Horrible AM reception

[discodan]

I live across the street from a hospital so i thought it might be the reason, but i noticed the reception is crap everywhere now. Should i just chalk it up to my Magnecor plug wires? Someone said to me that it could be because i still have the original OEM battery in my car (6 years old now)? Maybe also could be a warning of impending catastrophe like alternator needing replacement? Any help is appreciated before i just take it to MINI of Morristown to diagnose the issue. Thanks.

[Rich.Wolfson]

Originally Posted by discodan

...i noticed the reception is crap everywhere now. Should i just chalk it up to my Magnecor plug wires? Someone said to me that it could be because i still have the original OEM battery in my car (6 years old now)? Maybe also could be a warning of impending catastrophe like alternator needing replacement? Any help is appreciated....

I live in Caldwell and also have lousy AM reception. I chalked it up to a shorty antenna but when I put the OEM back to do some testing I found no difference. But what I did find was that the power splitter I was using was putting out a LOT of RF that interfered with AM. And just not plugging anything in to it didn't do anything I had to unplug the splitter itself. I then bought a better splitter and put chokes on both ends and it is MUCH better. Not great but now usable. I was surprised as it is DC but removing it really made a difference. So much so I am soon going after the Garmin adapter I buried in the dash when I hard wired the Nuvi in. I don't think the Valentine adapter is dirty but that will be next for me too.

So, do you have a power splitter in your lighter socket? Or any adapters for the phone or light plugged into the lighter socket?

Rich

PS-Getting a new battery is a good idea but not the cause of this problem. And I doubt it is the wires either.

[discodan]

nope, no splitters being used. just the occasional cell phone or Nuvi charger.