I’ve got a 3.5mm aux in on my stereo which seems to work OK when I plug a battery powered device in. If I plug a something in that is powered from the cigarette socket or charging then I get a high pitched whistling and distorted audio. It’ll whistle as soon as I start plugging the audio lead in. Any ideas what might be causing this and how to stop it? I’ve tried a couple of devices with different power leads and the front and rear sockets.

It’s probably a bad earth on your head unit, hence why the battery powered units are okay and anything else powered from the car creates the feedback…just create a new earth point to sort it quickly, rather than trying to trace the loom to its earth.

Petrol motor? A poor earth to the headunit or socket are likely suspects.

Its an old diesel. No electrics in the engine. I shall run some extra wires to check the earths

As said it’s probably a bad earth somewhere.

Easiest way to check is to run a pair of wires (+ fused appropriately) directly from the battery to your device and then plug it in to the stereo.

If it is ok then try with the positive only coming from the battery and the earth connected to something metal near the stereo or interior of the car (seat belt mount is normally a good one – but avoid painted surfaces)

If it then whines once more you have earth issues in the cars wiring.
Possibly worth a look at the battery to car body earth strap anyway, as these usually corrode in older cars.

Hijack – what dab radio head unit which will run from iPod/mp3 player for a VW T5??

Ta

You probably need one of these…

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z58y2m52bDI[/video]

Is that gentleman (and I obviously use the word loosely) wearing faded blue denim jeans in a Bentley? 😯

Bentley Continental GT: £123,850.00+
Jeans: £49.99
Displaying your (complete lack of) class by getting out of Bentley Continental GT wearing faded blue denim jeans: Priceless

Is that gentleman (and I obviously use the word loosely) wearing faded blue denim jeans in a Bentley?

Jeans and a blazer always makes me cringe!

Bentley Continental GT: £123,850.00+
Jeans: £49.99
Displaying your (complete lack of) class by getting out of Bentley Continental GT wearing faded blue denim jeans: Priceless

I’d happily display my complete lack of class by getting out of a Continent GT wearing my camo skate shorts, Vans, and an old Metallica tee shirt.
Anything that winds up the snobs…

Hijack – what dab radio head unit which will run from iPod/mp3 player for a VW T5??

Ta
I’ve got a Kenwood unit I bought from Halfords, it has a CD slot, and a USB port for plugging in a memory stick or lead. Works beautifully, I have my old iPhone plugged in usually, as an iPod, and it has CoPilot installed, for satnav.
Like this one, I paid £150, grab one at this price, it’s an absolute bargain!
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_818311_langId_-1_categoryId_165474

Don’t know why people are getting all bent out of shape by a gent wearing jeans in a Bently Continental. Have we forgotten the sorts of people that tend to buy these? Mostly Footballers, WAGs and Z-list celebs. Faded jeans is dressed up for these people. People with real class and taste tend not to buy Bently’s. Its a vulgar car for vulgar people. And most owners are just going to stream 192kbps MP3 music from their smartphones via bluetooth through their £5k Niam system. Pointless. Not jealous at all.

Count zero – looks just the job, but sadly no stock anywhere near me.

Count zero – looks just the job, but sadly no stock anywhere near me.

Bugger! Sorry about that, see if you can track one down through one of the other online car audio dealers, it’s an excellent unit, and if you can get one anywhere near that sort of price, you’ve got a bargain.