BluNosr2

A friend has an 05 he purchased recently. Whenever you are listening to an FM radio station, if you turn the rear defrost on there is a lot of static and in fact it pretty much toasts reception on all but the very strongest stations, which is a challenge since he lives out in the boonies.

Any ideas what could be causing this and how to try to fix it?

99accordguy

Recently purchased 05 RL as well with the same problem. Not only FM but XM and AM as well. Any solutions (other than going to hte "steeler")

DiabloSVRacer

I am having same issue! im guessing both the cars that have this problem have tint on the rear window?? From what i was told, we have cheap aftermarket tint on the rear windshed which has metal in it and cause static. i plan on upgrading to the new non-metal tint or some special tint that doesn't do this. i have no clue what kind of tint this is called, maybe someone can you tell, but just ask your local tint shop.

if you guys don't have tint, then i am clueless what the problem is.

keep me updated! don't want to replaced the tint if that isn't the issue, but my source is pretty reliable and have no reason to lie

oo7spy

My tint shop had three options available. The cheapest had no metal in it and was said to cause no loss of signal. The middle option, and one I chose bc of percentages available, is metallized. This means that there is metal in the film to help reflect light and keep heat out. This was said to cause AM distortion, but nothing else. The most expensive option was ceramic film. Same idea as metallized, but the lack of metal is supposed to help the reception issue. Now, I just ran out to my '07 and turned on FM. Good clear signal. Turned on the defroster, and heard no loss/change in the signal. Once again, this is with metallized tint which should be the worst. Thus, my diagnosis would have to be something up with the '05 design which didn't have time to work out all the bugs of a new system. I would do more studying before buying another tint job.

How long does it take to degrade the signal?

tlmaster1

go with 3M Color Stable Tint!!! i am very happy with it.

slainte_0317

I have had this problem before, but not all of the time. When it occurred, turned off the defrost, static gone, turn it back on, static returns. It has probably happened twice. No tint here.

tnobori1

Since the antennae and defroster are both in the rear windshield, I'm guessing it is simple interference caused by heat or electricity. I found a TSB for the same issues on some late model Ford products.

http://way2evil.com/tsb/tsb09-19-02.pdf

BluNosr2

Yeah no tint on my friend's 05. Go figure though that I do have tint on my 06, and no FM static....

Toppatop

I had to wake this thread up because no one ever came up with a solution... i have an 08 RL and I have the same anoying static problem....any ideas?

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Which ever one of you has a warranty or deep pockets needs to go to the dealer and take notes

oo7spy

Don't listen to the radio when it's cold?

I wonder if this is a non-tech issue.

Maintenanceman

Just a thought...
I hope that it isnt too long story.
Our Voyager had issues with radio, at the same time when i was changing original one to a Pioneer flip out DVD player, i noticed that grounding of the radio and the panel where is heater etc switches was burned pretty badly, connectors had burned pins ans so. Ok, i replaced those grounding pins and made two extra grounding wires for radio and that switch panel.
After that radio was fine and for example random actions of rear window wiper was cured.
Now to the RL issue, when i was changing the bulb for my -07 Legend glovebox i noticed that there was no bulb at all, only that white plastic where bulb was supposed to be, no wires, no bulb. I was confused, where the h*ll it can be and why it isnt there. After little wondering i decided to take away the complete box and look for the wires, found it behind the box, bulb was in its place in the holder and working, nice. It seems that some one has been there and left that bulb there, hanging loose. Then i noticed it, there was grounding wire added, from the metal frame and it went to the back of the radio unit, i didnt see the connection point for sure but maybe the radio unit has been grounded afterwards, cant think any other reason for the extra grounding wire.

oo7spy

That is not a bad point. The grounding scheme is different for tech and non-tech and possibly MYs. Maybe there is a possible interference culminating from nearby supplies/grounds.

Maintenanceman

If the radio it self is not grounded properly, then it might "take" the grounding through antenna cable, often the outside of the cable is grounded.

Toppatop

So I gues it's a grounding problem.... Can anyone who tries this fix please post the result..

Maintenanceman

At least the extra grounding is easy to make.

supraru

Just picked up my car last week. Well today going into work I had this same issue. I have no tint yet. Just as described radio is fine, once I turn on the rear defroster crazy static. Hit it off and it's gone. Being a tech my simple answer is don't use it. But some day I'd like to. I'm going to be getting an ipod interface within the next few weeks so I'll look around once I have to pull stuff out.

db22

Don't use the defroster or FM?
Judging by this thread it appears that some people still listen to FM, I have used it for less than 15 minutes total in the last 8 years. Last time I checked I could not find a station that spoke english that was not playing a commercial.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

FM interference is going to happen, just like bird poop after a detail.

If you want to get all "techy" just work in a signal booster (I drew a schematic) or figure out how to make the rear defroster double as an antenna.




Seriously, you will find other things to irritate you in a few weeks and this wont matter.

supraru

Thanks for stealing my line. Really technology has nothing to do with what people listen to. I'm sure the car brand new did not do this otherwise there would be a bulliten about it with a fix. Again I stated I just turned it off because I couldn't understand what was being said. The fact that there are other means of listening doesn't make it ok that it doesn't work. Up until today I was listening purely to xm. This morning I threw on a local radio show I listen to.

supraru

Again there is no reason to "just deal with it". Clearly there is some sort of issue. Again I am a mechanic at a Subaru dealer, and if this was the same issue on our cars everyone wouldn't just deal with it. This is a higher class of car. It's really embarrassing for them if its something normal. Again I'll be checking everything at some point.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

technically speaking the issues is more than likely a power wire crossing or to close to a signal wire.

which would be a flaw in the roof mount antenna design, IMO.

Pull the headliner and re-route or "shield" the wires to see if this solves it.

Just curious, if you are a subie tech why by an Acura?

supraru

Yeah I'll see what I can find out.

Just because I work at Subaru doesn't mean I have to drive a Subaru. Lol. I have my rsti for almost 12 years. I sold it above what people thought I'd get for it and I always loved how the tl's looked. For me I was going from pretty much a race car to an easy way more luxurious car. While Subaru's quality is leaps and bounds above what it used to be its still no where near the 04' tl I just bought. Hope that's a good enough explanation for ya!

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Its not an interrogation.
I realize you don't have to drive what you service, but I also know that Subie drivers are a die hard group.

I just thought you might have some details or experiences that would make for a cool story.

supraru

Depends on what kind of stories you wanna hear. Nothing really that would blow your socks off. Generally just like every company there are plenty of people that have no clue what they are talking about. The biggest wastes of time are the people who refuse to read thier manual to figure out how to set things or use them. Lol

I still love turbo imprezas. I sure as hell miss it when it snowed the other day and when I come across people who think thier cars are fast. Haha. I've just turned over a new leaf and am living a "normal" life now.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Right on, I came from the "tuner" phase myself when I bought this car so I hear what you are saying.

But back on topic, IMO the noise is like what you hear when you get heavy gauge power wire next to an RCA cable which makes me think shielding the FM signal/antenna wire could be the solution.

chesnutlane

It is possible that the issue is in the right side "c" pillar. In here is the am/fm antenna amplifer which has a grey connector with 3 pins. Also is the fm main signal antenna and which others have mentioned the defogger connector and a grounding block.