Hey folks, new to the forum and just picked up my '04 GT today. I'm in love with the car but there's one nagging thing: I use a Belkin iPod adapter, the sort that transmits over FM. There's a fairly noticeable whine, which increases in pitch with engine RPM and goes away completely when I mute the stereo. It doesn't get louder when I turn up the volume, so I can drown it out if I crank the stereo.

From this I've drawn the conclusion that it's likely interference being picked up by the transmitter, generated by an engine-related electrical component. Any ideas? Maybe I could rig some shielding if I knew where it was coming from. Has anyone else experienced this on an RX or any other car?

 

you could try a ground loop isolater (I'm assuming that the FM transmitter is powered by the car and not a seperate battery).

 

that is for the input... does it do it without power to the car??? like just on battery???? if it does not do it stand alone but plugged into car it is likely a bad ground...

and btw, if you go direct you will need a ground loop isolator crutchfield.com has a great 3.5mm plug in...

saves you from all the rca jacks that are in my car..

beers

 

Good point, forgot this was an fm modulator. I'm sure its still picking up noise from the alternator pulsing the +12v on the car relative to rpm.

 

wow,

it has been a long time since i have done this.. there is a cheap filter for the power side for that. i think, there used to be...

btw, this would be the right place for the ? https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-interior-audio-electronics-24/


beers

 

It plugs into the cigarette lighter, so yes it's running of the car's power. Never heard of a "ground loop isolator" but I will look into it. Thanks for the info!

 

2 Possible solutions....

1) There's a hard-wire ipod adaptor DIY (search the forums) that gives you a 3.5mm plug in the glovebox. You have to make a blank CD and place this in the CD player to paly it, but then the ipod wires direct through the stereo.

2) For griffin iTrip (not sure about belkin) there's quite a few hacks to make the antenna better - cut the device open and expose the copper antenna wire, and it makes the signal a lot stronger. I did this and it gets rid of a lot of background.

 

There are also the syflex and PIE modules for hardwire installs. I'm planning on popping the syflex in mine when I open up the dash for my gauge install. I would use something else, but my firmware is very old.

 

May be a stupid idea, but could using a different frequency on the adapter help, ie setting it to 107.1 instead of 89.1, for example.

 

Maybe your adapter isn't very good. Get what I have.. Click
You can also get it on Amazon for about $50. Best FM transmitter out there.

 

FM translators are horrible quality and you shouldn't do that to your vehicle.

www.sylfex.com and get it done right. Sounds infinitely more times better.