After market HID's affecting radio reception?
 

Okay, so I bought and installed 5k bi-xenon HID's from spikemotoring.com. I started to notice that I have moderate to horrible radio reception. I didn't see any coloration to my HID's until tonight. When I got off of work and started my car, my radio was on. I was listening to The Night by Disturbed, then all of the sudden when I turn my HID's on, my radio reception turned to shit. Me thinking I was crazy, turned the HID's off and on, and what do you know, after one month of having my HID's and moderately noticing bad radio reception, I finally found the culprit.

Being the studious person I am, I decided to see if it was just something on my part, so I decided to search google to see if it was only me or if there were ways to fix this.

I'm currently still reading articles but so far I've found nothing to help this problem. Some state that it has something to do with the ballast pulsating and affecting the antenna. I might just triple-wrap my ballasts with aluminum foil tomorrow. :smokin:

Any suggestions or ways to lessen the problem?

Never heard that one before.
I have HID's and even got a shorty antena and my radio reception is still the same.
do you have your ballast close to the antena side on the engine bay?

Yeah I've never heard of that either. I also have a shorty antenna and HID headlights AND foglights and my radio reception is just fine.

I have the passenger side close to the cold air intake thing. Couldn't think of anywheres else to put the damn thing. Spike told me that he put his on bumper support, I was going to do the same until I he told me that he had to take his bumper off to get to it, and I'm not about to do that, yet.

Thats crazy talk :eek:doesnt sound like a good spot to put the ballast I put mine near the same location as you near the CAI fender well and one on the other side and have had no problems what so ever, now after having the 6k set for a little over a month I wish I had gone with 4.5k instead for the brightness.

And I HAD a shortly antenna until a couple light ago, when I went to Walmart and these dumb arse punks that have nothing to do but hang out in the upper parking lot. They were carrying on and shit. And I didnt notice until the next night after leaving a mex rest. with my youngest that my antenna was snapped off at the base :mad: so now I have to get another one!

You don't like the 6k? That's what I as thinking of going with.

My headlights are 8k and are bright as hell. And yeah i know the lower the color temp the more usable light but for me at least, 8k's are plenty bright and they have a good blue color to them as well. Happy medium. :) Now my fogs are 10k and they LOOK cool as hell, but ain't worth a shit for actual usable light output. lol

Yea I have my right one right by the intake also.

so lower temp are brighter??

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 4,300K provides the most light output.

Yes 4,300 or 4,500 puts out the most light.

I have a shorty antenna and HID fogs and headlights and I don't know of anyone with this problem. I wonder if the ground isn't very good and this is causing the problem.

yeah lower temp, more light output! But next time around I will get the 4.5k temp for sure!

so 4.5k brighter than 6k right? does that mean that 4.5 are whiter or are they yellowish kinda?
and would i have to change ballast if i changed them?

No I would think you just change the HID Bulbs and then thats it correct?

Correct just change the bulb.

Yes they put out more light and are brighter. I like the look of 5k personally. But both look really good. And its just a matter of changing bulbs if you don't like what you have.

Wow way to hijack my thread. :P

Anyways, there's a lot of documentation of this all over the web. (Provided the google link in my first post) IS there anything I can do about this?

Oh and spike, I hooked up the red wire to my positive and my black wire to my negative leads respectively on my battery.

Then I really don't know what to say. Where are your ballast mounted at?

By the CAI and the battery or close to it.

to me it sounds like you dont have it grounded correctly, I dont have mine going to the battery or anything of the nature. It is hooked to the screw off of the plastic fuse box as in this document.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/94-04-hidkit-install.html

To me it sounds like you should try to move the ground somewhere else and see if it changes it at all.