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Bad Earth?

My '97 Mondeo has been having problems with the radio reception recently. Stations that are usually loud and clear are crackly, and sometimes the radio won't pick up anything.

I only noticed it in the morning, and on cold days. After the car warmed up, the problem went away.

Finally, it clicked. Literally. The problem is the rear heated windscreen. When it is switched on, radio reception is awful. This explains why I only noticed it when it's cold, and why it goes away after a while when the circuit automatically cuts off.

So... my question is: Is this a symptom of a bad earth, and if so, can anyone offer advice on how to find and rectify it?

Many thanks,

Chris.

Reply to
Chris M
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Is the aerial part of the heated rear window?

Reply to
r

The car has an aerial on the roof, so I'd guess not. I've not checked the wiring diagrams though.

Chris.

Reply to
Chris M

If it's a short aerial, it's probably got a head amp. Sounds like the feed or earth to this is being effected when you use the rear screen.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

Its a bit obvious, but I'm assuming the aerial is screwed in tightly and that the connection is clean?

From TIS ...

Antenna

The antenna for Mondeo '97 is of the conventional mast type. Fitted centrally to the front of the roof panel. The antenna cable is routed for both left and right-hand drive, along the right-hand A-pillar to a connector block mounted on the kick panel adjacent to the ground connector, from the connector block it is connected by an ISO type connector to the audio unit.

TIS recommends for poor reception ...

  1. Check that the antenna's cable shield is properly earthed (less than 1 ohm from the shield to a known good earth).

  1. Check the central core of the antenna lead - should be less than an ohm end to end

  2. Finally, clean and tighten the grounding points at the base of the antenna, audio case unit and make sure the aerial lead isn't shorting from centre core to earth (must be > 10,000 ohms).
Reply to
TimM

hinges.usual cure is to knock the hinge pins across with a hammer and drift and then back again...remakes the earth let us know how you get on Jeff

Reply to
Mindwipe

On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 22:48:14 +0100, "Mindwipe" said to us:

I seem to remember that on Fiestas there was a common problem with earthing on the tailgate. The fix then was to fix an earth strap between the tailgate and car body, as originally it too was earthed through the hinges.

Kris

Reply to
Kris Shaw

In message , Kris Shaw writes

Same on the Ka. You either have to clean the hinge pins up every couple of years or fit an earth strap.

Reply to
Paul Giverin

Thanks for all the suggestions :-) I'll probably take a look later on today or tomorrow.

Chris.

Reply to
Chris M

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