I don't know if anyone can help me on this or not. My dad(he's 62 years old) likes to listen to AM in his 2002 Civic EX. He's had a problem ever since he's had the car where he'll get a sound like a leaf blower on some local AM stations. When he shuts off the car, the noise goes away. So obviously the noise is engine related. This problem is very intermitant, as in the radio works fine sometimes and makes this noise other times. Honda has done everything short of replacing the radio and rear window(integrated antenna). Has anyone heard of this problem or know if this is a known issue?

 

AM is highly susceptible to noise. A common remedy would be to check the ignition system (rotor/cap) make sure they are in good condition. They should be replaced as part of your car maintenance anyway. Also magnecor makes a set of spark plug wires that are supposed to supress the RF interference. here is an excerpt from their website: www.magnecor.com

Magnecor CN Series wires are special application ignition wires used on vehicles that need maximum RFI suppression for problem Ham radios, telephone and TV equipment, 2-way radios, off-shore communication equipment, and high powered sound equipment etc. to eliminate the spark energy loss associated with all other ignition wires and suppressors used to overcome severe RFI interference. Magnecor's CN Series wires are available as ELECTROSPORTS 70 (7mm), KV85 CN25 (8.5mm) and R-100 CN25 (10mm).

 

I have the same problem with my 96 Accord EX. The AM radio is very staticy and there is a "leaf blower" type of noise. Never brought the car in - figured it was the crappy stock radio causing the problem or the fact that the car doesn't have a real antenna - just the one in the rear window.

Has anyone else had this problem and did the new spark plug wires fix it?

Thank you

 

I just thought of something. The my dad's civic doesn't have a cap and rotor or plug wires. It has the coils at the top of the plugs and wires that run from the top of the rocker cover down to the plugs. I would think that would eliminate that problem.

 

Well, audio manufacturers save some money on making radios these days by putting no money in the AM tuner because the know 85% of the drivers will never use AM. The drawback is the people that do listen to AM are old and like to complain. All and all there isn't much of anything you can do for him. I have heard of an old half assed fix of wrapping the radio with aluminum foil to reduce the ground loop noise, but I have never tried it.