Strange noise stranger fix.

[Aren Jay]

..............................

[Dr Caleb]

. . and I heard a grumbling noise from the back.

What can be doing this?

Mother-in-law in the trunk?

Have you fed the trunk monkeys lately?

[Pat]

Go see a chiropractor and get your lumbar serviced.

[Aren Jay]

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[Mike Poore]

Um, did you pay attention to Barry's thread about the snakes? :eek: Otherwise, I always go with Dr. Caleb's suggestions 'cause his observations are always the best. :D

[fastblackmerc]

Um, did you pay attention to Barry's thread about the snakes? :eek: Otherwise, I always go with Dr. Caleb's suggestions 'cause his observations are always the best. :D

Unless you moved the air compressor to the trunk it's not that cause the compressor is mounted in the left front under tha air box. Sounds like your subwoofer. Have you performed the "subwoofer surgery" yet?

[Aren Jay]

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[Dr Caleb]

New car, for me, so I havn't touched the Sub yet.

Why would it stop humming when I touch the lumbar button though?

Is it only the lumbar support that stops it? Could moving the seat stop it as well?

The only way to get noise in the audio is a bad supressor somewhere, or something uppity about your alternator. Why the lumbar would stop that is, frankly, just wierd.

Sounds like you got an MM with 'personality', like our old buddy /steve.

[Dr Caleb]

I always go with Dr. Caleb's suggestions 'cause his observations are always the best. :D

I don't know if Diabolical has caught our sense of humour yet. If not, he's being very polite about it. :)

[ChiTownMaraud3r]

Actually I was messing with my Pioneer Avic, stereo/nav etc.. the other day. and I heard the exact same thing. Thought I was hearing things until you mention it now, because they were only a second maybe at most, and only when I was in a stressful position trying to adjust something, not sitting back calmly. I too wonder wth this is. Sounded like the lumbar thing though.

[Aren Jay]

..............................

[fastblackmerc]

I had it again today. Lumbar didn't make it go away this time though. I muted the speakers with the phone mute and there is a buzzing humming noise coming from the back of my Marauder.

A friend said it might be a bad rear speaker, I will have a specific listen for this tomorrow.

I was thinking it could be a problem with the amplifier. It is situated next to the spare tire right? Where is the stock subwoofer?

I'm not sure if my sub works.

I need to have a good look at everything tomorrow and figure this out.

Sub & amp are in the same location / assembly.

[Aren Jay]

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[Aren Jay]

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[Dr Caleb]

Just a thought - perform a radio self diagnostic.

If you're on an radio station, and hold down buttons 3 and 6 for 5 seconds, it'll put it in diagnostic mode. You can then use buttons 1-6 for the diagnostic tests.

The first thing it does is it cycles through the speakers (playing sound - RF, LF, LR, RR, Sub - in that order) only once, then it gets back out of test mode.

You can use buttons 1-6 for other tests, including a self diagnostic. The only way out of the tests is to power it off.

The Helm Manual ROCKS by the way.

[Aren Jay]

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[MENINBLK]

Your radio has a floating ground problem.
It is usually caused by bad/cracking solder joints, poor ground connections.

When it happens, the radio becomes sensitive to any electrical noise
that is created within the vehicle.

e.g. When the CD Changer changes discs, you'll get a hum/whirring sound.
When you open your sunroof/window, you'll get some noise.
When you touch the lumbar or seat controls you may get a click
when the switch connects, and noise as the motors spin
to move the seat/pump the lumbar.

Check the ground connection on the Marauder's battery.
Make sure the battery and cable terminals are clean and tight.
Trace the cables and make sure the ground is clean and tight
and all ground straps are also clean and tight.
Loosen and re-tighten them if necessary to clear any oxidation
that may have accumulated since the Marauder was built.

If this doesn't get rid of it, then you have two choices...

1 - Play the radio LOUDER.

2 - Have the radio serviced.

Good Luck !!!

[Meteorite]

Your radio has a floating ground problem.
It is usually caused by bad/cracking solder joints, poor ground connections.

When it happens, the radio becomes sensitive to any electrical noise
that is created within the vehicle.

What he ^^^ said.

I had this problem in a Mustang once. I took it to a car audio specialist, and they had it fixed in 5 minutes by addressing the ground issue. They didn't even charge me to fix it.

[Dr Caleb]

I best write this last post down. I couldn't find any diagnostic tests in the manual.


You won't find them there. There are a few diagnostic tests on our cars that aren't in the little manual that comes with it. The Radio diag is one. Heating diag is another.

I got the 3000 page Helm service manual some time ago. It is probabally the best resource you could have (besides this site), if you want to work on the Marauder yourself.

You might want to check out these threads about loose ground straps:

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=189
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=17385

[Aren Jay]

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[Dr Caleb]

Can the sub be unplugged with this unit?

Easy. It's 4 bolts, and the wiring harness. (Going to install my AVIC D3 tomorrow! :woohoo:)

[Aren Jay]

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[finster101]

If you climb into the trunk with a flashlight the connector for the amp should be very easy to get to. I think it is on the right side of the sub unit toward the bottom.

[Aren Jay]

..............................

[Dr Caleb]

There are two seperate conectors. One a set of grey wires and the other is a multicolour set. I want to keep the amp plugged in but the sub unplugged to see if I have a bad amp or a bad sub.

Here is the unit, once removed from the car. The closest part is the rear of the unit. (10" Subwoofer!! with slight modifications!)

The Second pic is of the Amp side (upside down, closest is rear of car). A Black/Black white stripe go to the speaker (left in that view). The harness has Red/Green/Yellow, probabally power to the amp. White/Black are probabally speaker input. From the position of the pins (furthest away from power/ground) is could be some combination of White/Black/Green. My guess is white/black because they are furthest away from each other in going into the amp. Black/Green are side by side.