Engine Noise :(
 

Ok.. So I've been fighting with Engine noise for the past week. I added 2 amps and a MTX RE-Q to my factory Bose w/ Nav.

Equipment:
RF Punch 600a4
RF Punch 250.1
MTX RE-Q
RCA Tsunami 4 Ch Shielded Cable
Speaker Cable: Stinger 9 Conductor Speedwire

Power & Grounds on Right Side of Car
Speaker wires on Left Side (RCAs no where near any of them)

I grounded the amps and RE-Q to the bolt that sticks out of the car where the factory amp was mounted. I bought a Multi-Meter but haven't a clue how to use it to check the ground. (But I really don't think it's my ground)

I have 4 awg Power cable to a distribution block that goes into 8 awg for each amp and the RE-Q is connected to that block as well.

The Remote Turn on is coming from the lighter outlet under the glove box because the Bose Remote wire isn't strong enough to power on 2 amps. I am not using the factory harness for grounds or power.

So Far:
1. RCAs connected to the amp disconnected from the RE-Q no engine noise at all.
2. Connect the RE-Q back up and it's there. It gets worse when i turn the gains up on the RE-Q.

The stereo sounds really good with the engine off or turned up 50% with the engine on but when turned down the noise is going to drive me nuts.

Has anyone else had expierence with the Re-Q and engine noise? I'm going to try to hook up a passive in-line converter tonight to see if goes away. I also moved the RE-Q a few times and I noticed it gets better and worse depending on it's location.

Also there's a sheild cable included on the stock harness. that connects to the bose subwoofer. I'm wondering if that had something to do with reomoving noise on the stock system. Any ideas about that?

If anyone has any tricks that might help it would be appreciated. I'm tempting to get the RF 360.2 or Audiocontrol Line Output converter but i hate to throw money at this and it not fix the problem.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Weapon

Okay how good are your grounds? Did you sand them down to bare metal before hooking up any of the grounds? Also Where are you getting power from for the re-q?

I would run separate power and ground for the RE-q and see if this solves the issue, make sure wherever you have the amps and re-q grounded is bare metal contact. a bolt may not be good enough. Can you get a pic or 2 of everything?

I'll get some pictures up tonight. I was so tired yesterday and took a break.

Good idea both taking a brake and pictures. You never want to work on something when you are tired and flustered.

What strikes me odd is moving the Re-Q makes the noise change. That either points to RFI (which I strongly doubt) or a bad/loose ground. Leave the Re-Q in place and fiddle with the ground connection- does that have the same effect? If so then you have a good direction to go.

I think you might have a bad piece of equipment somewhere in your chain with an open ground.

Try disconnecting each component one by one. For the EQ, bypass it and see if it is the culprit.

The RE-q is a line out convertor, Im willing to bet it is RFI like Division said, try runnin a separate power wier and better ground and see what happens.

He has already said that if he disconnects the rcas from the amp of from the re-q the noise goes away. Like I said check your grounds also you might want to get power to your re-q another way other than the dis block.

Ahh, I didn't realize it was a Line out converter, I thought it was an equalizer... lrn2google... That being understood, it almost has to be RFI.

I took a look at the Install sheet for the Re-q... Could you tell us where it is physically installed? If you're extending the speaker wires to the back of the car, you just created some 8ft antennas. Those wires are picking up any interference, then sending that 'dirty' source to your amplifiers... Any noise on those lines is now 'amplified', (couldn't think of a better word for it) and a whole lot worse than it once was. The fact that turning your gains up on the Re-q makes the noise worse, almost confirms that the noise is on the lines 'before' the Re-q...

That could be the problem. But like we said check your grounds and also more the power wire from the dis block and get power threw it from another way other than from the dis block. If the re-q is in the trunk you might want to try moving it closer to the from that way the speaker wires are shorter. The ones I have installed were put under the seat.

I placed it where my factory amp was located and added about 1 ft of cable so i can easily adjust if i needed to.

I've been reading up on the G37 forums and it seems that the Bose Headunit in their cars sends a flat Level Line to the factory Bose amp. The sound is processed and crossedover for each speaker from the factory amp. I wonder if this is the problem and i don't even need the Line Out Converter from the RE-Q. What happens when you convert a Line Level Out to a Line Level Out?

This so far makes the most sense since the input Wires were sheilded and wrapped vs. the the speaker wires that were just standard cable twisted together.

You still need the re-q to control all of your balances and all before going to to the new amp. The ones I have done I have kept the amp and taped into the wires coming OUT of it. I knwo some re-q's can accept a low level input I am not sure if yours can or not.

Ferrite is an effective means of squashing RFI- I've never used them in this application, however depending on how desperate you get, it may be an option. You should be able to pick up some snap together chokes at radio shack...

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