[A4] Radio Noise

[Rocky Mullin]

	i've had the same damned thing since i bought it new in 2000.
had it looked after time and again under warranty, a new radio, was
put in, i'm told it's allll OK, can't find a problem.  blah, nothing.
it's especially bad when i step on the brake, and lessened when
i turn off the info-display in the instrument cluster.  awful going
under overpasses and stuff.  i have an avant by the way, 1.8t.

	i saw a picture in my first audi owner magazine spam that they
sent me that showed one of their cars in some chamber full of antennae
of incredible variety.  the article waxed teutonic about how swell they
were at testing and steeling these cars against interference.  i guess
the never tested to see if their own god damned brake lights would fuzz
up the radio.  FM radio, CD, tape and GPS nav system all work flawlessly
through the same audio system.  if i never listened to AM, i'd never
know.  i like where you're going with the antenna theory.  i had no idea
they put it in the glass.  i've not taken note of how the defroster
adds into the mix.

	the interference i hear sounds like a pulsed, ringing noise,
like something off of short wave, or a negativland album.  i bet you
can find posts from me about it in archives somewhere.  i grew tired
of allowing my car to be picked apart by their ignorant goons (i have
since changed to a different, more distant and more competent dealership
instead of the one SIX BLOCKS from my urban home, grrrr) rummaging
around the dashboard replacing stuff as if it was some paint-by-numbers.
no intuition, no grace, no processing, no creativity.  certainly none
of that promised german perfection.

	next time i'm leasing.  and it might be a BMW.  of everything on
the long AND short list of car choices for me this year, the audi model
(allroad) that meets my must-haves list for specs is the most expensive.
the X3 is cheaper and can come with lots of geegaws that the audi doesn't
have.  and /fifth gear/ loved it.  C&D panned it, but i can't figure
out why.  subrau's nicest feels like an A4 in some ways.

	it's too bad.  i love driving the A4.  so sporty, so damned
tight.  like a GTI you can't spin out.  nowadays though, specs i need
in a car include ground clearance and towing capacity.

	sorry to rant.  it's interesting to finally hear of someone with
the same radio problem, at long last!  keep me in the loop.

At 11:52 AM -0500 1/11/05, Mitchell Segal wrote:
>I have static or noise coming in on my factory radio (2001 A4), on the AM
>band only.  The noise comes and goes, but it's worse usually at night (when
>the AM stations are weaker).  It picks up a lot more when the rear defrost
>is turned on.  On top of the background noise, you can sometimes hear clicks
>and pops as you step on the brakes, turn signals flashing, etc.  The noise
>is constant, not engine-speed related, so it's not something like an
>alternator causing this noise.
>
>I think due to the poor design of the antennae (lines on the back window)
>that the AM signals being received are very weak to start with.  That's why
>Audi has an antennae booster located in the C-pillar, to boost the signal
>before sending it to the radio.  At first I thought this booster was to
>blame, but they've changed both the booster, and the radio (for another
>problem), with no change.
>
>I'm pretty sure this is electrical interferrence from the car itself.  If
>you turn off the car completely, and just turn on the radio, there's no
>noise.  As soon as you turn the key to ON (without even starting the car),
>the noise returns.  And if you turn on some items (like rear defroster), it
>gets worse. 
>
>I'm thinking that it's a Grounding issue, that either the Antennae or the
>booster has a loose ground, or that they need a separate ground from other
>components in the area.  But I'm having a tough time convincing the
>dealership that's the problem.  I had suggested that they put some little
>filters on the radio and booster power leads, but they say it won't make a
>difference.  They consulted the Audi techs, and the techs said to change the
>booster, which didn't help.
>
>I'm going in for my next scheduled service tomorrow, and I want them to fix
>this noise before my warrantee is up in 2 months. 
>
>Has anyone else experienced any problems like this, and found some way to
>correct it?  What was your solution?
>
>Thanks for your help.
>
>Mitchell Segal
>
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>A4 at audifans.com
>http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/a4


-- 
  Rocky Mullin 

  "Evil kills those who perpetrate it, and the pastures of inequity
   are harmful"  - Osama Bin Laden

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