Radio noise

Tiny
RHONDA25
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 GMC ENVOY
  • 6 CYL
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 88,000 MILES
When the engine is running or in gear I get no radio reception. When the car is off I get great reception.
Friday, December 12th, 2008 AT 11:45 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
This is due to your engine putting off a large amount of what is called RF interference.

It is almost always from the ignition system. Basically, the coil or spark plugs produce what is called dwell. This is basically just a large electrical field. If it were visible, it would be about the size of a half dollar around the spark plugs and other electrical components that have higher voltage and current flow.

However, when the wear out this gets larger and can actually interfere with other components like the radio or the crank signal.

What I would do is replace the plugs if you have not done them yet and then move onto the coil. Finally, the alternator.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-tune-up-a-car-engine

I attached the info below with the plugs and coils. You have what is called coil on plugs so I would not replace all of these.

I would suggest replacing one and then swapping it down the line until you find the one that is causing these issues. However, I suspect you will find the plugs are the root cause with this.

Please let us know what you find, and we can go from there. Thanks
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Tuesday, October 19th, 2021 AT 3:30 PM

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