Hey all -

My FD came with an ancient aftermarket Kenwood CD player. Besides the fact the whole stereo system sounds like *** and is getting upgraded/replaced, I've got an engine-speed-sensitive ticking in the speakers when listening to the radio.

The ticking sounds EXACTLY like a plug firing or voltage arcing from a plug wire, and it's in the same speed/cadence. This makes me wonder if it's picking up interference from a bad plug wire or something. Car came with stock NGK plug wires that look to be original to the car.

BTW, no ticking at all when listening to a CD. The speakers are driven off the head unit and not an amp or anything.

I also don't know if anything else wacky was done with the install. I pulled the stereo out, and the antenna wire isn't damaged or grounding out, at least that small bit by the stereo. The stereo has a short pigtail with the antenna connector coming off of it that has some insulation worn off, exposing the braided shield. But, I checked, and it doesn't look like the core was compromised or the core is grounding to the shield.

Anyhow, long and short of it - has anyone else had this problem? I'm also not sure if there's anything else weird with the antenna circuit - someone played Mr. Car Stereo with the car and some stuff is goofy in the car .

Thanks!
Dale

 

I've seen this in aftermarket head units that weren't grounded properly. My ex's Dakota had the same problem. Went away after we grounded the head unit.

 

that happened to me when the driver's side stock bose speaker amp started putzing out on me.

 

Well, I think I solved my problem at lunch .

First off, the head unit is grounded to the factory stereo ground wire. Whoever installed the stereo did a REALLY bizzare job on that ground wire - wire was crimped to a 6" piece of speaker wire, which was then twisted onto the end of the ground wire and wrapped with tape. Good times . I removed that and crimped a proper connector onto the wire - didn't make a difference.

At lunch, I jiggled the plug wires to make sure they were seated well and properly. At that point, I noticed the car had a pretty good sized oil leak, so I got to investigating that. Found out the crappy Fram oil filter the previous owner installed was leaking between the filter and the filter pedastal. Rev the car up a little and increase oil pressure, and you saw it clear as day. Anyhow, that distracted me - I went to Pep Boys and got a Purolator PureONE filter, problem solved there. After installing the new filter and driving back to work, I noticed - no more ticking! So, it is definitely a plug wire problem.

Hopefully this helps someone else doing a search in the future .

Dale

 

Dale,

I have heard of some plug wires causing interference (electromagnetic interference more specifically). This is one of the reasons I choose the Magnecor wires for my car.

 

The stock NGK's are supposed to be pretty well shielded and everything - the problem is usually with cheapie aftermarket wires. I think these wires are just tired .

Yeah, I had a set of Magnecor 10mm on my FC - they went through 2 TurboII's and about 4 engines, never had a single problem with them. VERY well built wires.

Dale

 

if wires to the radio run near your pug wires they can pick up on them like if you have sub and the power wire it to close get a whine. does is happen every time you rev?

 

yes he is right
its the ground for the stereo you might notice it does it more when the car is warm or cold etc...

 

It definitely wasn't an alternator whine - been there, done that. Like I said, messing with the plug wires solved the problem .

Now I just need to get some speakers in the car that aren't missing 80% of their surround....

Dale

 

no its the radio ground lol