SwissHHR

Hello,

Has anyone experienced this? My HHR is six years old. Since about one month, I can hear white noise emanating from all six loudspeakers (Pioneer system and stock radio: two front tweeters, two front door speakers, two rear door speakers, haven't checked the subwoofer in the back yet).

- the noise is always of the same sound level. It's completely independent of the volume knob's position.
- there is no correlation with engine or alternator operation etc.
- the noise can be heard when the turning signal or warning chime is activated (and the radio itself is off)
- the noise can be heard both in radio and CD/MP3 mode
- the noise vanishes when the Mute button on the steering wheel is pressed
- the noise vanishes in between two MP3 songs (the short gap when changing to a new song)

It's not really loud, but still bothers me. It only appeared recently. What could it be?

Regards,
Patrick

Twistedtat

Usually its associated with either a grounding issue or power wire ran to close to rca cables in a aftermarket system. But from all the symptoms youve stated my guess is that the stock radio is on its way out.

Chest2tank

I too am having this issue. My front passenger floor floods often, and this problem began just after a particularly heavy rain. The white noise in mine is accompanied with a very loud, piercing squeal. It sounds very similar to a CB radio squelch, all only emanating from the rear speakers. Additionally, there is weak sound from the rear and sub.

whopper

Fix your flooding problem before even looking at the radio issue - that can wait till later.

Being you have a 2006 HHR, there is a butyl patch covering a hole under the windshield cowl that has a tendency to break down and leak over time. The symptoms are water accumulating in the passenger foot-well, and if left long enough, the heater fan resister burns out, and/or the heater motor dies. Use the search tool at the top of the page and look for "butyl patch" for how to fix the problem. It's not a big job - do not ignore it.