Really poor radio reception

[Atrus]

Any ideas what can be causing poor radio reception? Antenna is stock and looks to be in good shape. Previous owner replaced the original HU with a din-and-a-half pioneer CD unit. Not sure if interior speakers are upgraded, but I have a Memphis audio 12" in there with a Memphis Belle amp (so I assume all speakers have been upgraded due to the amp).

Just about every station has some static. It's not always noticeable when the volume is down, but as soon as you crank it, it sounds terrible. I actually thought the speakers were blown until I put in a CD and heard how great it sounds.

[QuickTop]

Any ideas what can be causing poor radio reception? Antenna is stock and looks to be in good shape. Previous owner replaced the original HU with a din-and-a-half pioneer CD unit. Not sure if interior speakers are upgraded, but I have a Memphis audio 12" in there with a Memphis Belle amp (so I assume all speakers have been upgraded due to the amp).

Just about every station has some static. It's not always noticeable when the volume is down, but as soon as you crank it, it sounds terrible. I actually thought the speakers were blown until I put in a CD and heard how great it sounds.

Ive got the same problem, replaced my antenna same problem.

[hoogiesngrinderz]

I'd bet that your antenna is not properly grounded.

[QuickTop]

Near the back where the actual antenna is? or where the antenna plugs into the back of the radio?

[hoogiesngrinderz]

The base of the antenna itself should be grounded, whether it's to the quarter panel at the base or a ground wire on the inside. I always make sure I have a good ground strap on the head unit as well.

[QuickTop]

i dont even have a ground strap i tried looking for it thinking maybe it fell down under the dash, but no luck..

[hoogiesngrinderz]

The ground strap on the head unit is just for added comfort. I hate trying to track down ground loop noises and this way usually helps me from having to take a dash apart after an install.

A properly grounded antenna should resolve the static issue though. If not, the antenna wire heading back either has a short or a break.

[Atrus]

Cool, thanks for the tip. Easy enough to run an extra ground wire on the antenna and see if it helps.

[2002Z4CSS]

If the aftermarket radio wiring is too close to the antenna cable you could be picking up a bunch of noise.

[MikeM]

Cool, thanks for the tip. Easy enough to run an extra ground wire on the antenna and see if it helps.

When you ground the antenna, make sure you use a braided ground strap (not just a wire.)

If the ground strap doesn't fix it, then the outer braid of the coax may be broken. You can tell by disconnecting the coax from the antenna, then using a meter to check resistance between the outer metal part of the connector (NOT the center signal pin) and a nearby body ground point. If you get resistance higher than an ohm or two, you are going to hear static.

Also, many aftermarket radios' FM tuners are not as good as OEM ones (usually only a problem with the less expensive head units.) If it's a problem that developed over time though, then it's probably not the tuner.

[Atrus]

Thanks Mike - I'll check that all out. I actually don't know whether it's happened over time or not. I picked the car up June 20th and it was already really poor in the reception department. So, unfortunately, no history to know when it started.

[2002Z4CSS]

Take a known good antenna and plug it in to the radio and see if the problem goes away.