GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Back when I had my factory radio in the car, I noticed that when I plugged in my phone to charge into one of the jacks, it would interfere with the radio. The radio's ability to pick up stations would be compromised. Far away stations I could pick up would suddenly become fuzzy. I've noticed this isn't as bad with my aftermarket.

However, I just bought a pair of LEDs for my fog lights. And I noticed the same thing happen when I turned the fog lights on. Far away radio stations that would come in clear, with the LEDs on, the radio stations would suddenly be fuzzy. Closer radio stations would have a bit of fuzz. So somehow the LEDs were interfering with the radio. Maybe it was the same thing as charging my phone.

I was planning on getting LED headlights, LED fog cubes, and changing my brake lights to LEDs seeing one of them just burned out. But some of these will likely create interference. Is there anything I can do??

Not very experienced on this topic Doug, but I'd like to add a similar experience that one of my customers just had. A maintenance garage, where they park lots of trucks, mowers, etc. just retrofitted all of their fluorescent bulbs to LED tubes. Lighting is amazing but there's just one NEW problem since the retrofit took place. NONE of the garage door remotes, in the vehicles, work anymore !!! The new tubes must emit a frequency that interferes with the remotes! They have to manually get out and push the button to raise/lower the garage doors.

Hopefully someone here with automotive experience can help you out a bit.

To keep their brightness across a wide range of vehicle voltages the LED lights use a voltage regulator. If properly designed they create little noise. Most aftermarket LED kits are made to cost rather than standards and omit key noise prevention parts. The LED lights often create lots of "switching" noise that is picked up and blended into your radio signal. Nothing to do at the car level, just try a different reputable LED. When I converted my Vibe to LED, headlights, taillights no issue, but the amber turn signal LED caused noise in the radio.