I recently bought my old man a TH Magna I got for a steal and got back on the road pretty cheap. All is well but he is complaining that he cant listen to AM radio because of unbearable hiss through the speakers.

I drove the thing around but never tuned into any AM station (all my sterios are welded to JJJ) and I had no problems, infact I was quite impressed with the factory sterio.

Would a new aerial fix the problem? Car is all stock with stock double din tape/cd player.

Try removing the radio unit and unplug the antenna cable, and hold it away from the unit. If the noise disappears then you know the problem lies between the antenna and the connector. Then you can try plugging it back in, and trying to unplug the cable from the antenna (accessible from the boot, just pull the sidewall carpet back) if the sound disappears, then there is a problem with the antenna. Easy fix, just pop down to a wrecker and grab another one. Alternatively if you're confident wiring it in, you could put an electric one in (which I'm going to do)

FM is the way of the future.

FM is the way of the future.

No DAB is however some things are only broadcast on AM! Like the footy, go the saints. On related news that hiss would really annoy me, hope you sort it out!

Update on this. Put a new antenna in, still shithouse. Its fine in the city but he is out in the sticks and it sucks pretty badly.

Perhaps its just crap reception. Am radio isn't known for its high sound quality. You could install another big fat antenna. That would rule out reception issues.

Try putting the parkers/lights on and see if the hiss goes away.

Try putting the parkers/lights on and see if the hiss goes away.

I am interested to know what that would achieve. How are the headlights connected to the radio?

God knows, but it works with mine. :tired:

Parkers On = Getting rid of transient voltage

It sounds like its losing reception.. Not much you can do unless you can get an amplified antenna, even then it may not be worthwhile - They're very hit and miss.

SuFz :ninja:

AM is susceptible to Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). This can come from corona discharge on power lines, or any arcing - for example a nearby welder or if the brushes in the alternator are in poor shape. I seem to recall a lot of old cars having a capacitor (aka condenser) somewhere to try and suppress this, but if the source is external (e.g. power line) or the result of low signal strength there's not much you can do.

Turning lights on would have a suppressing effect as the RFI energy from the alternator (if that's the source) can dissipate through their resistance.

I actually had the opposite problem - listening to FM there was a hiss when the lights were turned ON, but no hiss with the lights off. The head unit was replaced under warranty which fixed it...

Have you checked the aeriel connection into the rear of the radio? Maybe the aerial has been pulled out - if so, AM would work in the city area, but in the bush,.... nothing.

AM is susceptible to Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). This can come from corona discharge on power lines, or any arcing - for example a nearby welder or if the brushes in the alternator are in poor shape. I seem to recall a lot of old cars having a capacitor (aka condenser) somewhere to try and suppress this, but if the source is external (e.g. power line) or the result of low signal strength there's not much you can do.

Turning lights on would have a suppressing effect as the RFI energy from the alternator (if that's the source) can dissipate through their resistance.

I actually had the opposite problem - listening to FM there was a hiss when the lights were turned ON, but no hiss with the lights off. The head unit was replaced under warranty which fixed it...

That's awesome. Never crossed my mind.