[04stang123456789]

Hello everyone, I have recently had some small problems with my 2004 V6. Here is the small story behind it...
I recently placed a small sound system in my car. It was just new speakers, a new deck, and 2 10" subs. I had the subs in first, which takes a bigger amp than the speakers, and all was well for many months. The problem started after the speakers were put in. Once the speakers were wired and setup they worked, but a odd noise came from the engine bay. I was stupid and ignored the noise. It was a whine, and I suspected alternator whine. The noise increased as RPM's went up.
About a month into the noise, the alternator blew. I confirmed it was alternator whine afterall. I got the new alternator and put it in, and it worked, and I disconnected the entire sound system. There was no whine. Once I reconnected the system the whine was back.
Since I did not want to have no music at all, I just connected the speakers, and no subs. The speaker amp is only a small amp that hardly puts out anything (Blaupunkt THA2125). After connecting the speakers the whine was back.
My question is, why would there be whine, possibly from the alternator, if there is such a small load connected? It was fine when the stronger subs and amp were connected, why would it give a problem with a smaller load?
Could there be a problem other than the alternator??

[goren813]

One: Is everything wired properly?
Two: Why are you running an amp for I'm guessing 5x7's? There's actually a small amp under the stock head unit, more than enough to power mids. I have 5x7 Alpine Type S' all around, no amp, sounds great.

[843marc]

its most likely a ground problem check your wiring. its not alternator

[04stang123456789]

I am actually running 6.5" components instead of the 5X7's

The amp has a light that shows if it has a bad, or no ground connection and the light says it is good... Where could there be a bad ground? I have the ground on a screw located under the carpet in the trunk area... Does anyone know if there should be a better area for a ground?

[Zatrekaz]

Originally Posted by goren420 One: Is everything wired properly? Two: Why are you running an amp for I'm guessing 5x7's? There's actually a small amp under the stock head unit, more than enough to power mids. I have 5x7 Alpine Type S' all around, no amp, sounds great.

Not all cars come amped...

Originally Posted by 843marc its most likely a ground problem check your wiring. its not alternator

Originally Posted by 04stang123456789 I am actually running 6.5" components instead of the 5X7's The amp has a light that shows if it has a bad, or no ground connection and the light says it is good... Where could there be a bad ground? I have the ground on a screw located under the carpet in the trunk area... Does anyone know if there should be a better area for a ground?

The idle location for a ground is anywhere that is bare metal that you can get a solid hold to. It is best to find a spot you can drill a hole and put a bolt in insted of a screw. Make sure you sand the area down to bare metal. If you are grounding it over paint, its not grounding good.

Simple recheck every connection of your system. Make sure all metal connections are clean and secure. Make sure your power cable going to the battery is secured very good at the battery, in-line fuse, and amp. Make sure your grounds on the battery are very secure as well.

[04stang123456789]

Originally Posted by Zatrekaz Not all cars come amped... The idle location for a ground is anywhere that is bare metal that you can get a solid hold to. It is best to find a spot you can drill a hole and put a bolt in insted of a screw. Make sure you sand the area down to bare metal. If you are grounding it over paint, its not grounding good. Simple recheck every connection of your system. Make sure all metal connections are clean and secure. Make sure your power cable going to the battery is secured very good at the battery, in-line fuse, and amp. Make sure your grounds on the battery are very secure as well.

Yea, I will make sure I do that. I dont know if Ford painted the metal base of the trunk, where I have it grounded but I will check and see. I know I have the terminal secure and the connections are secure because I checked them many times.

So, the alternator will whine when there is a bad ground? I know for a fact that the whine is coming from the alternator, and I already blew one, so would a bad ground blow the alternator and make it whine?

[sircrashalot]

upgrade all grounds, do a big 3, or big 2, *upgrade group from battery to chassi chassi to engine block

grind all ground spot in the engine bay.
if not use noise filters

[04stang123456789]

Originally Posted by sircrashalot upgrade all grounds, do a big 3, or big 2, *upgrade group from battery to chassi chassi to engine block grind all ground spot in the engine bay. if not use noise filters

It is not the noise that I am worried about, its losing another alternator, I dont want to blow another $250 on another new one

[wraitherx]

+1 on alternator noise, bad ground, upgrade wires, etc... that light that is on your amp is there to recognize if the amp or the subs are clipping. it is not intended to inform you if you have a bad ground or what not. you dont necessarily have to upgrade the big 3 right now, although its a good idea, just start by checking that your ground is correct, on bare metal, wires are the same guage wiring (power and ground), and go from there.

[wraitherx]

i highly doubt that your system killed your alternator. are you running UDP's? also ensure that your signal cables (RCA's) are on the opposite side of your power wires. if they are seperate them if you can or at the very least where they meet they should meet at a 90 degree cross section (like this +)

[04stang123456789]

Originally Posted by wraitherlx +1 on alternator noise, bad ground, upgrade wires, etc... that light that is on your amp is there to recognize if the amp or the subs are clipping. it is not intended to inform you if you have a bad ground or what not. you dont necessarily have to upgrade the big 3 right now, although its a good idea, just start by checking that your ground is correct, on bare metal, wires are the same guage wiring (power and ground), and go from there.

I dont think I will need to upgrade the wiring because I am using all Monster cable and it is 4 guage wiring for both the power and the ground. Where do you have your wire grounded to?

[04stang123456789]

Originally Posted by wraitherlx i highly doubt that your system killed your alternator. are you running UDP's? also ensure that your signal cables (RCA's) are on the opposite side of your power wires. if they are seperate them if you can or at the very least where they meet they should meet at a 90 degree cross section (like this +)

That may be the problem... I think that they may be close to eachother... Is this what caused the alternator to fail?

also... I am not running UDP's

[goren813]

Z, not all Stangs came with the amp? Which years/models? Both 2000's I've worked on and an 01 had it. I think a 98 too.

[wraitherx]

even though there isnt a mach 460 system there are amps underneath the radios on top of the tranny tunnel on the floor board

[wraitherx]

Originally Posted by goren420 Z, not all Stangs came with the amp? Which years/models? Both 2000's I've worked on and an 01 had it. I think a 98 too.

Originally Posted by 04stang123456789 That may be the problem... I think that they may be close to eachother... Is this what caused the alternator to fail? also... I am not running UDP's

your alternator failing could have just been it failing period. unless youve got a huge system then it is not the cause. also with the RCA's close to the power wire all it will do is the RCA's (even though coated) will soak up any radio transmission being let off of the power wire and effect the signal going into the amps thus causing "alternator wine". Think about it your power wire is connected directly to your battery which in turn is connected to your alternator. If the ground is bad, RCA's too close, etc. then you will get the alternator noise. Ive seen factory systems pick up this noise.

[RFM 40th V6]

The other thing may be that you have the head unit grounded but not signal grounded. When you used the pigtail for the factory harness did you run 2 grounds from the head unit to the single ground in the pigtail?

The alternator was probably almost done for so I wouldn't worry about it unless you are pushing a large amp.

[04stang123456789]

Originally Posted by wraitherlx your alternator failing could have just been it failing period. unless youve got a huge system then it is not the cause. also with the RCA's close to the power wire all it will do is the RCA's (even though coated) will soak up any radio transmission being let off of the power wire and effect the signal going into the amps thus causing "alternator wine". Think about it your power wire is connected directly to your battery which in turn is connected to your alternator. If the ground is bad, RCA's too close, etc. then you will get the alternator noise. Ive seen factory systems pick up this noise.

What made me believe that it was the system that killed my alternator was the fact that it only had 25K miles on it. I didnt think it should have died that soon, and I figured that there had to be an explanation for it.

[wraitherx]

there was a guy on here who had 16k on his clock and his alternator was shot. 02 GT but i cant remember who it was though.

is it a factory unit or an autoparts store unit. if autoparts store was it new or refurbed?

[04stang123456789]

Yea, I guess I was just unlucky... I will fix the wires and hopefully the whine will go away,so I wont worry anymore haha

[04stang123456789]

I am running a Blaupunkt THA2125 and a Kicker ZX750.1 ... I dont think that is a big load, but it wont afect the alternator at all right?