I'm having a "hissing" noise problem with my stereo. The AM and FM sound perfect, the noise comes into play when using the cassette player. In between songs you can really hear it. Pitch changes with the rpm's. I have just installed an in-line filter, no change. It has been suggested that I find a new ground for the system. The grounding choices behind the gauge cluster seems limited. If I extend the ground wire to search for a better ground, won't that defeat the the grounding effect that I'm looking for?

Thanks,
Rick

Rick,
A couple of things here... What kind of plug wires are you running and how old are they? Also what type of plugs do you have, are the R44 or R43? I take it that your radio is after market?

Most likely if you have a ground problem you would hear the turn signals relay through the radio too, BUT that is not always a given. To check the ground, use a hipo or aligator clip from the radio ground point to a solid ground point on the chassis.

I suspect the plug wires are breaking down, if they are bad enough you can see a pretty blue and white light show at night under the hood in a pitch black night. Usually AM will follow the engine RPM's. Later models have a .47mfd capacitor in the turn signal circuit to help filter out the noise. Is the noise more obvious with the lights on or off?

Another thought... you might try a different power source for the radio.. sometimes this will clear up the noise too.

Good Luck

BudD


|UPDATED|5/14/2002 9:39:50 AM|/UPDATED|

Bud...........Wires are top of the line and are fresh. Plugs are R45TS.
Noise from turn signals, heater/ac blower or hazards is NOT detected...only rpm pitch.
Again, there is no noise during the use of the radio, AM or FM. Only during the cassette use. I'm thinking that the heads are shot and that I should just replace the unit. Do you know if de-magnetizing the heads might do the trick? The unit is a Sony. I think a bad ground would distrub the radio function even more so than the cassette. This does seem a bit out of the ordinary.

Rick

I would say clean the heads first, then try demagnitizing them. You can also buy a noise suppressor that hooks into the electrical lines somewhere. I saw them in Jegs
Also, it might be the quality of the cassettes. The amplifier works harder when playing cassettes

|UPDATED|5/15/2002 2:34:24 PM|/UPDATED|

I'm not sure, but there used to be a condenser in the distributer, and when it got bad, the electric static would go into the radio. I don't know if there is one in there, but you might take a look.

Just solved my "hissing" noise problem....replaced the Sony cassette player in favor of a JVC "Kamelion" CD player. The heads in the cassette deck were shot.
The rotating and retracting faceplate feature of the Kamelion is rather cool along wih the "Cruise Mode" which reads the altenator rpms and automaticaly increases the volume as the speed increases and lowers the volume when coming to a stop. Also added Infinity Dual speakers to complete the package.
No more hiss!