Issue with FM radio static

[rever]

Hi guys,

I've been experiancing alot of radio static recently on my 05 2.5i. I have not had my windows tinted recently and although i do have an aftermarket system, my rear speakers which are just running directly off the headunit experiance the static aswell, which i think indicates it isnt my audio upgrade that has created this.

Both the AM reception and CD are fine without blemishes. I took the car to subaru today to have a look over everything and they claim "they couldnt fault the FM reception in the first place" and their checks over the antenna etc etc came up fine.

Any ideas on what may be the cause of bad FM reception? Do i need the rear windscreen reprinted? Also, the headunit i have is the GX-203kh kenwood unit.

Any advice appreciated,
Nate

[mihai]

Is it everywhere in Melbourne? Or just in certain areas? I used to have good reception, but lately I've been getting poor reception in and around Hawthorne, some inner city suburbs and also some roads in Endeavour Hills.

I have an aftermarket amp and speakers, but I don't think these are the cause.

[Kekotic]

Some people claim aftermarket HID kits cause reception loss.
Do you have aftermarket HID kits?

[rever]

Generally everywhere around melbourne mihai.

And nope, dont have any other modifications at all.

[garbo41610]

Loose connections anywhere?

Any stray cores coming out from the antennae connector at the back of the head unit?

What does the rest of your stereo consist of? Are fronts running off an amp? what type of amp? Is the static coming through the front speakers as well? Have you tried a different head unit in the car to see if that produces static as well?

With the rear speakers running off the head unit, it doesn't give you any indication that the head unit isn't the problem. The only way to discount the head unit would be to pull it out and hook up a known working head unit.

Have you tried a different head unit in the car to see if that produces static as well? With the rear speakers running off the head unit, it doesn't really give you any indication that the head unit isn't the problem. The only way to discount the head unit would be to pull it out and hook up a known working head unit.

[rickerty]

It may be a long shot but have you checked the rear de-mister for faults, fuse, wiring etc. Do you have the de-mister on?

I only say this because I get terrible FM reception when the de-mister is on but it clears right up as soon as I turn it off.
Some models run a timer aswell so there may be feed to the window even if it's not currently on.

Or did you place a wire carrying a higher current than the de-mist or antenna too close to it when installing the new head unit?
Or damage these wires? There are many things that can cause interference...

Grasping at straws I know but hey

[tangcla]

There's actually one wire which comes out of the original headunit harness, which is to a radio signal booster. I forget which colour it is but it's directly underneath the 12V accessory line, if I recall correctly. It won't be mapped to anything out of your headunit.

Connect that up to your remote lead and you should be fine after that

[rever]

Thanks for all the input.

Garbo, i wasnt ruling out the headunit at all, in fact i was trying to point to that as the problem as my front speakers which are connected to the amp and rear speakers which are connected to the headunit ALL experiance the same static. Hence the amps arnt causing the interferance. I also dont have any other headunit to subsitute in to see if the static is still there.

Also, when i took it to subaru they checked the rear de-mister as one of their checks.

Tangcla, are you able to elborate a little bit more on how i can go about doing that?

[mihai]

Where abouts in Melbourne are you located?

And what headunit do you have?

Finally, in regard to what Clarence said, there is a wire on the main connector (A Yellow cable with a Black trace on it). This is the power supply for the antenna amplifier that is located in the rear of the car.

If this wire isn't getting any power, then the antenna amplifier isn't getting any power, therefore the radio signal isn't being amplified and hence you're poor signal.

What you can do is find that wire, and connect it to the remote out from the aftermarket headunit that you have. This wire is probably already connected to a wire that goes to your amp so if you connect both the yellow/black wire and the amp wire to this it should work.

[rever]

Thanks for your input mihai. My headunit is the stock kenwood unit, not an aftermarket one. I pulled out my headunit not long ago to have a look about and i saw the ordinary ISO plug with all the speaker wiring etc etc plugged into the headunit. Im assuming one of the 8 or so wires in that ISO plug is that yellow/black wire which istherefor plugged into my headunit already? I dont think i have a dedicated remote terminal on the stock unit as aftermarket headunits have.

Are you suggesting i remove that yellow/black wire from the ISO plug and connect the wire to the remote terminal on my amp?

Also, the static is only really that heavy on FM, if there was an issue with this wire getting power would i not also get static on AM?

[mihai]

If you have the stock kenwood headunit, then everything should be fine. I have the same setup as you, stock kenwood headunit + amp powering fronts and sub. The yellow/black wire is in that harness and the antenna amplifier should be working considering that plug is connected.

The only thing I can think of is the location of the power wire for the amp. Is it run down the passenger side of your car? The antenna wire goes down the passenger side too. So there could be interference from that.

Ive noticed that mine isn't too bad, but in some areas it kind off annoys me. Mind you, my power cable only goes to the passenger seat as thats where my amp is, if your amp is located in the boot, there may be more interference.

[rever]

Hey guys,

Still having alot of trouble with the FM reception. Im wondering where to locate the antenna amplifier? (i believe it is a little box in one of the pillars?) AM reception still continues to be decent but FM has alot of crackles/static. Any other suggestions appreciated!

[smythie]

sedan: behind the airbag in the rear pillar

wagon: behind the trim in the tail gate.

you also have a noise suppressor in there with the amplifier.

hope that helps

[rever]

Ignore this post