Guys, on my dad's 97 Accord SE whenever he turns on the rear defroster the radio reception gets shot. Turn off the defroster and the radio goes back to normal... Its not that the radio goes completely offline with the defroster but he can only tune the "strong-signal" stations since the weaker stations come in with a lot of static or not at all... This was not always like this so I figure something has gone bad recently. Has anybody else had this problem ?? How did you fix it ?? Thanks !!!

 

Coupe right? the antenna runs through the back windshield along the defroster

 

that does not happen in my car and I have a 94 coupe with the antenna in the glass. sounds like a grounding issue to me....

 

Its not a coupe, its a 4-door, but the antenna DOES run in the rear glass right along the defroster lines... A grounding issue would make a lot of sense to me, but where do I check for this ??

 

either that or the lines are touching somewhere

 

I would unplug both the antenna and the rear defroster and with an ohm meter check to see of there is a short between the two.

it may be a problem elsewhere as well as you are drawing considerably more current with the rear defrost on

 

Ok ... so basically, I should pull the radio out and check the wires in the back to see if they are tangled somehow with the defrost ... second, while I am there, use a multi-tester to check for shorts in the antenna/defrost cable ... I am doing this this weekend .... anything else I should check ??

PS: I did notice that the cigarette lighter receptacle is loose. The part will not come out of the dash but it moves freely... Considering that the lighter plug is right next to the radio and under the defrost button, could this have something to do with my problem ?? I guess I'll find out when I take the thing out.

 

Here is something to try whil you have it out. Run a wire from a known good ground to the outer portion of the antenna. Also make sure that the stereo is grounded correctly, and not grounding through the antenna.

 

I don't think it would be anything behind the radio other than the antenna plug itself. Make sure it's pushed all the way in to start. Could the rear defrost wires in the glass or on the way to the back possibly cross the antenna wire and is shorting the signal out when the circuit is completed (rear defrost turned on). It could also be the wires may be too close together. Has it always done this? The antenna wire is shielded but only so much. The high current that goes through the defrost wire may be strong enough to overpower the weak radio signal with the magnetic field around it. Have you taken anything apart in the back by the backseat or rear deck? Check to make sure these wires aren't too close (next to each other). Check the antenna wire to make sure the insulation/shielding isn't cracked or broken. Just some possibilities...

 

no in this case you would place one lead of the multimeter on the antenna lead and one on the defrost lead and if they are shorted together you will know it

 

I hear you YeuEmMaiMai, and that's what I meant ... Basically, I am looking for continuity between two wires where there should be none. Thanks

 

personally I think you got a bad ground, so once you find it and fix it the problem will go away...

 

It's a common issue. It happens to me myself. But it only happened when I installed my second aftermarket radio. I'm lazy and havent' had time to diagnose the problem and find the root but will soon. So I just wanted to let everyone know that it's with more than one car. Btw, I have a 1996 Sedan.

 

i bet thats it too!!