Engine noise w/amp

[4th Genster]

Hello everyone! I am a newbie and I really enjoy your site. Here's my problem...I just had a Rockford Fosgate amp installed, and it's making funny noise when I press the gas or turn on the lights (it sounds exactly like when you tune to a bad station and can hear your engine in the speakers). Any suggestions? Thanx

[Swonder67]

The RCA's might be running too close to power wires, causing alternator interference.

[GSteg]

how long is your ground wire? i recommend 2 feet or shorter for better results.

[crxlvr]

yea, id say check your ground, make it short, and make it touching a clean, unpainted piece of metal.

then make sure your power and RCA's are run on seperate sides of the car.

[whitesol]

could be 2 things:
1 if your power wires and RCA cables are close to each other that could cause it. if thats the case just reroute one or the other on the other side of the car.
2. bad ground. if need be run the ground all the way back to the negative side of the battery.

[ACCORDLVR]

since hondas are unibodies they are notorious for picking up that "whinning sound". it's actually called a ground loop. it happens when multiple electronics are connected to the same ground. since hondas are unibodies, the ground becomes just about any bare metal surface in your car. There are ways to reduce the level of whine that you hear to a point that it is inaudible. (you can't hear it)
1st step would be to make sure you're using quality rca cables. yes they can be pricey 40-120 bucks for a 12 ft set, but they are worth it. They provide better shielding to prevent electrical interferance. Your grounding point can be a factor, but probobly isn't since you drive a honda. (a bad ground is usally indicated by an excessively loud turn on or turn off thump). try using a larger gauge cable for your ground. it should generally be the same size as your primary or power wire. make sure you run your power wire and rca's and speaker cable down opposite ends of your vehicle. If these steps have not cured your ails, a 25-50 buck unit called a ground loop isolater should work. it goes inline w/ your rca's and relocates the ground for the rca's inside itself. somtimes these are good to try right off the bat. Try disconnecting your rca's from the amp, turn your radio on. still hear the noise....then place the g.l.i. in front of the amp. if it's gone, it comes from the rca's coming from your head unit. place it there and you should be good to go.
anyways, hope all this helped & good luck!

[90CRXZCSi]

It's also the possibility that your power wire is too close to the alternator. Try rerouting it a different way and see if the noise stops.

[4th Genster]

Thanks for all your help. In installed the ground loop isolater as ACCORDLVR suggested. However, after installing the unit, it seems that i've lost some power from the amp. It sounds less punchy. However, it got rid of the engine noise, but the lights noise is still there. (when I turn on my headlights, i hear a small buzzing noiseAny suggestions?