[Greenroome]

G'day folks,

I'm a long time reader but first time poster, and I wanna say thanks to all of you for the help this forum has already given me.

A bit about me - I inadvertently bought a 2008 i30 CRDI hatch for my wife whilst looking for a Toyota Echo a couple of years ago. The Echos were about $8000 and tinny as all getout, and then I noticed an un-detailed i30 that had just come in to the yard. I bargained the dude down to $10,500 and drove away stoked. I liked it so much that I bought a 2009 CRDI wagon a year later for myself.

Very happy with these cars, especially the way they handle on corrugated gravel surf tracks, and on the highway with cruise control - luxury!

My problem? The radio in my wagon has recently started to rumble/grumble intermittently on AM. I've just searched for "AM radio" on these forums and none of the situations are quite the same as mine. The rumble has no relation to any other occurrences like bumps, temp, electrical interference (both internal or external), signal strength. It just rumbles over the top of the station making it un-listenable. AM is pretty important out here in the sticks.

Anyone else had this?

The radio is out of warranty btw (3 years), and I get cold sweats and tummy trouble when I think about visiting auto-sparkies.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[The Gonz]

Rumble is just the low end of the noise spectrum. It sounds like you've developed a dry joint somewhere in your wiring. Remove, clean and reset your radio connections. Two sources are the power / earth pair and the antenna cable sheilding.

[Surferdude]

And welcome aboard, greenroome - from surferdude on the other side of the country. 

[Greenroome]

Thanks guys.

Any idea where I might find the best step-by-step guide for getting in behind the dash?

Cheers.

[The Gonz]

Try searching for threads involving replacement of the satnav  / dash / DIN / console. That should give you some good pictures and words for getting panels off.