Radio reception crap/ worse when motor is cold

[mudski]

So I've put up with this for long enough. The head unit is a chit Eonon unit, but I just need a radio and a screen for my reverse camera. And Blutooth. As of late I have noticed the radio reception getting worse. I just really noticed it today that it was really bad when the motor wasn't at optimum temps. But after driving the car for a while the radio reception was much better. Probably at around 90% of what it should be.
I did notice also the reception got better when the revs dropped.

Any ideas what this may be?

[TPC]

What is the condition of your battery or batteries?
A dodgy main or aux battery can create problems for radio reception which will improve as the battery charges.
Does it get worse if you put the headlights on?

[Mike02Ti]

Earth gone bad maybe? Either on the head unit itself or the antenna.
Did you use an adapter for the antenna plug into the back of the unit?

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[mudski]

What is the condition of your battery or batteries?
A dodgy main or aux battery can create problems for radio reception which will improve as the battery charges.
Does it get worse if you put the headlights on?
Haven't tred with the headlights mate. I will give it a crack tomorrow. The batteries aren't that old and get a good top up charge every few months.


Earth gone bad maybe? Either on the head unit itself or the antenna.
Did you use an adapter for the antenna plug into the back of the unit?

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I did have an adaptor but now I'm using a GME whip antenna so no adaptor need now.

[Turtle_au]

Could be static from the allternator. Is there a high frequency whining sound that changes with engine revs? Also worse when the alternator output is higher ie. charging
Static can either come through the power, earth or airborne to the antenna.
If you have a portable radio see if it is affected, that will test if it is antenna issue or not.
I remember years ago you used to get suppressor capacitors that fitted to the alternator output terminal.

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[mudski]

I did notice it changed with the revs. Yeah i remember those suppressors too. But they were fitted to the ignition coil from memory...

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[dom14]

Even though it looks like cold engine, rev related, probably it has more to do with weak connection the antenna, power or the antenna/radio itself.
Radio antenna line ideally should have a noise filtering on itself.

[Hodge]

Believe it or not Mark. Mine is identical! Exact same symptoms.
It done it with factory aerial .
Then i completely cut it out and disconnected it and installed a Gme whip antenna like yours and issue is still present.

However mine only does it when motor is running. Motor off brings perfect radio reception.

But i never listen to radio anyway so i just ignored it.

Edit: mine is a pioneer head unit.

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[threedogs]

Just because the batteries arent old doesnt mean they are not the problem.
Id be fitting an inline noise suppressor.
OOI I still use the OE antenna and have a "chit" eonon head unit and have no problems
whats so ever

Had a think I reckon you may have a "burnt" wire somewhere

[Mike02Ti]

It does sound like you have a ground loop of some sort. Have you added or changed the routing of any wiring ?
As TD says abut his Eonon , mines fine too. Even with stock antenna

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[Bacho86]

Did you do an earth connection with new head unit? I remember mine was real crap until I added one....


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[Throbbinhood]

Just wondering if you have a link to this whip antenna?

[Hodge]

Did you do an earth connection with new head unit? I remember mine was real crap until I added one....


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I thought the same thing.
The original factory cassette thing used the aerial as the ground.
These new units need a separate ground .

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[Turtle_au]

I did notice it changed with the revs. Yeah i remember those suppressors too. But they were fitted to the ignition coil from memory...

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Used to fit them to both. Especially on old minis. They never worried about suppression because they never came out with radios.

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[dom14]

Believe it or not Mark. Mine is identical! Exact same symptoms.
It done it with factory aerial .
Then i completely cut it out and disconnected it and installed a Gme whip antenna like yours and issue is still present.

However mine only does it when motor is running. Motor off brings perfect radio reception.

But i never listen to radio anyway so i just ignored it.

Edit: mine is a pioneer head unit.

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That clearly indicates noise interference from the ignition system.

[mudski]

Just because the batteries arent old doesnt mean they are not the problem.
Id be fitting an inline noise suppressor.
OOI I still use the OE antenna and have a "chit" eonon head unit and have no problems
whats so ever

Had a think I reckon you may have a "burnt" wire somewhere
So whats a "burnt" wire? I know my batteries arent causing this. This issue has been about since Ivé had the car. With different batteries...

It does sound like you have a ground loop of some sort. Have you added or changed the routing of any wiring ?

No routing for the stereo has been changed.

Did you do an earth connection with new head unit? I remember mine was real crap until I added one....
The body of the unit earths itself( well I assume it does) when I screw in the metal mounting brackets....

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Just wondering if you have a link to this whip antenna?
https://www.gme.net.au/catalogue/antennas/amfm-and-mobile-phone/aem2w.aspx

That clearly indicates noise interference from the ignition system.
It does seem so...

I drove it today, for the first half hour the radio was crap, by the time I was heading home the reception was near perfect.

[Mike02Ti]

Routing for the radio doesnt need to change to introduce a ground loop. Any change in any wiring can potentially introduce it.
Another thing you could check alternator wiring. Have also heard of ignition coils and leads causing issues (from memory you have a diesel though so scratch that), fuel pumps etc.

Is there any power wiring in contact or running close to either the speaker wires/ amplifiers if you have them fitted or the head unit power source

Chasing ground loops suck. I chased mine for about 4 days before i found a cable running to the rear of the car in close proximity to the amp causing it. Didnt know it was there as it was like that when i got it.

Oh one more thing could be the preouts on the rear of the unit have a small amount of voltage in. If they are touching metal beind the dash that could also possibly cause it

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[dom14]

Routing for the radio doesnt need to change to introduce a ground loop. Any change in any wiring can potentially introduce it.
Another thing you could check alternator wiring. Have also heard of ignition coils and leads causing issues (from memory you have a diesel though so scratch that), fuel pumps etc.


My bad...of course no point talking about interference from ignition on diesel engines. :)

[Turtle_au]

Try a small portable radio. Tune it off station and turn volume up. Wave it over the vehicle and engine to locate the source.

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[threedogs]

Try a small portable radio. Tune it off station and turn volume up. Wave it over the vehicle and engine to locate the source.

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does that work sorta like a tracking collar??? mudski maybe run another earth and see if that
improves it or not, even run it to one of your batteries

[Turtle_au]

does that work sorta like a tracking collar??? mudski maybe run another earth and see if that
improves it or not, even run it to one of your batteries
More like a gieger counter.

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[threedogs]

So I've put up with this for long enough. The head unit is a chit Eonon unit, but I just need a radio and a screen for my reverse camera. And Blutooth. As of late I have noticed the radio reception getting worse. I just really noticed it today that it was really bad when the motor wasn't at optimum temps. But after driving the car for a while the radio reception was much better. Probably at around 90% of what it should be.
I did notice also the reception got better when the revs dropped.

Any ideas what this may be?

Maybe when you find the problem it will explain why you have a "chit" eonon
unit and others are fine, You've always said you had bad radio reception from
years ago. lol Think you put it down to Milpakistan,,,lol
Burnt wire,,, like its been annealed

[dom14]

Maybe when you find the problem it will explain why you have a "chit" eonon
unit and others are fine, You've always said you had bad radio reception from
years ago. lol Think you put it down to Milpakistan,,,lol
Burnt wire,,, like its been annealed

I also grew up in MilPakistan, it's the best suburb in the whole country. :D ;)

[dom14]

Try a small portable radio. Tune it off station and turn volume up. Wave it over the vehicle and engine to locate the source.


I thought to bring up a slight thread hijack action here.
The last time I listened to the radio was around 2003 or so, when I was doing morning paper deliveries. :D

How many of you blokes listen to radio these days while commuting?
I basically forgotten about radio and thought it's been phased out. ;)
Listening to "CB radio chit chats" ain't the same thing, or is it? :D

[Hodge]

How many of you blokes listen to radio these days while commuting?


I haven't for a long long time. It's just full of ads and sour news every 30 minutes... It sucks. I just load of a USB full of music and off we go.
Only time I hear radio nowdays is when I'm in the truck with one of the workmates and they wanna listen to whatever...
The only reason I installed my whip am/fm antenna was to be able to listen/hear "some" stations when we go camping around outskirts of the high country. It picks up a lot of stations, the factory aerial didn't even when we were closer to civilisation.

Supposedly the digital radio has much more to offer... My next head unit I will look for this feature.

[mudski]

Maybe when you find the problem it will explain why you have a "chit" eonon
unit and others are fine, You've always said you had bad radio reception from
years ago. lol Think you put it down to Milpakistan,,,lol
Burnt wire,,, like its been annealed

Fark John. Talk stupid for us numpties! WTF is annealed? Haha! I thought it might have just been MillParkistan as the 20foot high electric fence around the suburb does tend to cause radio interference, but its not the case. Having said that, the day was warmer today, and the radio was that little bit better.

[mudski]

I thought to bring up a slight thread hijack action here.
The last time I listened to the radio was around 2003 or so, when I was doing morning paper deliveries. :D

How many of you blokes listen to radio these days while commuting?
I basically forgotten about radio and thought it's been phased out. ;)
Listening to "CB radio chit chats" ain't the same thing, or is it? :D

Thats all I listen too. I love listening the the radio.
threedogs I will run an earth lead from the body of the radio to the battery and see what happens.

[Turtle_au]

Only listen to abc am for background noise or local fm station for traffic and local news.
Have a usb stick with over 1000 songs on it. Takes too long to find a song to suit my mood.

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[dom14]

I used to listen Jazz & alternative stations. I'm not sure they are still around.
I need to get hold of a radio & start listening again. :)

[jay see]

I used to listen Jazz & alternative stations. I'm not sure they are still around.
I need to get hold of a radio & start listening again. :)
Digital radio has that plus more.

I move from talk back to music. My music taste is quite broad so I always find something that I like and if I don't I have a USB ready to go.

[mudski]

Yeah same here. I love to listen to some Chris Isaac, then the next song would be from Pantera, then to some Pink Floyd. But I usually just flick between two radio stations.

[dom14]

Digital radio has that plus more.

I move from talk back to music. My music taste is quite broad so I always find something that I like and if I don't I have a USB ready to go.

Cool, thanx.
Being an amateur muso myself, I'm yet to find out what a digital radio is. :)
I've been just creating play lists for the in car mp3 player & completely forgot about there's such thing called radio. :)

What I wish for is a hybrid unit, a combination of a digital radio & a CB radio. :)

[dom14]

Yeah same here. I love to listen to some Chris Isaac, then the next song would be from Pantera, then to some Pink Floyd. But I usually just flick between two radio stations.

Ah.. mate, you need to start listen to some Jazz and New Age. :)
Once you get the hang of it, you can't have enough of it. :D

[mudski]

Ah.. mate, you need to start listen to some Jazz and New Age. :)
Once you get the hang of it, you can't have enough of it. :D

Yeah I do like Jazz. Can't say I've heard of, or listened to new age.

[Turtle_au]

For some of us new age is anything since the 70's

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[dom14]

Yeah I do like Jazz. Can't say I've heard of, or listened to new age.

It's mostly instrumental music. A fusion of Jazz, flamenco, Indian, classical, rock, other folk type music, etc.
Just as relaxing as soft jazz. It can either put you to sleep or wake you up.

[dom14]

These days I listen to these type of music to go to sleep. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DdL0UhoDVs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU13sdrLQ-M&t=255s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ER2a-RlFs4

I realized recently, the subtle therapeutic action of that kinda music is pretty useful.
The subtle incorporation of that fixed frequency into the music, does appear to be working.
I use it more these days. Some days, I just fall asleep with earphones. :)

[dom14]

For some of us new age is anything since the 70's

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I think that's when it took off. Started around 60's by German rock musicians who went to India, looking for new sounds.
Beatles was also influenced by some of the new age, fusion music.
Main characteristic of new age music these days is usually it is instrumental.

[threedogs]

Thats all I listen too. I love listening the the radio.
threedogs I will run an earth lead from the body of the radio to the battery and see what happens.

hopefully that will improve it,
With over 1000 hand picked songs totalling over 60hrs from various
artists I just put the SD card on shuffle havent heard the same song
twice in over a year. lol

[mudski]

Main characteristic of new age music these days is usually it is instrumental.

So Metallica's And Justice For All album would be classed as instrumental then? Lol. Never get tired of listening to that album.

[dom14]

So Metallica's And Justice For All album would be classed as instrumental then? Lol. Never get tired of listening to that album.

:D
Probably not. They are heavy metal punk rockers, aren't they?
Yeah, their music is pretty cool.
Classifications are in our head at the end of the day.
I remember when I was listening to Simon & Garfunkel, a bloke said they are country musicians.
I think their music is unique. Metallica probably falls into a unique category as well.
I used to listen to Metallica & Red Hot Chili Peppers all the time when I was kid.

[Hodge]

:D
Probably not. They are heavy metal punk rockers, aren't they?


Lol . Call Metallica a punk band to a dedicated fan and you will be without teeth very quickly.


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[dom14]

So Metallica's And Justice For All album would be classed as instrumental then? Lol. Never get tired of listening to that album.

Probably not, 'cos they sing a lot. :)

This is how new age music started to sound like since 1990's. This is the more electric guitar version of new age

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJf2ONDZvQ0

Or this one from 3:38 onwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMqPw2ajO0M

And this one has many Spanish folk(gypsy flamenco), Indian & Jazz in it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWfQSQnldDc

And this is how it got started for this particular composer back in early 1990's. Heavy gypsy flamenco influence there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QvoeddedM0


If you've heard of Paco de lucia & the guitar trio(with John Mcloughlin, Al de Meola), they started this gypsy/jazz fusion stuff back in mid-late seventies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADwfyxpriAM

New age is a genre of music that is hard to classify as a certain sound or instruments, 'cos some of the "sleep/relax music" also fall into new age. :)

This guy is credited for the revival of New Age gypsy flamenco sort of music, back in late 80's & early 90's. He's pretty quiet nowadays. You can hear the latino, bossa nova rhythms in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh1isv5s0uo

[dom14]

Lol . Call Metallica a punk band to a dedicated fan and you will be without teeth very quickly.


You mean dedicated fanatics! :D
Yeah, punk rock is not their main taste(I'm getting confused with Red Hot Chili Peppers :D)
Ok heavy metal rockers then. ;)
I hardly pay attention to categories these days.
Music is music, as long as it suits the occasion. :)

[Robo]

So how is the reception any improvement ?

[dom14]

So how is the reception any improvement ?

Yes, my apologies for side tracking the thread with music stuff.

I wonder howz Mark going with fixing the issue. I still think Radio itself is to blame.

[Hodge]

Alright folks.
I had to rip out the fascia surrounding the stereo this evening to get to some wiring for UHF unit .
While there I quickly detached my Pioneer unit and plugged in my old Polaris deck. Tada! Clear reception with car off and on.
So I plugged in the Pioneer unit back in, reception shithouse. So I thought I'd try something, somebody suggested earlier, to groud the deck physically to the battery negative... It's done sweet f*** all.
My take on this is, maybe it's the unit. On my car. Mark's could be different?

edit: Just remembered that my factory unit was causing the same issue.... So I'm stumped.

[jay see]

How old is yours Eric?
Warranty job...

[mudski]

So how is the reception any improvement ?

Its funny mate. We've had some warmer mornings and the radio is not bad.

[Robo]

It's gotta be some thing on the car causing it, our kenwood is doing the same thing for last 6 mths and its (kenwood) about 2-3 yrs old max.

[threedogs]

Is it possible to attach a 12v amplifier to the antenna.
I have one on my camper trailer works anywhere.
Sheep Yards Flat has very poor reception

[TPC]

Is it possible to attach a 12v amplifier to the antenna.
I have one on my camper trailer works anywhere.
Sheep Yards Flat has very poor reception

If the problem is RF interference coming from something in the car an amplifier will amplify the interference too and it will not improve.

[UncleFrosty]

I've found the two things that cause interference with my factory radio are the aircon kicking in and the el-cheapo LED park/indicator lights I've installed in the roo bar. Doesn't appear to be temp dependent tho'.
I have heard Dr Karl mention something about the cheaper LED household globes doing this to TV/radio reception too...

[mudski]

So how is the reception any improvement ?
Havent driven the car in three days mate. Im currently in the NT. But the last day i drove it the day was warm and the reception was good.

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[mudski]

Is it possible to attach a 12v amplifier to the antenna.
I have one on my camper trailer works anywhere.
Sheep Yards Flat has very poor reception
If you get radio reception in Sheepyards ill bare my ass in Myers.

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[jay see]

If you get radio reception in Sheepyards ill bare my ass in Myers.

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If by some miracle he does and you do, please tell us when. I'll make sure that I'm nowhere near...

[Hodge]

If you get radio reception in Sheepyards ill bare my ass in Myers.

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The gme whip you and me have should pick up Mansfield no dramas. As well as a bunch of am stations.


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[threedogs]

If you get radio reception in Sheepyards ill bare my ass in Myers.

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Yep listened to the Swans V Eagles grand final the first one on ABC 1
10 witness's there as well.
We were camped on the left after the bridge just left of where the road goes up
into the mountains. Bugger all fire wood ,we spied a dead tree in the middle
of the camping area and added up what fines we'd get if chopped down, we
decided to let it stand. lol

[Turtle_au]

Yep listened to the Swans V Eagles grand final the first one on ABC 1
10 witness's there as well.
We were camped on the left after the bridge just left of where the road goes up
into the mountains. Bugger all fire wood ,we spied a dead tree in the middle
of the camping area and added up what fines we'd get if chopped down, we
decided to let it stand. lol
What would the fine be if it caught fire while still standing?

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[threedogs]

Probably not, 'cos they sing a lot. :)

This is how new age music started to sound like since 1990's. This is the more electric guitar version of new age

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJf2ONDZvQ0

Or this one from 3:38 onwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMqPw2ajO0M

And this one has many Spanish folk(gypsy flamenco), Indian & Jazz in it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWfQSQnldDc

And this is how it got started for this particular composer back in early 1990's. Heavy gypsy flamenco influence there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QvoeddedM0


If you've heard of Paco de lucia & the guitar trio(with John Mcloughlin, Al de Meola), they started this gypsy/jazz fusion stuff back in mid-late seventies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADwfyxpriAM

New age is a genre of music that is hard to classify as a certain sound or instruments, 'cos some of the "sleep/relax music" also fall into new age. :)

This guy is credited for the revival of New Age gypsy flamenco sort of music, back in late 80's & early 90's. He's pretty quiet nowadays. You can hear the latino, bossa nova rhythms in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh1isv5s0uo

One of my mates was a leading Flamenco guitarist back it the 70's
his wife danced,,awesome combo

[threedogs]

so its not an earth issue, Eric crossed that off the list.
so its something that gets warmed up a tad to make it work.
Wonder what would happen if you wired it "HOT" as in
straight to the battery, I did that with my last 4x4 so I could listen to music
via the AUX battery, saved turning the ignition on and having a chance\of flattening
the start battery. No big deal turning it on and off

[Robo]

Can't be light bar or hid's as I've removed em to improve air flow into radiator.
Note the little short tube inside the top of the oem auto elect aerial that makes physical contact between the aerial and inner body doesn't seem to be the issue either as it's also been replaced, I did how ever in hind-sight think I should of cleaned the contact area to insure that's not the issue.

A potential cause could be the connection at the junction of the twin diversity aerial lead , could be a bad connection hidden inside this 2 to 1 connection , just a thought.

Have a good time n safe easter peoples.

[Hodge]

Someone at work suggested I disconnect the BCDC charger. His brand new triton's radio was somehow doing the same right after he fitted a Redarc BCDC unit.
So with the Redarc unit electrically islanded, it made no difference to mine.

[mudski]

Someone at work suggested I disconnect the BCDC charger. His brand new triton's radio was somehow doing the same right after he fitted a Redarc BCDC unit.
So with the Redarc unit electrically islanded, it made no difference to mine.
Ive had this issue from day dot. Pre dc dc.

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[Hodge]

Ive had this issue from day dot. Pre dc dc.

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Yah so have I.
But since I never listen to radio , it never ever bothered me until you mentioned it.
And now it's bugging me to find the cause lol.

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[threedogs]

Would running a few extra earths help, say dash to body and body to chassis.
I know tojo run a heap of earths for different sections of the 4x4. Maybe
just maybe the OE wire may not be up to the job, I still run the OE power antenna
and have no probs listening to "smooth FM" ha ha Hot or cold

[Hodge]

I don't think it's ground related tbh.
I mean I ran a fully lugged cable first from the unit to body right at the stereo and then parraleled that right to the battery negative. Made no difference at all.

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[UncleFrosty]

Can you heat up just the back of the radio in-situ (or at least still connected) e.g with heat gun/hair dryer? May isolate the problem to the head unit if it comes good. Won't solve the problem tho'...

[nipagu7]

my 2011 gu started getting bad reception about 9 months ago , slight at first but a lot more noticeable over the last 6 weeks but is fine when warmed up . i usually have the ariel on the lower setting to get in and out of the garrage . if i fully extend it , it gets good reception when cold . i have noticed grease on the arial lately . it has always had a slight amount there but has been a lot more noticeable fore the last 6 months or so . i will give it a wipe today and see if it makes a difference .

[Robo]

check out the aerial-----

try extending it to each preset height etc then
holding it and gently move it slightly around a little bit.
the contact between the individual sections could be no good thus having worn or dirty/insulated contacts between sections.

Noticed this when I tried to straighten ours up, it had bent slightly and was catching on the snorkel.
the wife was sitting in the car and said the reception was improving and dropping out as I was manipulating the shaft.

[mudski]

I dont use the oem antenna. Its even worse with that. I have a GME whip antenna im using.
I still have the issue, tbh i just havent had time to even look at the car. It hasn't been washed since Feb too.

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[mudski]

Still got this annoying issue. I usually just drive around with it off now. Farking ships me! I think the GME whip antenna base earths out on the bull bar. I'm wondering if its just a bad earth issue from the base to the bar, then bar to car. The bar has only been off the car once in five years so I assume there prolly a bit of surface rust going on where the two meet. I might run a wire from the base where its touching the bar to the neg on the battery. Clutching at straws here...

[Sprock]

I was going to say run an earth wire from the bull bar to chassis then onto the body maybe , some trucks have shit radios that interfere with each other & extra earth straps fix it - sometimes .

[mudski]

I was going to say run an earth wire from the bull bar to chassis then onto the body maybe , some trucks have shit radios that interfere with each other & extra earth straps fix it - sometimes .

Yeah gunna try it. One day. Lol.

[Sprock]

Haha I've 1 of those lists - the 1 day list 😉