Dirty Power from Alternator?

I have an 2010 VS with an alternator and it appears that I have dirty power. When I installed my stereo with iPod support, the iPod kept freezing up and I'd have to repower it. the iPod worked properly except when in the speedster.

Another symptom is a loud cracking and popping through the speakers, but it is not engine speed dependent. The sound does not go faster or change pitch with engine speed.

The car stereo guys tried various filters, but finally gave up.

Anyone experience anything like this before? Is there a definitive way to test for dirty power? Any ideas on how to clean it up?

Thanks.

Cole

Big capacitors will take out any ripple or spikes.


Mike

Check all your stereo wires (power, inputs, speaker wire) for potential ground shorts. Something could be loose or the wire insulation could be rubbed through somewhere.

Disconnect 1 speaker at a time from the back of the head unit or amp and see if the crackling goes away. Don't disconnect at the speaker end, you need to isolate the whole wire run. Reconnect if that wire is not the problem and move on to the next. Then move on to the aux input wires, one at a time. Make sure any unused input or output pigtails on the head unit or amp are wrapped with electrical tape to avoid potential shorts. Once you've eliminated all the outputs and inputs, you can move on to power wires or possible dirty power.

Check for bad spark plug wires or loose grounds, especially transmission strap.

Cole

These are good tips from Felix, and sometimes the best/only way is to ground sound equipment direct to the battery. If it gets crowned at the battery one solution may be a grounding bussbar mounted nearby with substantial wiring to the battery from the bar.

Run the Ipod with the engine off, straight from battery. Bad? Problem is stereo install/speakers, etc. Good? OK, step two, BRIEFLY remove the belt and start the engine. Good? OK, problem is alternator. BAD? Problem is ignition.

No matter what, ground the ever-luving dog snot out if it.

angela