How do I eliminate the interferences of the engine static when listening to AM radio...

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selections4you

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...in my Ford Windstar 2002? The radio seems ok when I listen to FM, but unless we are in the right range of the AM station, we cannot listen to the AM radio clearly.

What I do hear is the engine valves and when I accelerate the engine, I can hear it on the radio. When I put on my blinker or put on my lights, it affects the radio. The radio seems to not be electrically isolated or the car and the engine is not grounded.

Anyway, something seems to be wrong, and if any one know how to protect the radio from getting this type of static. When I first got the car, everything was fine. Last year I brought the car to the dealer and realized later that something was wrong with the radio, and of course the dealer said nothing was touched with regard to the radio.

But obviously, there has to be a way to protect the radio from static and this is where I reach my area of expertise and need your help.

Thanks for any guidance or good tips on how to fix this annoying problem. After all, a man likes to listen to his talk radio shows.
 
It sounds like your dealer may have disconnected a ground strap somewhere. Check for a bare braided copper strap running from the engine to the firewall or frame. You may need to filter the power going to the radio. Radio Shack should be able to provide a B+ filter for that. That should help with the blinker noise. The engine noise is usually controlled with resistor spark plugs or resistor plug wires. If you haven't changed either of those then I'd still be looking for a bad ground someplace. You'd possibly save a lot of time and grief if you took it to a car stereo installer and had them look at it.
 
It sounds like your dealer may have disconnected a ground strap somewhere. Check for a bare braided copper strap running from the engine to the firewall or frame. You may need to filter the power going to the radio. Radio Shack should be able to provide a B+ filter for that. That should help with the blinker noise. The engine noise is usually controlled with resistor spark plugs or resistor plug wires. If you haven't changed either of those then I'd still be looking for a bad ground someplace. You'd possibly save a lot of time and grief if you took it to a car stereo installer and had them look at it.
 
Thia is a very common complaint - which seems to have have no simple answer.
My own personal vehicle, a 2001 Explorer, was horrible on AM. It seemed that every accessory was heard through the AM as well as the engine ignition noise. For instance, I couldn't charge my cell phone and listen to AM at the same time - the AM band would just howl.
I grounded the antenna and the radio to a common terminal with braided line and it seemed to help a little. I replaced the plug wires, grounded the hood and the chassis to the engine block. Everything seemed to improve the concern a little with no one repair being the magic bullet.
Admittedly, it's presently a lot better, but when I get a chance, I'm going to try a different radio from a local salvage yard and see if that's the main problem. I'm also going to check back on your answers to see if anyone has a better solution.
 
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