I need some help with my radio

[832.3ranger]

My truck has a 86 wiring harness out of a 2.9 bronco 2 and I put a 1988 ford ranger radio in it. And it is just static on fm 1 and 2 but on am it’ll work. Not sure if the radio itself is broken or if there’s a simple fix like moving a wire or replacing the sound suppressor thing in the engine bay. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[superj]

Is your antenna plug fully seate

 

[832.3ranger]

Is your antenna plug fully seate

I think so I pushed it in as far as i could get it to go. But if it wasn’t plugged in wouldn’t am not work? This is really confusing me because it works on am but it’s like static sorta and when I accelerate it gets worse.

 

[superj]

The noise gets worse as the rpms rise? You need a ground loop isolator.

You can usually get an am channel, or teo, with no antenna. No fm though.


When the engine is off, do the stations work without static? If so, you can try finding another ground and also try putting that ground loop isolator in to help

 

[832.3ranger]

The noise gets worse as the rpms rise? You need a ground loop isolator.

You can usually get an am channel, or teo, with no antenna. No fm though.


When the engine is off, do the stations work without static? If so, you can try finding another ground and also try putting that ground loop isolator in to help

I’ll go check the stations without the engine running real quick

 

[832.3ranger]

The noise gets worse as the rpms rise? You need a ground loop isolator.

You can usually get an am channel, or teo, with no antenna. No fm though.


When the engine is off, do the stations work without static? If so, you can try finding another ground and also try putting that ground loop isolator in to help

It has less static my uncle said it’s probably the fm receiver.

 

[RobbieD]

It sounds like it's a receiver problem to me, too. AM working and FM not working leans toward it being a problem in the radio itself, and the static from the ignition is a separate issue.

 

[832.3ranger]

It sounds like it's a receiver problem to me, too. AM working and FM not working leans toward it being a problem in the radio itself, and the static from the ignition is a separate issue.

My uncle said the same thing. Do you know if I can take a 86 radio fm receiver and put it in the 88 radio? That’s pretty specific but it’s worth a shot asking the question. I think they’re mostly the same radio just the 88 has cassette player.

 

[RobbieD]

My uncle said the same thing. Do you know if I can take a 86 radio fm receiver and put it in the 88 radio? That’s pretty specific but it’s worth a shot asking the question. I think they’re mostly the same radio just the 88 has cassette player.

No, I don't think so. It was worth the shot asking, but stuff made in the 80's just wasn't designed to be "plug-n-play".

You'd need to have it looked at by an electronics repair tech that can work on something that old. That may not be easy in itself, and repairing it is probably not cost-effective anyway.

I wish that I could paint a rosier picture for you . . .

 

[Brain75]

I have "a '90 radio" I would give ya for a song (after I get my aftermarket working)... why because when you touch the treble knob or the balance/fade knobs is pops static and crackles... once you set it and leave it alone it is fine, but it is obvious that the internals are starting to let go. Why did I put it in quotes, well because the PO before the PO of mine ripped the radio out, cut the harness, and just did a lot of stupid crap - I am quite sure that the dealer in between him and the last PO (also part of my family) just grabbed any Ford radio and stuck it in, it looks identical to the one in my '89 topaz: cassette, am/fm1/fm2 - probably identical to yours, a Ford factory radio from about that era.

I decided to fix all the wiring, replace the missing speakers, etc etc etc and eventually I gave in and bought an aftermarket radio to mount in the hole - dash panel is out to do wiring and all the rest of the what not, so stereo is not fully installed yet.

I wont be sending it with the plastic C clip that straddles the rail though. Shipping might be worse than just going to the junkyard, around here they charge you for nice aftermarkets but just frown and wave you past and go "get outta here kid" for the "junk factory radios".

 

[Brain75]

(and since I know the internals are starting to let go, I can't promise that shipping it half way across the country and letting the UPS gorrillas get their mitts on it wont do it in)

 

[Brain75]

FWIW, without the antenna fully seated I got pure static in mine (was testing with the old "junk" unit to see if the install of speakers was good and my wiring patch up was good and all the repairs was successful)

 

[832.3ranger]

I have "a '90 radio" I would give ya for a song (after I get my aftermarket working)... why because when you touch the treble knob or the balance/fade knobs is pops static and crackles... once you set it and leave it alone it is fine, but it is obvious that the internals are starting to let go. Why did I put it in quotes, well because the PO before the PO of mine ripped the radio out, cut the harness, and just did a lot of stupid crap - I am quite sure that the dealer in between him and the last PO (also part of my family) just grabbed any Ford radio and stuck it in, it looks identical to the one in my '89 topaz: cassette, am/fm1/fm2 - probably identical to yours, a Ford factory radio from about that era.

I decided to fix all the wiring, replace the missing speakers, etc etc etc and eventually I gave in and bought an aftermarket radio to mount in the hole - dash panel is out to do wiring and all the rest of the what not, so stereo is not fully installed yet.

I wont be sending it with the plastic C clip that straddles the rail though. Shipping might be worse than just going to the junkyard, around here they charge you for nice aftermarkets but just frown and wave you past and go "get outta here kid" for the "junk factory radios".

Thanks for the offer but if I can’t fix this radio for relatively no money then I’ll just go aftermarket with it and put a whole new system in it.

 

[WutUp Clegg]

My truck has a 86 wiring harness out of a 2.9 bronco 2 and I put a 1988 ford ranger radio in it. And it is just static on fm 1 and 2 but on am it’ll work. Not sure if the radio itself is broken or if there’s a simple fix like moving a wire or replacing the sound suppressor thing in the engine bay. Any help would be much appreciated.

AM is more sensitive to an antenna than FM. This is due to the AM wavelength being taller than an FM wavelength. Therefore, I'm betting the receiver is bad.

I'm sorry, I just went full "NERD" right there. I was once an installer for over 10 years.

 

[832.3ranger]

AM is more sensitive to an antenna than FM. This is due to the AM wavelength being taller than an FM wavelength. Therefore, I'm betting the receiver is bad.

I'm sorry, I just went full "NERD" right there. I was once an installer for over 10 years.

Thank you, don’t worry lol it’s useful information I know nothing about radios but thank you. I’m just going to use the am till it breaks and then get a new radio