Radio noise at idle

[Mthead]

I have a '94 Sport with a midline AM/FM Cassette. I get good reception on all of my favorite stations EXCEPT when I'm sitting still. It doesn't matter if the engine is running or not, EVERY channel sounds like a case of horrible reception or blown speakers - but when I start moving again, everything is perfect. Is this some kind of filter issue? Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I see that you are new here. If you would get bad reception all of the time, I would say that it's the antenna. Maybe there is an intermittent bad antenna connection somewhere. A filter is basically a capacitor, with a couple of inductors designed to filter out a certain frequency. If the engine is off, there shouldn't be any source of interference from the ignition system. Is this on both AM, and FM? AM is more susceptible to noise.

 

[Mthead]

Thanks for the reply BB. I almost never listen to AM, so that's not a factor. It just boggles my mind that running or not, if I'm sitting still it sounds like crap. Running & moving along it sounds great! Maybe it's haunted!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Did you ever try to unplug the wiring harness going to the radio, and the antenna connection, and then plug it back in? Maybe there is some sort of corrosion on one of the power contacts. When you start to move, the voltage will go up slightly going into the radio. It's not a significant increase, but if you have a bad connection on the contacts, it might be the cause.

 

[BrooklynBay]

One idea I had was to spray some electrical contact cleaner into the harness of the radio with the car off of course, and into the connection of the radio. That might help too.

 

[Mthead]

Good suggestions, considering that the deciding factor seems to be motion. Thanks! I'll try both.

 

[soundaroundyou]

You should also make sure your deck is grounded to shiny metal and the vehicles grounds are solid.