Loss of radio signal when headlights switched on

[hns_sonic]

Hello,

My Elise has developed a rather odd little problem - whenever you switch on the headlights, the radio signal dies. The unit still works, it just doesn't pick up a signal, and you can listen to the CD player without problem.

Has anyone ever come across this before, and hopefully, know that the solution is?

Many Thanks,

Martin

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

Changed anything to do with your lights lately? Have you got HIDs? I'm assuming you've got a model without the external antenna, in which case it runs under the front clam - AFAIK the passenger side, near the light unit - so it pics up interference really well from lights, especially HID ballasts.

[hns_sonic]

Hi,

Yes, its a sportsracer so no external antenna. No changes to the car, so I'm not sure what has suddenly caused the symptoms. Its off to the dealer next week so hopefully they can track down the cause

Thanks for your reply,

Martin.

[TIPPER]

On my S1 switching the lights on seriously improves the radio signal

[LotusEater666]

Operating the heater fan, radiator fan, wipers, wiper jets all interfere with radio signal

[wezzer-45's]

If you have the LED type rear lights on your car, These can sometimes cause interference. If this is causing the problem,there is a link lead mod available from your dealer to cure this fault.

[Grinnders]

TIPPER said:

On my S1 switching the lights on seriously improves the radio signal

I have the same undocumented feature with the digital part of my stack. Lights off, the backlit amber flickers under braking. Lights on all steady Eddie. If anything you'd imagine it to be the other way around

[jonamacg83]

My S2 Exige does this. Apparently its due to the fact that I have HID's and the antenna is mounted behind the nearside front headlight. The solution by all accounts its to get some ferrits and fit them round the radio antenna wire, which should stop interference. I have not had time to try this yet but may well do it over the weekend if I get time. They are available from Maplin as per this link:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=32799...

Hope it helps!

Jonny

Edited by jonamacg83 on Thursday 13th March 09:22

[hns_sonic]

For the record, this particular issue was caused by a corroded antenna.

Thanks for everyones comments,

Martin.