I was driving around today, and noticed my car was making some sort of whirring noise, which matched the engine's RPM. Naturally, I was panicking like crazy, until I started to notice things about the noise, and that's when things got weird...

1) Like I said, it matched the engine. As the engine revved up, the sound went up in frequency and noise. This had me thinking it was a mechanical problem until...

2) I turned the radio off and POOF! Sound dissappears. Radio goes back on? Sound returns. Volume on the radio does not affect noise level (Meaning with the radio "on", but turned down, you can hear the sound rev along side the engine perfectly).

3) Radio begins to go bat-crazy. Radio stations suddenly go quiet and then come back to a large POOOOMPH sound when switching between stations, or turning the radio off and on. All radio stations have the sound present.

Does anyone have any idea what could possibly be causing such a situation? I would've assumed it was a simple amp problem until I noticed the fact it followed the engine speed.

(On a somewhat related note, does anyone know what the CrO2 button does on the stock headunit?)

Romeo wrote: (On a somewhat related note, does anyone know what the CrO2 button does on the stock headunit?)

Heh heh, you really are young, aren't you?

It's for using with a type of cassette tape, "chrome bias". They're better quality than the "normal bias" tapes. If you use that button when playing back chrome tapes, the end result is supposed to be superior audio reproduction (less noise) from the chrome bias cassette tape, but I find on most cheap tape players using the CrO2 button makes little difference.

Your other problem probably has something to do with capacitors. I'll let some electronic brainy person get into this with you.

Romeo wrote: I was driving around today, and noticed my car was making some sort of whirring noise, which matched the engine's RPM. Naturally, I was panicking like crazy, until I started to notice things about the noise, and that's when things got weird... 1) Like I said, it matched the engine. As the engine revved up, the sound went up in frequency and noise. This had me thinking it was a mechanical problem until... 2) I turned the radio off and POOF! Sound dissappears. Radio goes back on? Sound returns. Volume on the radio does not affect noise level (Meaning with the radio "on", but turned down, you can hear the sound rev along side the engine perfectly). 3) Radio begins to go bat-crazy. Radio stations suddenly go quiet and then come back to a large POOOOMPH sound when switching between stations, or turning the radio off and on. All radio stations have the sound present. Does anyone have any idea what could possibly be causing such a situation? I would've assumed it was a simple amp problem until I noticed the fact it followed the engine speed. (On a somewhat related note, does anyone know what the CrO2 button does on the stock headunit?)

I have definately heard of this kind of thing before. It's never happened to me personally, but IIRC it had something to do with the stereo wiring and electrical interferance from the alternator. I'll dig around on the forum I read it on and get back to you, assuming it's the same issue.

Check to make sure antenna is connected to your stereo.

You could also be getting interference through the antenna from your igntion system, especially if the spark plug wires are bad and the antenna is lose

you will notice it more on the am band of the radio.....  the fm band not as noticeable

Old hot rod days of using solid copper ignition wires created havic with radios

you had to sheild everything, power wires, speaker wires, etc.

my 2 cents

       What Marcel said.   Then add to it, Replace all your stereo system grounds.  The single most common is for that to be caused by a poor stereo ground, making the stereo pull a ground from anything it can pull voltage through, IE Antenna, Dimer circut.  Make sure your EMI shield, (I think thats what is called)  Metal plate on the underside of your decklid, is attatched to a ground source.

               You said part of your amp, and then you dissmissed it, you were on the right track then got derailed.   Some cheaper amps are notorious picking up stray current in a cars electical system.  Oh I guess I should tell you where the source is, its directly from your alternator that is cuasing it.    Not that you have a bad alternator, just the circut is not getting clean power due to some degraded wiring.      You can pick up noise filters and it will help, but the filters are not really desinged to completly fix a bad electical noise, they are more for the guy that has a Stereo that is 99% clean and he needs to get rid of that tiny bit more. 

               I don't know how much you want to spend on the car seeing as you are parking it soon, but you supply the parts, and items we need, or at least cover the costs for shop supplies and I am sure we can get you setup.

        Oh one last note that just dawned on me, with the bogus way we had to hook your battery up, if that has started to get corroded, and can cause the issues.

                 Basically, what you want to do, is start by putting a good stereo frame to chassie ground.  Makre sure your antenna is plugged in via the proper wiring systems.  I have in the past simply ignored the OEM power wires and drew my power from a seperate circut in the fuse box.

                          Not sure if you know this, but having a power wire cross over top of a speaker signal wire can also cause "noise" in the speaker.    Thats why you see "cheap" install kits, and claim it can do a 500w amp, then right beside it, an install kit that says its only rated for 1/2 the power, but oddly costs twice as much.   The quality of the parts is a big diffrence, the higher end brands usually have insilated and good quality sheilding on all the cables, plugs are plated and made it a much higher standard for quality.   

       So before you do anything, grab small handfull yellow, Red and Blue eyelett wiring connectors,  the ones with the sealed eyelet wors best for me, however the horseshoe ones can be used.

        About 8-10"s of heat shrink tube, and I would highly recomend a good rosin core solder.   Then a propane torch.   

Bassman wrote: If you have a tape deck, you need to update the head...lol

Not if you wish to apply for Collector plates with ICBC.

But yes, I know that doesn't apply to many (most?) of our club member's Fieros.

Somehow my 18s might stand out for collector status. lol

But yeah, simply put, I just don't think putting in the new head-unit while retaining the old speakers would be a sensible use of time.

      You can install a new head unit, and worry about the speakers later, its not like you have to unwire the head unit to change the speakers.   As for the collector plate status, you are out out of luck regardless as it requires that your car is stored in a locked private garage.  (no a secure underground does not count)

Also if you are doing the head unit swap do yourself a HUGE favor and get the adapter wiring harness.  Its like 20 bucks, or less, you wire your stereo to the harness and the other ends have all the proper OEM plugs for the Fiero so you don't have to cut anything.  If you have a sub control, the harness will include the wiring for that as well.      Side note to people that don't know.  Some Fiero's came with a Factory Sub Woofer under the dash and even more rare some came with inflatable lumbar supports in the drivers seat.  Kinda cool but after 20 years the plastic inflatable bladders have leaks.

THAT'S GREAT, I ONLY USE CAPS LOCK. lol

I was thinking going Sony for the rest of the install, I like their product typically, and they have everything I need (Shallow subs, odd-ball speakers and amps) for a managable price tag.

Romeo wrote: THAT'S GREAT, I ONLY USE CAPS LOCK. lol

...

Well you can drop by and give my kenwoods a try, I have Pioneers in the 88GT, and Kenwoods in the 87 I can dissable the other 7 speakers in the 87 so only the 4 mains will play.  Err wait, I can't dissable 2 dash tweets. 

(it is a 10.1 surround system in the 87GT)

That is pretty gnarley... Still, I have a head-unit, so at this point it's simply a matter of speakers. Haven't really seen the Kenwoods, where-abouts do they fall in the over-all price catagory? I know that Sony is the cheapie brand, and Pioneer is the premiere brand, is Kenwood the happy medium?

Pyramid 4"x10" 3 way tri-axial 300 watts... FTW

...

Romeo wrote: Hey Patty boy, how do you like those Pyramids?

The audiophile guys will laugh, but for tooting around town listening to the radio in my GT, they're fine.

Plus the fact I got the two of them for 20 bucks total brand new. Hell, what's not to like about them.