Turbo whine

[jgun81]

I know that this subject "Turbo whine" was discussed in here.
I heard that it could be repaired by shielding the cables with foil tape and ground them to the car as mklein511 said.

In my case...I got after market stereo system in my car right after
i bought my car. I got the system installed in a place called
Sound In Motion in Boston. I complained about whine but
they couldn't find the problem.

My guess was poorly insulated wire caused the noise, but
it seems many people who don't have after market stereo
system have the same problem.

I will go to dealer to fix the noise, but I am afraid that they will
just tell me the problem is after market stereo system.

In my experience, the noise caused by poorly insulated wire goes off when the stereo is off. Is this always true?

[Benman]

Originally posted by jgun81

In my experience, the noise caused by poorly insulated wire goes off when the stereo is off. Is this always true?

Not in my case. In my other car you can still hear the "whine" with the aftermarket stereo turned off.

Ben

[JAXRS6]

I just did a search on turbo whine; other threads were older (2003) and many of the posts related to the jet-turbo-like sound of the car when it starts up (possibly due to AC, turbos, or both -- but it goes away). This is, I think, the first thread related to a turbo whine that only appeared after purchase of an aftermarket sound system. Maybe a search would help you, tho, cuz there are a few posts related to sound system issues.

The stereo installer needs to fix it IMO. You can be sure the dealer won't want to take responsibility, unless you have an exceptionally benevolent dealer.

This reminds me of what I was told when installing aftermarket XM satellite radio in my 2000 S4; namely, "don't replace the whole sound system because the wiring in Audi/German cars is completely different, and there's a good chance you'll never get it sounding right" ... or words to that effect (I don't recall exactly cuz it's been a few years).

If I ever do get an aftermarket sound system installed, I will rev it some, at least, before I write a check.

[Aronis]

Sometimes such whining comes via the power wire and each stereo has different input impedance on the power input. Some will pick up 'noise' this way.

A "Choke" is basically a big capacitor, with some other components designed to stop such electrical noise at the power wire close to the back of you stereo.

This might help.

Mike

[gjg]

you may want to try a "rf" filter from Radio Shack or someone like that - it goes to your DC cable between battery and radio. They sell it for CB and ham radios, relatively inexpensive

[Aronis]

Radio Frequency Filter, also commonly known as a "Choke."



Mike

[JAXRS6]

Re "filter" -- great idea!

And it reminded me that when I had aftermarket XM installed in my 2000 S4 when XM first came out, local stations sucked. Reception was poor for both AM & FM, and AM also carried the "turbo whine" as I accelerated. The solution was some sort of antenna booster make only for Audi and VW.

[rs6_newyork]

for what it is worth I got the "whine" with the first attempt at my after market stereo. It came from the tweeters, stereo on or off, and varied with the engine rpm, i could have sworn it came from behind the firewall and had the hood open listening to the turbos etc etc, but no, it was from the tweeters.

After a bit of head scratching the stereo shop replaced the entire run of speaker cables, they had been (re)using the stock cables, which are cheapo, although everything else they put in was new.

The whine 99% went away - although from time to time I can very VERY faintly hear it when it is dead quiet around the car, and at idle, but only because I remember what it sounded like..