Radio interferance

Car off, clear sound.
Car on, staticky sound.

This began after I removed the spiders web of wires during the GM alternator swap. I figure I need some sort of suppressor right?

 

What is a radio?

 

That noisy thing with all the lights and buttons beside the steering column.

 

You need a suppressor.

 

Yeah, if you have the old points-style distributor, then make sure your condenser is not bad. Otherwise, the arcing could be coming from anywhere in your ignition system (spark plug wires, electronic ignition, distributor cap, etc). Try looking under the hood in pitch black. If all else fails, purchase a good radio noise suppressor and install.

 

If I replace the points would that help?

 

Spray salt water on them at night, it will help you to see if the wires have broken down.

 

PAINTANK, Replacing your points will help if they are badly corroded from arcing. There is no guarantee this will cure your radio interference.

I would first check my Condenser, to see if it is bad. If your engine is running fine, without any hesitations, it doesn't sound like bad plug wires.

If you have the older points style ignition system (non-electronic ignition), it will have a Condenser in parallel (across) the points contacts. It looks like a small cylinder. A Condenser is basically a super-fast charging Capacitor. If you measure the resistance across a fully disconnected Condenser, it should NOT be shorted. If it is good, you should see a changing reading as the multi-meter charges the Condenser/Capacitor, and if you reverse the leads on the meter, the reading should read the opposite direction.

As far as the points...you can take the distributor apart and look at your points with a super-bright flashlight, and see if there is any corrosion on them. You can measure the resistance of them with an ohm-meter also. If they look corroded I would change them. Make sure to look at the inside of the distributor cap for any corrosion too.

If you have done all of this and you still have radio noise, I would still try looking under the hood in the dark, for any sparks jumping from wires, or components to ground. Radio noise can only come from two sources: RF (radio frequency) noise, which is electrical sparks, wirelessly transmitting through the air to your radio's antenna, or from noise present on the 12VDC power supply to the radio. Sounds like a frustrating one.

 

a bad alternator can cause noise also. try disconceting it and starting the car. if the noise goes away then you new alt is not so good.