I have noticed recently that my FM signal has been terrible. I always run with my fog's and parks on during the day. The other day I was listening to FM and I turned the fogs off for some reason and the signal got MUCH better. After trying this a few more times, I decided there is something with my HID's that screws with my signal. Anyone else have this problem, or at least a clue of whats going on?

Thanks

what kit did you get? One of the big differences between the cheap HID kits and the more expensive ones is the annoying FM radio reception interference with the cheaper kits...

ben

I do or did. Lately it hasn't been near as bad. Someone mentioned remounting them because the ballast were not getting a good ground. I was told to turn on all the lights and then go around and unplug 1 at a time to see when the static goes away. Then remount that one.

Well I bought VVME kits. I never thought about the ground... I have mine padded with foam so the ballasts dont really touch any metal. Maybe I could run a wire off them or something??

Check the items in post #4 http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=350982&highlight=ground

I recall the post referring to the ground in another thread last month. I didn't mention anything then, but I don't buy into that theory at all. The kits would indicate if they needed to be grounded if that were the case, and even the cheap kits don't mention that, do they?

Well I bought VVME kits. I never thought about the ground... I have mine padded with foam so the ballasts dont really touch any metal. Maybe I could run a wire off them or something??

Those are the same one's I have as well. My friend has the same ones also but doesn't have the problem what so ever. We mounted the ballast in the same spot. Only difference between his and mine are he hasn't installed the fog light ballast yet and I have.

It used to be that you could get a snap on ferrite choke at radio shack to put the wires through to help cut down the interference you are experiencing.

What is happening is that there is noise coming out of the ballast for your HID lights and it is traveling along the wires. The wires are acting like antennas and they really radiate the noise good.

If the snap on ferrite chokes are still available I would get one for each side of each ballast you have in the truck. The supply side and the lamp side. Wrap the wires through the choke as close to the ballast as possible at least two times through the center of the choke. The more times the better.

In addition some other things to check are the grounding of the ballast. This could help take the noise from the ballast right to ground on the truck and really knock the level of the noise down. And check to make certain the ground wire from your hood to the firewall is still connected and there isn't a lot of corrosion around the screws and terminals where it connects. It might be possible to use an additional grounding strap on the other side of the hood and it would be best if this was a ground strap that was kept as short as possible. Shorter and wider at the frequencies we are talking about makes for a more effective ground.

I hope this helps you out with the problem you are having.

You had any luck fixing this yet Dave?

As for the grounding the more I thought about it I'm not sure how that would be possible. There are only the wires that go to the light. There isn't a spare wire to ground to anywhere. I tried today to reomount on of my high beam ones because I am still getting static. I zip tied the ballast in the supplied metal mount to a piece along the radiator support. I wonder if it would change if I took out the metal mount and just tied it directly to the plastic support.

I was thinking about unscrewing one of the screws on the ballasts and putting a wire on it for a ground just as a precaution. BTW, I don't have interference, but just want to be safe on it. No downsides to this?

It used to be that you could get a snap on ferrite choke at radio shack to put the wires through to help cut down the interference you are experiencing.

What is happening is that there is noise coming out of the ballast for your HID lights and it is traveling along the wires. The wires are acting like antennas and they really radiate the noise good.

If the snap on ferrite chokes are still available I would get one for each side of each ballast you have in the truck. The supply side and the lamp side. Wrap the wires through the choke as close to the ballast as possible at least two times through the center of the choke. The more times the better.

In addition some other things to check are the grounding of the ballast. This could help take the noise from the ballast right to ground on the truck and really knock the level of the noise down. And check to make certain the ground wire from your hood to the firewall is still connected and there isn't a lot of corrosion around the screws and terminals where it connects. It might be possible to use an additional grounding strap on the other side of the hood and it would be best if this was a ground strap that was kept as short as possible. Shorter and wider at the frequencies we are talking about makes for a more effective ground.

I hope this helps you out with the problem you are having.
What he said..................................