Bad RCA cables or bad wire run??

!ZOMG HUZZAH SUCCESS!

Okay well it took the better part of a beautiful near 70 degree day, but I moved the RCA cables from driver side to passenger side and the whine is no more.

It was grueling battle of man vs plastic, but I came out the victor. Thanks to the really great head unit install pdf instruction someone posted on a different thread, which I will go back and find and credit, I managed the job and feel really great about it. I am a total noob when it comes to this kind of thing but a lot of grunting and intuiton got me through.

I did not change the grounding point so it seems as the X factor here was which side to run the cables on.

I also removed the 2 ground loop isolators the people at the audio shop slapped on there, and the difference is night and day - I completely understand why F8L says no noise filters - they really take away a lot from your audio experience, and are a huge downgrade.

I am totally exhausted by all of this and will have to post more tomorrow about my experience - the only problems I now need help with are:

-reinstalling the door to the map compartment (hinge and spring came out during the process and I am lost on how to put them back, so right now the door is off and unit is exposed)

-removing front passenger side tweeter and sending in for replacement b/c I blew it out.

UPDATE:
After commuting to work with my girlfriend and her sensitive ears, the whine is not entirely gone, but much diminished even with removing the sound filters, so this is a big step in the right direction - it seems to come up more during braking now than acceleration.

It seems like I would need to go with the shielded cables like KCobby to completely solve it.

 

Very cool. Kinda makes sense that during regen braking you'd get some "alternator like" whine in this car. After all that work you'd probably hesitate to repeat the effort to change cables, but oddly enough the 2nd (and 3rd, 4th? I lose track) time you take it all apart it's not so bad.
I was able to snake RCA cables between the right rear strut tower and traction battery just using a straightened coat hanger. Didn't need to take out all the cargo area right side trim, carpet, rear seat, etc. Just the plastic trim along the door sills. You'd still need to get back behind the stereo again tho of course.
You guys with your fancy new HU are making me jealous!

- D

 

Yknow after all of that effort, it really was not so bad, and I will definitely be doing it again. Now that I know what its like under all the plastic, I am no longer intimidated.

I tried snaking some cables with a coat hanger and it did not work out and I shredded up my hand in the process.

I really just need to figure out how to reassemble the door on the compartment below the stock stereo. Maybe I will try a different section of the forum?

 

Oh I think I know what's happened. You have to put that panel back in before the two vent panels on either side of the stereo. So that means you have to pull the dash apart a little again to get it back in. It's a little tricky to get the 4 clips all lined up but when you do it just pops in with a little pressure. Don't force it. I can't remember if it had screws also...

- D

 

Okay not the panel I got that back on there just fine. I am talking about the hinged door itself...

 

Hmnn... sorry, mine didn't come off separately so I won't be much help!

- D

 

FWIW I was able to fix the dam door, what happened is I got a little reckless trying to take out the head unit, mfd, and compartment and just started unscrewing every screw I could find, which led to the door falling off and the spring popping out.

The retracting action of the door is held together by a tension spring and is MAJOR pain in the butt to figure out how to pop it back in there, you have to load the spring it was really not fun. Just use care when unscrewing things around the head unit.