2001 Mercedes C240 FM Static

2001 ALL OTHER MAKES ALL OTHER MODELS

RJK

MEMBER
1 POST

This car has the factory Mercedes AM/FM Cassette stereo with a seperate 6 CD changer in the glove box. It always sounded great until this past winter. The FM has some slight static on every station. Hardly noticeable, but enough to know there's a problem. I thought it was a blown speaker at first, but the CD's still sound great. When I turn on the rear defroster, the static is so bad you can't hear the radio. Any suggestions?

May 15, 2006 at 1:32 PM

GFIMOTORCARS

✓Experienced Mechanic
673 POSTS

You radio antenna assembly runs through your rear glass and may be why it gets worse with the defrost on. If you have recently had dark tint installed this could casue static in the radio because of the metal content in the tint. If you have not added tint then you are probably dealing with a failed fm antenna unit.

Feb 28, 2009 at 2:53 PM

Suggested Repair

Inspect the rear-glass FM antenna, which can cause static that worsens when the rear defroster is on. If dark tint was recently installed, its metal content may be the cause; otherwise, the FM antenna unit has likely failed.

Conversation Summary

A 2001 Mercedes C240 with the factory AM/FM cassette and glove-box CD changer developed slight FM static on every station while CDs still sounded fine. The static becomes severe when the rear defroster is turned on. The expert explained that the radio antenna runs through the rear glass, so defroster operation can worsen reception. Recently installed dark tint with metal content can also cause static; without new tint, a failed FM antenna unit is the likely cause.

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2001 Mercedes C240 FM Static

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