Strange sound coming from stereo

[ranchnachos]

Another minor annoyance with my 95 GT...

Completely random, there's this odd low-pitched humming sound that comes from my stereo (through the speakers (Original tape deck)).. sometimes loud and staticy.. sometimes quiet and softer sounding.

i've mentioned it to a few people, and they said it's most likely a bad ground wire in the stereo.. or it could be that two of the wires behind the deck are touching.. causing the interference noise?

I'm absolutely clueless as to what is causing it though.
Also.. when i turn off the stereo, the noise stops. Powered on, it starts again (randomly)

Any advice, ideas... solutions?

[Hypsi87]

your condensor could be bad. Does the pitch of the hum incrase with RPM? If it does, I would almost promise you thats it. The job of the condensor is to supress plug wire noise. Which, if that is the case, is what you are hearing.

[ranchnachos]

yes.. the pitch of the hum does increase with the RPM, or acceleration in general..

so i'd need a new condensor.. is that a job specific to the stereo deck?
Cause im looking at purchasing a new Alpine mp3/cd player for my car, and if I were to get a new one.. would the sound go away? Or is it a more general part of the car, and not part of the stereo?

[Hypsi87]

It is a part of your ingnition system. im not sure where it is but, I know it has one. The one on my exploer was bad and it did the same thing. I replaced it and it went away.

It does not matter what head unit you have. The condenser suppresses the RF noise from the wires so that your antenna does not pick up the RF waves.

[ranchnachos]

I searched around Google..and found this:

http://www.electronixwarehouse.com/c.../noise-sup.htm

Is this what you mean?
Cause I could repair this myself.. instead of spending money for some mechanic and labor and stuff.


*update*

also found this information.. could be helpful for anyone else with the same situation..

http://www.electronixwarehouse.com/e...aboutnoise.htm

Alternator noise is a high pitched whine that is synchronous with the car's engine acceleration. When the engine turns the alternator rotor, the alternator induces an AC voltage that is converted to DC and distributed to the electrical system.