Popping/static after new radio install

I just installed a new clarion cx505. Radio seems to be working well but I hear a popping/ static noise, almost like little rocks are hitting the truck. Noticeable at all volumes, more noticeable the louder I turn it. All the wire connections seem solid to me (crimps, used crux harness from crutchfield). Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

Bump. The poping is similar to what one may expect to hear when playing a vinyl record, if that helps.

 

not sure, but I get it whenever I adjust my mirrors (different head unit than yours).

 

I haven't dealt with popping issues myself, but if I did, I would first see if I can isolate the problem. Like: does the noise come from all radio inputs? is the noise on all speakers, or just certain ones? are there external devices that could contribute to the noise (amp, signal processor, etc.)?

 

Noise seems to come just from radio, all speakers, all volumes, no external devices other than phone thru blue tooth. I called crutchfield and they suggested I try grounding the radio straight to the truck chasis via a bolt somewhere. Any advice where I can find a bolt? Can I use the bolt that attaches the radio to the truck?

 

Going straight to the chassis is a little bit of work. I would go straight to the battery negative before going to the chassis.

I've seen people solve noise issues by grounding the HU to the cabin body. The whole front console is built around a frame that is bolted to the body. Near the lower middle of the dash is where some of the bolts are typically located. You will need to remove quite a bit of trim to get to those bolts.

Before going through the hassle of searching for a suitable bolt, can you temporarily run a ground from your radio straight to the battery? That would be ultimate test to determine if it's a bad ground. 18 AWG hook-up wire should be fine since you won't be expecting a huge amount of current during moderate level listening.

 

yes just get anything, even jumper cables

yank head unit halfway out but still connected and connect it
directly to ground with fat cable

test

if still poppin, you have a bad head unit or crap cable job

 

Great ideas, I have 14 gauge speaker wire at home that I can run straight to the battery. I will try it tonight.

 

plan ahead with your cable test,

tell yourself you are going to short it out and start a fire. then do everything you can to prevent that from occuring

 

Thank you for the great advice. I ran the speaker wire through the window to quickly test and still got the popping. Called crutchfield back and they are sending a new radio. Because the popping only happens on HD radio stations they suspect a bad tuner. Hopefully the new radio solves the problem!