Has anyone had the problem with their radio when the rear defroster is on? I just noticed it the other day, when I have my rear defroster on all the radio stations are all static.

 

Mine doesn't have that problem. Does this happen with every band?

 

Haven't noticed. I will turn the defroster on while driving home today to check though. I have noticed that the radio reception (with all stations) is much worse than my last 4 cars which have all been Pontiacs. I notice myself inching up at stop lights a lot to find a better spot for good reception. I never used to have to do this, and have lived in the same area my whole life.

 

The defroster had no impact on the radio reception for me. I would take it in for service.

 

i notice my radio reception just sucks in general... doesnt matter if i got the defroster on or off.....

its the biggest radio station in houston, and i live about 15 miles from where they broadcast... my ooooold radio walkman (about 10+ years old) gets perfect reception, but the TL doesnt.... odd.

 

Is your rear window tinted?

I have heard how the metallic tint can affect the in-window antenna. They say to use ceramic tint to resolve problem

 

Mine is fine with and without rear defroster. I have F1 ceramic 35% tint, but the antenna is on the inside of the glass, which would be outside of any metalic tint.... shouldn't affect it.

 

Not so. If you have metalic tint on the rear window the AM WILL be affected.

 

Is this due to interference of the tint, or is the AM antenna somewhere inside of the car (thus inside of the tint)?

 

AM antenna is within the rear glass within the array of rear defrost eliments. Take the car to the dealer. Something is wrong in the rear glass or the AM FM transformer thats within the C pillar.

 

Factory should have caught it. Ask your dealer to make sure they report your problem to the market quality boys to verify that the car passed the AM FM radio quality test. That way the manufacturer can implement a countermeasure if need so none of us guys who are looking at buying another acura end up with the same problem.

 

I took my car in to get it checked (the signal). They said they "cleaned" something, and put a signal strength test to it. and it tested fine. Also they put it next to another TL, and it "sounded" the same... i think its just a bunch of BS. but i got a free car wash!!

 

I have been in communication for 36 years. It is Total BS that the Acura dealer used a meter to check anything. They can barely fix the dam cars. They would have had to use a signal to noise meter and do a 20db sinad check to determine how well you car raido is receiving. I sure wish that had of been me, they told the BS to. Best thing for you do do is park your car next to another TL and do a comparison. Use the am band. That is how I found out my tint was causing my am reception problem. My dealer no longer BS's me after a couple of tries.

 

I am having the same problem in my 2007 TL. No tint, most popular FM station in town. Some wires crossed somewhere?

 

Same problem here! Also, I'm not very impressed so far with the sound quality of the audio system, I thought it would have been better.

 

You all are holding it wrong. that or you have to get a rubber case to get better reception!!!

 

Nice!!!!

 

i have a 2010 tl i had no radio reception problems until i got my windows tinted and other mods. now the radio reception is terrible so i just listen to my ipod. if anyone has got to the bottom of this or knows how to fix this please let me know, its so annoying.

 

I have the same problem, have not taken it to the dealer yet though.
it has nothing to do with the window tinting, at least not in my case. Radio reception is great normally, and I get the interference when the defrost button is on. if the window tinting was a problem, then the interference would occur all the time.

 

If the issue started when the tint was applied then it is related to the tint. Just a guess, but perhaps it was installed in such a way that, when the defroster is on it produces a charge on the window with close enough proximity or even in contact with the antenna tracing and causes interference. Or maybe the heat from the defroster also heats the tint material which somehow changes the receptive quality of the antenna tracing. It's tough to say exactly what the issue is, but it does sound somehow related to the tinting.

 

I had poor radio reception in my RSX and it still sucks in my TL. You'd think they would have figured it out by now.

 

nope

 

I had the dealer look at it and they told me the grid was ruined because the previous owner had tint and didn't remove it. I think it's complete BS. Probably a bad design on Acura's part.