High pitch noise coming from drivers footwell

2005 Toyota Tundra Access Cab Limited V8

There’s a very irritating high pitched noise coming from near my feet while I’m driving. It started happening a few weeks after installing a new radio head unit (Kenwood Excelon DMX809S with GPS, Carplay, backup cam, mic and amp bypass). That’s the only thing I can think of that might have caused it. Although, the sound did not start until driving it with the new radio for a few weeks.

It goes away after I shut the car off or when I press the brake or accelerator past about half way. Maybe something electrical? Anyone have any ideas on how to fix this or what the cause could be?

 

Can you provide a video to record the noise?

 

Questions for you, answer honestly please.

Did you cut any factory harnesses to install the radio?

Is the pitch of the whine consistent, or does the whine increase in pitch as you accelerate? (ground loop/"alternator whine")

Does the whine disappear if you turn the head unit OFF?

If you put your ear up to the driver's side lower door speaker, is it clearly coming from there, or maybe from the tweeter next to the door handle?

When you connected the wires, what method did you use to attach them together? Twist and tape? Solder and shrink wrap? Wire nuts? Butt splices? Termination (closed-end) crimps?

Did you need to ground anything extra? (parking brake bypass, for example, steering wheel control adapter, etc.)

 

Here are my honest answers to your questions:

Did you cut any factory harnesses to install the radio?
No I did not cut any harnesses, I got the prewired harness from Crutchfield that plugs directly into truck. All the other connections plugged in directly or were spliced into existing wires.

Is the pitch of the whine consistent, or does the whine increase in pitch as you accelerate? (ground loop/"alternator whine")
The pitch and volume of the whine are not consistent. Some days it is louder than others. The volume and pitch decrease the more I press on the brake or accelerator and is the loudest when neither pedal is pressed. Pressing the parking brake pedal seems to have no affect on the whine.

Does the whine disappear if you turn the head unit OFF?
The whine continues regardless of if the head unit is off or on.

If you put your ear up to the driver's side lower door speaker, is it clearly coming from there, or maybe from the tweeter next to the door handle?
I can not tell exactly where the whine is coming from but it seems to be from right above the pedals, not from any of the speakers or tweeters.

When you connected the wires, what method did you use to attach them together? Twist and tape? Solder and shrink wrap? Wire nuts? Butt splices? Termination (closed-end) crimps?
I used the Crutchfield provided harness connecters for everything except splicing the backup camera into the reverse light & splicing the parking brake wire into the parking brake switch. For the splices I used these quick splice lock snap connectors

$7 60PCS Solderless Quick Splice Wire Connectors, 22-10 AWG Scotch Lock Snap Electrical Wire Connector(22-18AWG Red 20PCS, 18-14AWG Blue 30PCS, 12-10AWG Yellow 10PCS)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09539VNBK?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share then I covered the connections with electrical tape.

Did you need to ground anything extra? (parking brake bypass, for example, steering wheel control adapter, etc.)
The only extra item that needed to be grounded was the backup camera. For this I spliced into the ground wire for the reverse light. Other than that, I just did all the splicing and connecting of provided harnesses explained above.

Video of the noise here: https://youtu.be/rSaMOhf8eeI?si=RAZOY2mCKNagvKwU

 

That sounds to me like a possible leak on the brake booster. I think that's where I would start.

 

Man that is a weird one. I agree, the leak seems like it's tied to breaking. And I don't think it's your firewall steering shaft seal, although that's potentially toast right now too, and allowing excess noise into the cabin.

 

Check brake booster and vacuum lines to it for leak.

 

Man I messed up the first stereo install I ever did in pre-Internet days and had this exciting effect. Was going to be my first guess too until the video.

 

It ended up being the brake booster and had nothing to do with the head unit or other components I installed. Correlation not causation!

Replaced the brake booster and the noise is gone. They only had an after market one available but it seems to be working fine for now.

 

What did you go with for aftermarket make?

 

I'm glad you asked this, after seeing the last several people who had probs with aftermarket boosters. Don't leave us hanging @zag