Interference through stereo with RSE

[dj898]

after few more complaints to Volvo Australia they finally arranged the dealer to pick up the vehicle from our place and test/find out what was causing it. They will drop off the car for me to use during the day and once they've done will drop off and pick up from our place.

Guess if you have similar problem write to Volvo and don't take no for an answer.
Will keep you guys updated how it turns out

[dj898]

follow up to my previous posting.
Volvo Australia arranged the dealer to drop off C30 and pick up XC60 while it's tested.
After a full day, they dropped after 6pm and picked up C30. By the way I've had couple of C30 as the loan vehicles and my choice would be T5 as I loved to do wheelie with that one! ^ ^

anyhow, upon reading the paperworks it seems they replaced the shield cable with twisted cable which apparently developed for this type of interference plus a module to close the circuit when there's no input thru AUX. Plus usual osftware update though not clear what exactly was it for...

they did mentioned that the input volume of AUX when set too high can cause the said symptom and had the instruction on how to setup volumes correctly with RSE...

anyway, on weekend we shall see whether they corrected the issue or not...

[dj898]

right, after the preliminary testing I can tell that the interence noise is gone for good!
No more whinning sound and also DVD plays fine so far.
this weekend will be the real test as we tend to drive over an hour or so to take kids to their weekend school and etc.

[dj898]

forgot to mention that on the previous weekend I did record the noise and varying audio level while playing the DVD while the car is in motion - basically have missus holidng my iPhone in between the front seats when it happened. I used Voice Memos app that comes with iPhone. After 5~6 recording on 2 you can hear the noise as well wobbling audio level quite clearly and I played them to the service manager who dropped C30 to pick up XC60.
After hearing those recording he drove XC60 to the dealer next morning while playing the DVD and did hear the symptom I described.

It seems the fix involves swapping the cable and change module at AUX input to close the circuit when there's no input - i.e. no iPhone via USB socket and etc.

[dj898]

Maybe I spoke too early.
I got the whirring noise back~ -_-;
and now it's even there with no DVD playing on AUX input.
I think it's definately related to the engine as when cold start the engine as it rev to higher rpm before settle down the hirring noise corresponds exactly to this.
Higher pitch as the engine rev at higher rpm and as it comes down rpm so does the noise...

I've booked for another attempt at the fix and this time I will talk/show the mechanic the symptom - took the day off for that already~

[dj898]

Another update... -__-;

Dropped off the XC60 on Tuesday morning and had a chat with their head mechanic about the feedback - thankfully when I got there it was pretty bad and I called the mechanic right away to show him what I have been telling them.

Anyway he drove the car straight to the garage and I got the call from dealer later that day saying they wanted to keep the vehicle overnight. Following day I got another call after lunch time telling me that the car should be ready for pick up that afternoon. The mechanic told me they did what they could and thought they sorted the issue, almost... about 80%.

What that meant was they were going to replace the entire wiring along the AUX input and placed the order with Volvo Australia. Unfortunately these kind of spares were not kept in the country and it would take ten days to fly over. When the part landed I would need to bring the car in to have it replaced. -__-; At least I didn't get charged a cent and that included the free loan car for two days.

Anyhow I tested the RSE while I was driving home from the dear and it seemed the noise/feedback/whatever has virtually gone. I couldn't hear any of it while the DVD was playing and when it stopped I still couldn't hear any static/feedback through the AUX input whereas before there was constant feedback noise on AUX input.

We shall see what happened next week when they replace the entire AUX cables and associated components.

Upsides is Volvo Australia has been very responsible and worked with the dealer to sort this issue. I don't know what's the warranty on the separately installed RSE but it's been almost two years since we have it installed and they worked on this issue for free of charges - well they should, shouldn't they? ^ ^ And kids are happy to watch their favourite DVD...

p.s. Not sure whether it's related but the mechanic told me they update/upgrade numerous software patches - almost made me think our Volvo is more like computer than vehicle with so much update/upgrade since we bought... heh...

[Jack_of_all]

sounds exactly like an earth loop issue.....i think its quite a common issue in the boy racer fraternity as they often hook up amps and dvd's etc to the sound system.

i have the same issue with my motorbike. basically if i plug in my radio headset i have fited in my helmet which is powered from the bike and then try to run the GPS they both have a different power source, but run obviosly from the same battery.....
....basically you are creating a loop between the two electronic items via the sound cable. This presents the "loop". Engine temperature, speed as well as different radio stations can all have a different effect on it as it depends on voltages and interference etc.

to overcome my problem the headset manufatcuter (autocom) have since created an earth loop thing that just plugs in line to the sound outputs using the output jacks. this then isolates the gps sound, but still allows it to have the 12v supply.

i use the same dongle in the caravan when i want to run the laptop on power and hook it up to the stereo system. Again the same noise issue as the loop is created by two powered items earthing across the sound cable.

[dj898]

thanks for the comment.
It seems Volvo AU is getting new(?) cabling component to completely replace what's on missus XC60 - it had already bits of cables and what not replaced previously - from factory.

I will see what ever they did the other day make an improvement over the weekend when we tend to drive for longer hours...

[mikealder]

Its Ground Loop Interference thats causing the problem, quite easy to fix by fitting a ground loop issolation device between the two units, see Here for one such unit - Mike

[darbs]

ground loop issue. mmm, i seem to remember someone mentioning that was the issue in this thread on 7th Feb.