Car Audio question....

[codeyf]

I've got a Alpine deck in my '94 Jimmy. Works great with the exception of one thing. The AM sounds like crap. Reception is there, but there is interference that makes it nearly inaudible. Sounds like engine noise.

I remember hearing something in the past in regards to having "resistor" spark would fix it, as the noise coincides with revving the engine. But I don't remember much in detail about this.

Is it as simple as swapping out my spark plugs?

 

[Colt45]

LC filter on the line in to the deck, i'd figure.

 

[codeyf]

LC filter? What is it and is it expensive? I just want to be able to listen to the Mariner's games on the way home! 😀

 

[hemiram]

If you find an old AM radio from a mid 60's GM car (most common, easy to find, they all were ok back then), you would be shocked as how GOOD AM can sound! About the time that integrated circuits had progressed to the point that they started putting an entire tuner/receiver "on a chip", the AM started getting bad in just about everything. I had a higher end Japan model Panasonic stereo receiver that I bought for a really cheap price, and it had great AM, and the most awesome FM reception I have ever heard. Ten years later, I bought a new receiver, a really nice Yamaha, and the AM blew. It was at least average compared to anything else I listened to, but it was pretty sad.

My friend is a baseball nut, and he has a radio from a 65 Cadillac, and runs it into a 25 watt per channel amp and then into 4 6x9 Infinity car speakers in a box out in his enclosed porch. It's very nice on FM, but AM is amazing.

I have a 50 year old shortwave radio that sounds better than any surround sound receiver I've ever heard in AM, I use an old speaker I found at a garage sale for it. When someone is talking, it actually sounds like a person is in the room. My 500+ buck Sony sounds like crap.

 

[loic2003]

PLay a CD.

Dirty dizzy connections and old HT leads can cause electrical interference, you want to keep all major electrical junk as far from the headunit as poss...

 

[Johnnie]

Radio static is usually the result of a poor ground connection on the antenna or the wire that hooks it to the radio. In addition, faulty spark plug wires or a faulty alternator can cause radio noise.

 

That alpine sounds like a real piece of junk..... Im suprised no one has stolen it.... 😉

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: Johnnie
Radio static is usually the result of a poor ground connection on the antenna or the wire that hooks it to the radio. In addition, faulty spark plug wires or a faulty alternator can cause radio noise.

bingo. Trying to track down engine noise is worse than hunting for a trojan virus that is buried in an unknown file.

Start by regrounding your radio. Sometimes the factory ground just doesn't cut it. Then if you really want to fix it you can run a new wire from your antenna to your radio. Its not as hard as it sounds, just a PITA.

 

[codeyf]

Cool, thanks for all the info!

 

[richardycc]

most aftermarket deck has sh*tty AM reception, if you want great AM, put the stock unit back in.

 

[hemiram]

Even the stock ones aren't worth a damn anymore. They all sound the same. The last decent AM radio I can remember getting in a car was the AM Stereo (yes indeed) one in my 86 Camaro. I hadit about a year before I knew it had it. There's only one station that had it locally, and I was tuning around while waiting to pick up my GF from work and there was a baseball game on it. For about 3 seconds it was mono, then suddenly it went stereo, and I got the manual out and there it was AM stereo. Still, it didn't sound as good as an old 60's mono radio.