radio interference from in-car electrics

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Thu 21 Dec 2006 11:25
radio interference from in-car electrics - DuncanSuperb
I've been meaning to ask for some ideas on this one for some time and now the festive run-down has set in at work, seems like a good opportunity...

OK, Ford Focus LX (saloon- if relevant), 2001 tdi. [BTW, new to me this Autumn and had reservations about the ugly boot and the general boringness of it but actually found it to be superb in all respects (apart from below), I'm averaging nearly 470 miles a to tank of juice and the boot is actually really useful - much more space than the hatch I had before]

Anyway, here's the issue; the radio seems to get bad interference whenever I use the wipers or the rear window demister. I don't remember this happening on my old Focus hatchback and it doesn't happen on our current Focus estate.

The radio is a standard rds 5000. and I only really listen to beeb 2 or 4 (depending on time of day) on FM.

Any suggestions on reducing the interference?
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Thu 21 Dec 2006 14:05
radio interference from in-car electrics - jc2
Remove the aerial mast and clean the internal and external threads.Also make sure all connections on the back of the radio are good-could be a bad earth(earthing thro' fixings rather than earth cable.)
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Thu 21 Dec 2006 14:24
radio interference from in-car electrics - Galaxy
Buy some tools to remove the radio. Pull it out from the dash, without completely removing it, and check that the aerial lead plug is fully pushed in.

I had this radio interference problem with my Mondeo. When I checked the aerial lead it had almost completely fallen out of the rear of the radio/CD.
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Fri 22 Dec 2006 10:27
radio interference from in-car electrics - DuncanSuperb
Thanks for the replies so far. I will try the suggestions and report back!

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Tue 27 Feb 2007 17:25
radio interference from in-car electrics - jc2
And????????????????????????/
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Tue 27 Feb 2007 18:56
radio interference from in-car electrics - Rattle
Could it not be a faulty ignition supresser?

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Tue 27 Feb 2007 19:16
radio interference from in-car electrics - DP
Radio interference when operating the washer pump is a known issue with the Focus and there is apparently no fix. My old one did it, as did all the others on the fleet.

Cheers
DP
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