- #178 of 202
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Re: 2008 Civic Radio Reception [civictory]
by jet10000
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Jul 08, 2008 (6:14 pm)
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Replying to: civictory (Jul 08, 2008 9:14 am)
My 2008 Civic gets horrible AM radio reception when the car is running. (FM isn't exactly great, either.) The AM reception is fine once the engine is turned off. Is this normal?
I have a 2008 with the Navigation stereo and I get both AM and FM bands really well. I do live in a metropolitan area, so I don't know if you're trying to pick up some stations at a distance. But I haven't encountered anything such as the issue you have described.
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- #179 of 202
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Re: 2008 Civic Radio Reception [jet10000]
by civictory
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Jul 09, 2008 (5:09 am)
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Replying to: jet10000 (Jul 08, 2008 6:14 pm)
jet10000,
I also live in a large metropolitan area, so it's not the distance. My other car gets great reception, as did my previous Civic.
Anyone else have any thoughts?
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- #180 of 202
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Re: 2008 Civic Radio Reception [civictory]
by jet10000
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Jul 09, 2008 (7:15 am)
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Replying to: civictory (Jul 09, 2008 5:09 am)
Well, if that's the case, I'd definitely take it back to the dealer, turn the engine on have them listen and tell them to fix it or replace it.
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- #181 of 202
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Re: 2008 Civic Radio Reception
by bluecivic
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Jul 10, 2008 (3:10 pm)
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Replying to: civictory (Jul 08, 2008 9:14 am)
I purchased a 2008 Civic on June 30 and am running into the exact same problem. Does your car have any tinting? I've read where metalized tinting could cause problems. I wish I had listened to the radio more before I had the tinting installed to know for sure. I'm afraid I'm going to get caught between the dealership and my tinting guy pointing fingers.
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- #182 of 202
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Re: 2008 Civic Radio Reception [bluecivic]
by civictory
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Jul 11, 2008 (6:10 am)
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Replying to: bluecivic (Jul 10, 2008 3:10 pm)
Yes, that's one of the things the dealer mentioned as a possible explanation. However, my tint was installed by the dealer; and according to them, they don't use metalized tint.
If your tint was installed somewhere else, that might explain it. You might ask them if their tint is metalized or not. (I'm not even sure what that really means.)
Does your AM reception get better if you turn your car off? My AM reception is great as long as the engine isn't running. That makes me think it's something other than the tint.
One thing I intend to do, but haven't yet, is go to the dealer and check out radio reception on the lot, to see how mine compares to other Civics. I suppose it's possible that the factory-installed stereo is just inferior.
Please post anything you find out. Thanks!
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- #183 of 202
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Re: 2008 Civic Radio Reception [civictory]
by bluecivic
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Jul 11, 2008 (7:05 am)
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Replying to: civictory (Jul 11, 2008 6:10 am)
Yes, the interference disappears completely when the engine is off. That's good to know that you have dealer installed tint and have the same problem. I can accept weak reception because of a cheap factory radio but interference has to be a problem.
So, who's going to be the first to try to get the dealer to fix it? 
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- #184 of 202
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Re: 2008 Civic Radio Reception [civictory]
by bluecivic
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Jul 22, 2008 (9:22 am)
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Replying to: civictory (Jul 11, 2008 6:10 am)
In my case it was definitely the tint. I had the dealer look into it when I went to pick up my tags and they said it was definitely the tint. The service guy pointed out the entry points for the antennae on the back window. Next I went to my tinting guy who was disbelieving. A bit awkward at first but it had to be checked out. First I had him only remove the top section of tint that was over the antennae to see if it was because the tint was in contact with the antennae. The interference changed slightly but it didn't go away. When he removed the rest of it, it went away completely. I go back Wednesday to have him put non-metallized tint. Hopefully, the interference won't return.
Hope this helps. Good luck on your situation.
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- #185 of 202
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Re: 2008 Civic Radio Reception [bluecivic]
by civictory
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Jul 22, 2008 (11:07 am)
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Replying to: bluecivic (Jul 22, 2008 9:22 am)
Thanks for the update. Glad to hear you corrected your problem.
I haven't made it in to the dealer, yet; but your experience definitely gives me somewhere to start. I can't imagine that the dealer would put metalized tint on, but who knows?
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- #186 of 202
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Re: 2008 Civic Radio Reception [civictory]
by kenlw
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Sep 08, 2008 (11:32 am)
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Replying to: civictory (Jul 22, 2008 11:07 am)
"I can't imagine that the dealer would put metalized tint on, but who knows?"
most dealers subcontract this out, and probably have no clue as to what is applied.
My dealer has had to pay for over a dozen new rear windshields due to their (at that time) tint installer cutting the lines for the rear defroster.....
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- #187 of 202
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Re: 2008 Civic Radio Reception [civictory]
by brzuchalski
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Oct 04, 2008 (8:17 pm)
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Replying to: civictory (Jul 08, 2008 9:14 am)
I purchased my 2008 Civic Coupe EX-L-Nav one month ago and the AM reception is so poor that it is not tolerable to listen to. I took it to my dealership with other issues besides the radio, the service advisor said others have been complaining about AM reception. They said they would pull the head unit and check all connections, they found nothing. It seems to me to be a combination of things, the first is either an insufficient AM antenna or poor placement. The bigger source of the problem seems to be in the electrical system, each additional electrical component turned on generates even more static on AM stations. For example, put on an AM station then turn on the rear-window defogger, it introduces more static. Seems like Honda needs to provide a filter on the power feed to the radio.
For most people I realize this isn't a problem, but this Civic was purchase for one reason, a gas-miser commute vehicle for my two hour daily commute. The AM talk radio for two hours is my daily dump of the news. If Honda is unwilling to provide a fix, they should offer to provide free XM subscription so we can at least tune into the syndicated talk shows.
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