Proof Cover - 6 Circuits with Negative Bus Fuse Box for Car Marine RV Truck DC 12-24V, Fuses Included : Automotive

I ran 4 gauge power from battery to it and then ran 4 gauge ground straight to the chassis of the vehicle. Every component runs through this block. I even ran the ground from the factory radio back to it as well. I have my LC2i in the trunk with 3ft RCAs that go straight from the LC2i to the dsp/amps. I kept the RCAs separate from everything and made them as short as I could. I tapped the speaker wire from behind the radio and ran it down the passenger side of the car away from my power wire on the driver side. I don't know if the high level speaker wire can pick up interference or not but I kept it separate anyways.
Did you sand the paint off at the grounding point so that it was bare metal?
Did you sand the paint off at the grounding point so that it was bare metal?
I sure did.
Then you need to start trying to narrow down the problem by eliminating individual components. Try the phone to rca into the minidsp first since it's easy and cheap.
Then you need to start trying to narrow down the problem by eliminating individual components.
That'll be my next attempt I suppose. I purchased ground loop isolators and installed them and nothing changed. I plugged them up between the dsp and the amplifier. Idk if I tried between the LOC and the DSP or not I can't remember at this point, but would it even matter? I also did the big 3 upgrade today using 4gauge ofc and the noise has been unaffected. I moved my add a circuit around in my fuse box from the lighter, to the power outlet, to the radio and still no change. I guess I'll order one of those rca things and go from there.
In case anyone wants to hear this beauty...
IMG_4583
Is it that bird chirping / alternator belt slipping sound? That doesn't sound like a ground loop, which is, typically, a constant whine. Do you have a relay in the system? When I had my Cruze, I tried replacing the headlights and the kit came with 2 relays that were connected by the battery. Those made a similar sound and I ended up removing them (the whole kit)
10
I'm gonna post pics of the install and maybe something will pop out.
Motor vehicle Gas Metal Machine Auto part
Tried moving around the fuse and got no change.
These are the headlights I added. Amazon.com: Marsauto H13/9008 LED Bulbs,12000LM 300% Brightness 6000K Xenon White, Aluminum Alloy M2 Series Light Bulb Kit with 12000RPM Turbo Fan : Automotive
Automotive tire Motor vehicle Bumper Automotive exterior Automotive lighting
Automotive tire Motor vehicle Gas Vehicle Engineering
I unplugged both headlights this morning and started my car and the whine was still there.

Big 3 Kit upgrade:
Automotive tire Hood Bumper Motor vehicle Asphalt
Electrical wiring Motor vehicle Gas Machine Engineering
Automotive tire Gas Electrical wiring Electric blue Cable
Automotive fuel system Automotive tire Motor vehicle Hood Automotive exterior
Was hoping this would be the ultimate fix seeing as how a large amount of people claimed this fixed their issues.

This is my dsp and 4 channel amp location by spare tire:
Tire Wheel Vehicle Automotive tire Hood
Tire Wheel Automotive tire Hood Tread
Just tried to keep distance among my equipment and ran power away from rcas.

Brace yourself for this one. It's not pretty but I didn't think it would be an issue. It's where all the power and ground meet:

Attachments

See less See more
When you say you "unplugged" the headlights, did you actually disconnect the ground and power from the cars electrical system? I had pretty much the same set and I can tell you for a fact that that kind of sound you're hearing was coming through the radio. (I did not have a high end system in it just OEM at the time)
did you actually disconnect the ground and power from the cars electrical system?
They're like plug and play. I just disconnected the connector. Also when I had my OEM speakers still I didn't have any noise.
Product Font Camera lens Gadget Camera
See less See more
Ok, that's awesome. I'm glad they have a better kit now. The OEM headlights on that car are terrible.
Not related to the noise, but do you have an inline fuse on the power cable at the battery? There should be a fuse no more than 18" from the battery on the power wire to protect it.
do you have an inline fuse on the power cable at the battery?
Yes I have one within the first 12''. I should be receiving the rca to lightning cable today and I can plug right into the dsp. I'm getting the feeling it's the minidsp that's causing all of my issues but we'll see. If it turns out I still have noise with subtracting the loc and oem hu, is there a safe way to unplug the dsp and test my speakers without having the crossovers and stuff that the dsp handles?
Yes, if your amp(s) have crossovers built in you can set those
amp(s) have crossovers built in
Oh right duh! Yeah I have my tweeter channel set at 120hz which is the highest I can goo so idk if that'll work and protect the tweeter and my mids are set at 80hz. I was messing around today unplugging stuff and I unplugged the dc isolator which made my noise horrendous! I disconnected the rca inputs from the loc to the dsp and my whine disappeared. I still have a little fuzz but it's extremely quiet and I'm sure with some gain adjusting it could be managed.

If it is the dsp that's causing all of these headaches I wonder if I could just get a rca splitter and take my main output from the lc2i to the 4 ch amp?

(edit)
So the cable arrived and I used it but I guess it didn't really matter bc I found that the noise goes away when the dsp is unplugged. I ran the LOC directly to the 4ch amp and tested both the front and rear channels and found zero whining noise. I guess the dsp was the issue all along.
Try plugging the phone to the dsp directly, just to double check.
If it is the DSP, you can probably find a CDSP 6X8 or an older Helix DSP.2 for pretty good prices in the classifieds here.
Try plugging the phone to the dsp directly, just to double check.
I did go ahead and test that. The whine was still present with the phone being directly plugged into the input on the dsp and just taking loc/hu out of the chain.
:(
Looks like you'll need a new DSP.
Yeah I figured. I wish the dude wouldn't have said to go with the miniDSP. Seems to be a bottleneck on my system. With the amount of knowledge of audio install/tuning I would imagine he would've chose a better dsp. I would've rather spent more money on a better quality dsp to begin with, or just not have a dsp at all and just run a passive crossover. Someone suggested a Helix M Four DSP and said that it's basically an LOC/DSP/Amp all in one. I'd like to think a bit before I go ahead and purchase a replacement dsp or an all in one deal. Can I run my system without the dsp? Or do I need to add like a bass blocker inline to my tweeters?
1 - 20 of 20 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top