1991 Regal stereo

the stereo works great...until you turn the motor on. you can hear a buzzing from all 4 speakers with the motor running. As throttle increases, the pitch of the buzz increases. The buzz doesn't get louder with the volume, so it can be drowned out if you have the stereo loud enough.

The tape deck only plays sound for the right side speakers. Occationally, for no apparent reason, it will play both right and left sounds for a second or two.

The five band equalizer only has the top and bottom bands working. The middle three don't show up on the indicator, and don't even change the sound any.

Is the amp bad? I think the tape head is just dirty, but am clueless as to why the equalizer doesn't work properly.

Another thought. The amp came out of a car with a single unit for the head and tape player (the long thin part on the center bottom of the dash). The car with the equalizer didn't have an amp. Maybe the two aren't campatable?

The tape head was dirty, but equalizer still not working, and still buzzing.

This will be a pain in your butt. you need to locate a in-line noise filter, that goes to the stereo. either that or try to run another 8/10 gauge wire to the battery for your power........ Or, just go out buy a new Deck, and just use that. either way, it will be a pain in your butt. worst case scenerio. your alternator is starting to go. Mine is just about done, the inner bearings on the alternator went, so everything whines and lights flicker depending on how ga si give it at night.. lol... Hope on of them will work for you.
Bill

yeah, actually, i just bought a 91 regal and im having the exact same problem you mentioned. radio/tape is fine until engine starts, then the constant buzz that increases with engine speed.

anyone have any ideas on this?

using am/fm/tape doesn't affect it, nor does turning down the volume, it can be drowned out by turning it up.

Scratch the inline nosie filter. Only works temporary.
Its hapening even with a non stock stereo. ( its happening with a 170$ jvc deck.....) What the heck is this problem? even with the sepereate power wire, i dont get it..... its there agian... how do we fix this obstinant and annoying problem?
thanks,
Bill

The inline filter works for a while then stops working? I think you got a bad filter. The 2 times I've had this happen (different cars) the in-line filter I put in worked like a charm.

okay, this problem is unacceptable on so many levels its not even funny.

i dont imagine this happened when the regal came off the showroom floor, so i dont see why i would even need a in-line noise filter.

but, if i bought one, would i wire this into the acc/ign on power, or the always on memory power.

if someone could give me a link to this item, that'd be great.

okay, this problem is unacceptable on so many levels its not even funny.

i dont imagine this happened when the regal came off the showroom floor, so i dont see why i would even need a in-line noise filter.

but, if i bought one, would i wire this into the acc/ign on power, or the always on memory power.

if someone could give me a link to this item, that'd be great.

The in line noise filter goes on Either i think(but i dunno...)........ I put one on the ign (red wire)...... You would think with, maybe 4 people having the problem, theres deffinetly more than that. But like i said, it works temperarly... I have put a 8 gauge wire from the top of the block, and ran it to another ground. That doesnt even help. Somethign that helps a tad bit, when you first start your car, floor the gas real quick. It seems to keep the noise lower for a longer period of time...... Does anyone notice that if you turn the stereo up to a certain point, the music will get quieter????? And does anyone notice how the left side is always more noisey than the right side????? i put my stock stereo back in, the jvc was having the same problem, so i just refuse to hurt the stereo....... I am going to check something, i wonder if the power anntena has anythign to do with this.....
Bill

have you tried checking the ground to your Stereo/Amp, sometimes a bad ground will cause noise problems or you could try a antenna noise filter those sometimes help also

The grounds are almost always good on the amps...... the stereo really doesnt have a ground........ even with the power antenna off, it dont work right. We need to seriously research thsi problem.... i will start rite now.....
Bill

i've looked this up on google, and i guess its not common enough for Buick to care, but it does happen quite a bit. you can pull the antenna off, it doesn't matter.. the interference isn't from the antenna, because it the buzzing is there wether or not your using the tape deck, AM, or FM.

anyway, a few suggestions were to wire your own grounds, and, i haven't tried this but it said grounding the battery.

im not too willing to start doing these things unless im sure i wont kill my electrical system.

Grounding the battery does not work. It is not common enough for buick to care, but it stil ldoesnt make it right............. There is suppost to be a wire that "protects your speakers from blowoutZ" or so i have heard, and that wire(s) need to be cut, and the noise wil lgo away. But i dont know what wire there even talkign about....
Bill

Hi Guys, I have been reading about your problem with interest. Even thought I have not experienced this I would like to help in some way. I found two sites that might be helpful. Good luck, Dave

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/4/5394.html
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/8873/alternat.htm

Thanks for the help, But that aint it... We only have stock systems in our veichles (im assuming...) with no amp other than the orignal..... ANd i dont remember there beign any other wires that resembled rca's in any from..
*sigh* this is anoying, my whole left channel has died out once agian, leaving only my rights......... I hate problems that are smalll and annoying.. lol
Bill

yeah, i have a stock in mine.

i've noticed that this problem seems to be in only two speakers for me. The first speaker is the front passenger door speaker, upper speaker, to the left of the power door lock switch. The second speaker is the rear right speaker. (Standing from a position behind the car, its right rear.)

These are the only two speakers that are getting the buzzing, and i've noticed that they are subject to interference from not just the engine but a few other electrical accessories.

Turn the car the ignition into acc mode, and turn the radio on but the volume all the way down. with the engine off but the ign in acc, turn on the wipers or the washer pump. am i the only one that hears interference from that too?

oh well, i hope someone comes up with a solution because this is annoying the hell out of me.

Umm............ theres gotta be a overgrown problem somewere..... All i ever get told is Check your alternator.... Check your grounds...... Somebody had to of concerd this problem........ i mean, its bound ot have a quick fix..... I dont know.... this is confusing.....

Two cents..
A shot in the dark for a couple of you.... If your plug wires are old and are braking down or you have a cracked spark plug. that could cause static though your speakers.

Good luck.

Ok, i found problem. This only took forever. You know that amp thats sitting underneath your glovebox? rip it out. Put a peice of plastic.... a ziplock bag or something under the metal rail that holds the amp to the frame.......... then put the amp back on. Vola! fixed problem...... That has got to be the weirdest fix...... Ducktape might even work.. just so it cant touch metal to metal........
Hope this works for you guys as it did for me
Bill

The plastic bag makes sense. Amp was grounded. Anyone else with this problem try this? I hope this fixes all of our troubles.

I'm a newbie (my first post) I just searched google and found this forum for this very problem! Amazing that so many of us have this problem!

So the amp is under the glove box? I will do the fix described and post any changes that made. It would be an easy fix if that is it.

Mine does the same thing...Any RF will cause static in the speakers. I was thinking about a ground loop isolator. I guess I'll save the money and try this.

I'll let you know what's up with it!

no luck with the bag trick for me.

Seemed reasonable to assume that there was something grounded. I've seen this happen with non-stock radios when the speaker wires ran near the power cable.

Seems unlikely that GM would run it like that though!