I have a Motorola MXT275 GMRS radio plugged into the center console cigarette plug. The antenna wire goes under the carpet, up the driver side C-pillar, and under the headliner to a trunk mount antenna.
I have rear lights on the roof rack about a foot from the antenna. The wiring for roof lights goes through the rack, into the ceiling via my Sirius XM antenna, down the passenger A-pillar and through the passenger firewall into the engine bay.
When I turned on my old roof lights, full blast static on the GMRS radio. Though if somebody is broadcasting it switches from static to their voice loud and clear. I can also broadcast just fine. It only happened with rear lights.
Recently I switched my rear lights and added ditch lights, which entailed some wire loom bundling and maybe minor relocation inside the engine bay. Weirdly now, not only do the rear lights trigger full static, but the front lights do as well, whereas they didn’t before.
The only thing I can guess it’s interference from the wiring inside the engine bay, as that position is the only thing that’s changed for the front lights. Can anybody confirm that is the likely cause? Do I need more insulation on those wires or something? For the record, no interference on handheld radios, so it’s something with the MXT275 specifically.