Loud static when turning on the car

I recently purchased a very well taken care of 2009 last month. Three times over the past few weeks I have had the startling pleasure of having my ears blasted with a very loud static when turning on the car. It happened twice in a row two days ago, once when the car was turned off set to AUX mode (ipod) and two hours later turned off on FM radio.

The awful noise is as if someone turned the radio station to a frequency full of static and cranked the volume all the way up to max volume.

I did a search on the forums and was not able to find out if anyone else has come across this issue!

I'm a computer geek...and understand the concept of how automotive stuff works but am clueless as to how to troubleshoot it! Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thank you very much for your help, tips and tricks!

~Lauren

Is anyone going to help out Lauren?

The audio forum may be a better place for this, considering the wiring guru's are over there. Hope they can help.

I haven't heard of this problem as of yet.

TLDR: I am of no help.

I recently purchased a very well taken care of 2009 last month. Three times over the past few weeks I have had the startling pleasure of having my ears blasted with a very loud static when turning on the car. It happened twice in a row two days ago, once when the car was turned off set to AUX mode (ipod) and two hours later turned off on FM radio.

 

The awful noise is as if someone turned the radio station to a frequency full of static and cranked the volume all the way up to max volume.

 

I did a search on the forums and was not able to find out if anyone else has come across this issue!

 

I'm a computer geek...and understand the concept of how automotive stuff works but am clueless as to how to troubleshoot it! Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

Thank you very much for your help, tips and tricks!

 

~Lauren

Well the only thing I can equate to this in my 8 years of ownership is when my radio volume would randomly change. Turns out it just happens when something gets stuck on the volume knob.. so maybe try cleaning that.. who knows if something got stuck in there..

otherwise keep troubleshooting and hopefully someone can figure this out

I'd start by ripping out the head unit, checking connections, doing the old NES cartridge blow. (It's not that hard to do - look around for instructions).

Yikes.. This does not sound easy...let's assume that my radio is bad... Does anyone have any suggestions to aftermarket radios and kits (digital climate control) or where to find the factory radio for a reasonable price?

On the contrary, it takes about 5-10 minutes with a philips head screwdriver.

http://www.trabbic.com/legacy/radio%20install.pdf

Skip to somewhere around step 8 or 9

On the contrary, it takes about 5-10 minutes with a philips head screwdriver.

 

http://www.trabbic.com/legacy/radio%20install.pdf

Skip to somewhere around step 8 or 9

Sounds fabulous! Thanks! I was on my break at work and was not able to find anything that made it look this simple! Guess I'll have a project to work on next week!

The only help I can add is to maybe turn the volume all the way down before turning off. i use my aux input all the time and if the wire is plugged in and i turn the car on- still in aux mode i hear what you seem to hear. i turn my volume down to avoid this. also i've noticed i'll get some static when i'm listening to music on my phone and its charging at the same time.

weird it happened turning it off when on fm- what happened after that? did the radio come back on? or is it only when u start the car?

Sounds like there is an issue with ground loop with external devices. The good news is you can get a ground loop isolator for $10 or so.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/PAC-Ground-Isolator-3-5-Applications/dp/B001EAQTRI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351917453&sr=8-1&keywords=ground+loop+isolator]PAC Ground Loop Isolator for 3.5 MM Applications : Amazon.com : Automotive[/ame]

It ONLY happens when initially turning the car on. I have button mashed the crap out of every knob and the only way to make it stop is turning the car off and back on. Then it's fine... And does not give this awful noise or any static at all like others seem to have issues with.

I have been turning my radio off completely every time to see if the problem only happens when the radio is on when the car starts.

I made a post about a month back (in the wrong sub-forum) about issues I've been having with the stock radio. Harmon Kardon speakers, automatic climate control.

It started off ONLY happening when turning the car on. Loud static would emit from every speaker and be so loud that your ears would ring afterwards. The only way to stop the noise was to turn the car off and back on.

It was happening weekly and thought I had narrowed it down to being the aux port, since my iPod was always plugged in. I spent the last two and a half weeks listening to nothing but the radio (painful) and had no issues with the static until I decided to listen to my iPod two days ago. I had no issues that day. The next day I had the radio back on and loud static came on while I was on the expressway.

I talked to a car audio installer and he suggested that my radio is most likely bad and that I would need to replace it to resolve the issue. Unfortunately I just don't want to spend the money to do so!!

In my previous post I received a suggestion to try an aux ground loop isolator and will be trying this to see if it resolves the issue. It has been ordered and is on the way, but I would like to know if anyone else has any suggestions or clues.

Thank you very much for your time and effort to help me resolve this issue! It's driving me nuts!

The issue is intermittent. So basically I would have to drive around a week with the amp unplugged to see if that is the issue.

It has been suggested to me that the sound could also possibly be a speaker that isn't properly grounded (or something) and it can cause the static to emit on all speakers.

I'm not a car audio person, so this makes no sense to me how that would even work.

I'm just very confused that the static does not go away when powering off the radio and requires me to completely turn off the car to get it to stop.

...I'm just very confused that the static does not go away when powering off the radio and requires me to completely turn off the car to get it to stop.

It sounds like something is inducing current in your speaker wires causing static noise to be emitted from those speakers. Have you tried tracing the wiring of your speakers to see if they are close to another electrical wire/source?

It could also be a grounding issue with one or all of the speakers.

The most likely cause is a malfunction inside the HU.

I'm guessing your car is out of warranty now. You could try to ask Subaru of America (SOA) to authorize your dealer to repair it at no- or a reduced charge (on the basis that HVAC controls are a critical part of the car, and that should not have failed. (I'm assuming you're in the US. In any case, please fill in your profile here).

You would need to first visit a dealer and have them confirm they see the problem occur. If it's only happening once every few days, that will be tough. You could try setting up a video recorder to catch the problem. That might be enough evidence for the dealer.

Otherwise, the fastest way to determine what's wrong would be to buy another identical 2009 Legacy/Outback HU and swap that in. If the problem goes away, you'll know your OEM HU has gone bad.

If the problem persists, then the next most likely cause is the harman/kardon amplifier (under the passenger seat). However, I think that is much less likely. Once you're sure it's not your OEM HU, you can fairly easily sell the 2nd HU on eBay for close to what you paid for it.

If your h/k amp is bad, you might want to consider replacing it with an aftermarket amp instead of another factory amp. If you're able to do the wiring yourself, that could cost less, as the 2009 h/k amps could be a little harder to find used (and definitely more expensive new).

A few questions:

Does your OEM HU have manual or automatic HVAC controls (i.e., does it have digital displays where you set the desired temperatures)?

Must you crank your engine for this to happen, or can it happen when you turn your key just to the ACC position?

Is it still happening only right after you start your car, or does your radio sometimes begin working for awhile, and then some time later the static starts?

When it happens, how do the radio and HVAC displays look? Does it appear as if everything is still working, and only the sound is bad? Or do the displays freeze up or go blank?

After some research and some consulting with my audio guru friend, we found the fuse that would only turn off the amp and not the radio.

The static happened today, I pulled over, pulled out the fuse and when I popped it back in the static had gone and my music was playing normally.

I wanted to post a resolution for reference in the event someone else runs into this issue. Doubtful...but you never know!

So in this case the amp has been causing my random and ridiculously loud static and I will be replacing it.

Thank you all for the help you provided me!

A few questions:

Does your OEM HU have manual or automatic HVAC controls (i.e., does it have digital displays where you set the desired temperatures)?

Automatic dual climate control

Must you crank your engine for this to happen, or can it happen when you turn your key just to the ACC position?

During my troubleshooting phase I would first just power on the car and then move to full ignition to see if this would help narrow down issues. Unfortunately each time I attempted this, no static happened at all so I am unable to properly answer this!

Is it still happening only right after you start your car, or does your radio sometimes begin working for awhile, and then some time later the static starts?

It is now totally random. I could be driving on the expressway when the static appears. Eventually I had to bring ear plugs with me so that I could drive it to the autotech at my best buy so he could witness the sound!

When it happens, how do the radio and HVAC displays look? Does it appear as if everything is still working, and only the sound is bad? Or do the displays freeze up or go blank?

Everything looks normal. I can switch between radio, aux, cd and if I turn the volume up loud enough I can hear the music through the static. As I've noted before, powering the radio off and back on did not resolve the issue.

For future reference, are there any additional questions you'd like to know in the event someone has this issue in the future?

I still have not replaced my amp.. Apparently it's impossible to find one!

The static presented itself while I was on the phone with the radio turned off.

This amp is possessed.

May Sound a bit strange, see if your rear defroster is on. Having a broken "wire" on the window will cause huge static that is amplified by your amp, AND the radio does not have to be on. I couldn't believe this either. I waited until the window was fogged, turned the rear defrost on, saw some areas that were not working on the rear defroster, tune a portable FM or AM radio to NO Station, put it next to the suspected break in continuity in the defrost tape and you'll hear it, you may also see this on a Freq O-scope (feq domain reflectometer). Hope this helps.

R/Mac