Pidge, I had the same problem with my 96 when i put in a head unit as you are having. I found that the Factory amp did not like the head units RCA output voltage. I even went as far as running a hot and ground to the battery just for the radio and no luck. I ended up ordering this and the problem went away. Scosche SLC4 Line Output Converter Convert speaker connections to line-level preamp connections in mobile audio applications at Crutchfield.com Do not connect the ground wire on the converter, found it added noise back in.

Y'know, I did suspect those big fat RCAs, as well as the lack of the extra ground provided by the CD changer (not used by my new config) and the steering wheel (ditto). Did you have alternator whine like I'm having? Thanks for vetoing lines to the battery! I feel like a crispy critter even contemplating that *shudder*

Generally speaking, the chassis is the ground so run the cable from the chassis to the closes point of the metal frame. Clean/sand the metal surface on the vehicle and find a place where you can screw the ground cable to.

I read somewhere that with the new stereo installation grounding/regrounding the amp fixes this problem so you can try this first and then the stereo.

The goal is to provide each equipment with the shortest ground so it does not try to ground itself via the audio ground to the other equipment.

Unfortunately, these things are as with most, trial and error but those are the basics. Go online and do a search for "ground loops".....it is generally the culprit for aftermarket installs from what everyone says and from my experience during my car stereo installation days. Hope that helps.

No, I do get all that, but I guess my question was a more basic, "where do I get to the chassis from the DIN slot?" And/or amp.

I can research ground loops till the cows come home, and I have, but my q is about specifically this model and where to reach the chassis from the unit in your humble opinions.

Passenger side along the transmission tunnel. Up close to the front of the vehicle. There's some pieces bolted to the floor there. Remove a bolt and slip a ring terminal in there.

yes I did have the whine with mine. I grounded to multiple places, also removed all ground wires from factory harness and has a 3 inch 8 gauge ground and still had the same noise. The only thing that fixed the noise was that converter.

With the Schosche and my new head unit, I now have a huge pumpin' multifunction stereo with great sound and Bluetooth and original writing intact! Thanks aemnky606!

Pidge,


Your welcome, I'm glad to hear you have it working. That's what we are all here for.

Does anyone want my factory head unit? LR tape, AM/FM, Weather band. It was acting like it had a tape stuck in it all the time, so it's free (for postage) if anyone would like it.