Radio works with ignition off, but is staticy when car is running

[Ayahuasca]

Its the stock stereo of a 2001 Jeep Cherokee and the CD player works fine when the car is running, but radio stations are full of static as if its bad reception (but its not). With the car off, the radio works flawlessly. I was planning on replacing the head unit figuring that would fix the problem, but since I found out the radio works fine when the car is off I'm not so sure. Anyone have any idea what the problem is?

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[Z1NONLY 10+ year member]

I have seen radios "try" to ground through the antenna connection when the proper ground is lost. If your radio's ground is loose, corroded, or disconnected, your radio may be grounding through the antenna's "shield" and be more susceptible to noise. -Haven't ran in to this exact problem, but electronic equipment does some strange stuff with bad grounds.

 

[Horsemanwill 10+ year member]

sounds like you have a feedback problem. i once knew a geo storm that had noise caused by it's sparkplugs. check all ur wiring. if possible take it out of ur vehicle and see if you can try it either in someone else's car or wire it up outside the car.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

I would check the antenna connection to the radio, as it may have vibrated loose. I normally use electrical tape and tape the connection together as one, alot of times I find this to be the simple issue.Worth checking out.. some dashes take a few min to pop out..snap/ snap?Worth looking into.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[Ayahuasca]

I have seen radios "try" to ground through the antenna connection when the proper ground is lost. If your radio's ground is loose, corroded, or disconnected, your radio may be grounding through the antenna's "shield" and be more susceptible to noise. -Haven't ran in to this exact problem, but electronic equipment does some strange stuff with bad grounds.

Any idea where to look for the ground other than in the harness itself? What I'm saying is I have no idea where the wires are ran once they go behind the dash, so if the connection is good between the stereo, plug, and harness, where would I start looking? Sounds like a potential huge headache

To other posters: antenna connection is fine, checked and checked again and as I said it works fine when the car is off. A poster said a problem was caused by its sparkplugs...the wires were loose on the plugs, frayed, or what?