I installed a Pioneer deck the other day and I now I have static when the car is running. It was all installed correctly, the factory amps work fine and the antenna is connected. So is it a gound problem? Is this common?

 

no its not common, what kind of antenna adapter did you use (manufacturer and model number if you know it) and did you try hooking it up to each different antenna? also what harness did you use to install the radio?

 

I used the Metra harnedd with the amp adapter. I'll try to get the model on the other stuff.

 

90% of the static in a stereo system is related to loose connections. Before you waste your money on filters and so on, make sure all the connections (including ground) are as tight as they can be. Nothing beats a soldering gun.

 

I agree with leadfoot, make sure all your connections are good and tight as well as insulated. Wrapping the connections with electrical tape will help.

 

Did all that. I also didn't need an adapter for the antena. When I pulled off the factory adapter there was a standard size end under it. I'm going to go through all the wires again and try to find the problem,

 

well if your problem is static on just the radio (FM) then your problem is most likely not a connection issue with anything other than the antenna, now as far as the standard size antenna under the factory one I am not sure what you mean (maybe a picture will help), being European vehicles these trucks have a European antenna connector, it should also have 2 separate diversity antennas to provide better signal (when one loses signal the radio switches to the other one), now I have never hooked up the sub antenna only the main so I don't know if that would cause a problem, the reason I was asking about the antenna adapter is because they do make amplified antenna adapters that will fit in these trucks and that may cause a problem, but if you found a standard Motorola plug (regular aftermarket style antenna plug) behind the radio then who knows where that goes, maybe someone added an antenna and then removed it leaving behind the wire?

so what radio was in before the one that is now hooked up? and if anything how did the radio sound?

also you said you have static when the car is running? not when it is off? and only radio or cd's too?

 

The original stereo was the din size tape deck w/ cd changer under pass seat. It worked fine, no static. The pioneer I put in there has static on the radio and when playing cds but only when the car is running. It's perfectly clear with the engine off. The antenna plug is the aftermarket style but a little bit shorter, the other antenna plug and cd changer are not hooked up. I have been installing car stereos for about 10 years and have never had this problem.

 

I don't mean to sound like a jerk but I don't see how you could have been installing car stereo's for 10 years and have never run in to "noise", which can be caused by quite a few different things. Now if what you are saying is you have installed your own stereo's (and maybe a few for friends) for quite a long time that's a different story. I do this stuff professionally (went to school for it and been doing it for about 8 years), and run into noise problems all the time. I must say I now agree with leadfoot, you have some kind of connection issue and need to run through a few common trouble shooting steps,

the first type of problem to check for would be ground issues,

ground loops: (most common in common ground systems like these) this is where a component of an audio system isn't getting enough power through its provided ground and is looking to obtain more ground through your audio signal path from another source (head unit to amp or vice versa), I would first try to ground the radio in the passenger kick panel (with a decent gauge wire). be sure to tap a new ground with a self tapping screw, scrape all paint away (wire brush or sand paper) at the point you are grounding very well and use a ring terminal to provide the most contact.

this is the biggest cause of noise in 12 volt systems so I will stop here and let you try this out, if it doesn't work let me know and I will go on to the next step.

 

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to seem like I install stereo systems professionally. I do mostly mine and friends, I'm guessing no more 35-40 complete systems installed. When I said I have never ran into this problem I meant having static when the stereo has a good ground and a strong power source. But then again I have only used the factory amps once before as I usually always run my own wiring so I can be sure everything was done correctly. As for my situation I pulled the deck out yesterday afternoon and disconnected the antenna to see if the static got worse and it did. So as you stated before its probably a bad ground. So when I get a chance this weekend I'll run my own ground wire and see if that helps. I'll update you on the results. Thanks for the help.