Radio static-like cutting in and out.

[SallyVogel]

The radio in my Tesla Model S…2019, used to work fine. In the last month it has begun rapidly cutting in and out making it sound very “staticky”. It is worst when the car is on. There is minimal disruption when car is off. Any suggestions as to what is going on, and better yet how to fix it?

 

[DerbyDave]

There is an existing thread on this:

SiriusXM Volume Scratchy

My SiriusXM (SXM) has a scratchiness in the volume control and in the sound. When I adjust the volume, either using the steering wheel control or the buttons on the main screen, there is a static, scratchiness sound like we used to get sometimes with analog volume controls where the resistive...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[nigelboid]

There is an existing thread on this:

SiriusXM Volume Scratchy

My SiriusXM (SXM) has a scratchiness in the volume control and in the sound. When I adjust the volume, either using the steering wheel control or the buttons on the main screen, there is a static, scratchiness sound like we used to get sometimes with analog volume controls where the resistive...

teslamotorsclub.com

No, I think this is a new and separate issue. It seems to have started with a recent software update on non-FSD cars. My car is fine (2017 Model S with FSD), but my wife and her friend (2018 ModeL Ss, without FSD) started having this issue.

Wife's friend took the car to a Tesla Service Center. They performed a factory reset which did NOT fix the issue (big surprise, right?!) and precipitated several new ones (like her sensors going offline).

I am patiently waiting for the next software update to fix the problem for my wife.

 

[DerbyDave]

The thread is long, but software updates seem to make it worse sometimes, and the last update has hit a bunch of people. Trust me, it was there before. Move the volume control up and down quickly and you will hear the clipping and static sound. It only happens on SiriusXM and FM, not USB or other sources. We can hope the next update will improve the issue, but it has existed on my car since 2021.

 

[nigelboid]

The thread is long, but software updates seem to make it worse sometimes, and the last update has hit a bunch of people. Trust me, it was there before. Move the volume control up and down quickly and you will hear the clipping and static sound. It only happens on SiriusXM and FM, not USB or other sources. We can hope the next update will improve the issue, but it has existed on my car since 2021.

Right, that is why I think this one is different. Bluetooth (both streaming and phone calls) also seems affected for these two cars.

 

[DaSwede]

Right, that is why I think this one is different. Bluetooth (both streaming and phone calls) also seems affected for these two cars.

The radio in my Tesla Model S…2019, used to work fine. In the last month it has begun rapidly cutting in and out making it sound very “staticky”. It is worst when the car is on. There is minimal disruption when car is off. Any suggestions as to what is going on, and better yet how to fix it?

I reported this to Tesla in UK a couple of weeks ago ( mostly statically when using DAB radio). They told me it was indeed a recurring issue that has been fixed before but now returned and would be fixed in a future SW release. O certainly hope so as I currently use my local radio stations using TuneIn instead ( where I don't get the static) but would obviously rather be able to use the DAB radio I paid £500 to get back after my MCU upgrade... Hoping that more people reports the issue to Tesla so they will prioritize the work to fix it.

 

[Nifty]

The radio in my Tesla Model S…2019, used to work fine. In the last month it has begun rapidly cutting in and out making it sound very “staticky”. It is worst when the car is on. There is minimal disruption when car is off. Any suggestions as to what is going on, and better yet how to fix it?

Same problem for me in my 2015 Model S. I have the enhanced audio option and also bought the infotainment upgrade 2 years ago, so perhaps my audio is equivalent to yours. Anyway, problem exist for all audio sources (FM, Bluetooth, Tune-In). It is much worse in the FM. Lot's of audio clicking - It's almost unlistenable. Streaming (Bluetooth or Tune-In) are not so bad but still quite annoying. I've filed a couple bug reports - don't know if that expedites anything. Problem happened with the last FW update. I have Version 2023.2.10. I guess it installed February 10th. I wish I could revert to the previous version.

This makes me wonder with any updateable device - does the manufacturer have any duty to ensure features are not impaired with FW updates? My car is out of warranty so does Tesla have any duty to fix this problem? Can they break features without consequence?

 

[Boston Scott]

Same issue w/my 2019 Model S 100D. Started/got worse with last FW update. Brought to the shop and told they cannot fix. Need to wait for FW update. The problem has gotten far worse once the shop returned the vehicle and affects FM and Bluetooth. It's become unusable. The shop also broke the right scroll wheel, voice activation and steering wheel heater. Not sure what else I'll find they broke. And now they want me to approve a $385 estimate for them to repair. This is crazy. Anyone else have issues like this?

 

[Nifty]

Same problem for me in my 2015 Model S. I have the enhanced audio option and also bought the infotainment upgrade 2 years ago, so perhaps my audio is equivalent to yours. Anyway, problem exist for all audio sources (FM, Bluetooth, Tune-In). It is much worse in the FM. Lot's of audio clicking - It's almost unlistenable. Streaming (Bluetooth or Tune-In) are not so bad but still quite annoying. I've filed a couple bug reports - don't know if that expedites anything. Problem happened with the last FW update. I have Version 2023.2.10. I guess it installed February 10th. I wish I could revert to the previous version.

This makes me wonder with any updateable device - does the manufacturer have any duty to ensure features are not impaired with FW updates? My car is out of warranty so does Tesla have any duty to fix this problem? Can they break features without consequence?

Update: My car took FW update 2023.2.12 today. I was hoping/expecting this would address the problem. The release notes said only "Minor Update - Bug fixes". However, it did not fix this problem . This problem is really bad. Worse on FM radio with constant static. All other audio sources have intermittent dropouts of about 1 second every 20 seconds or so. I've also noticed an increased latency between pushing the stop/start scroll button and the effect (e.g. push button and effect occurs about 1-2 seconds later).

 

[shieldsbrown]

I had a similar problem with my 2015 Model S 85D. Both screens went black for a few seconds. Afterwards there were a number of glitchy issues. The energy display was wonky, the streaming music cut in and out, the map updated very slowly. I did a two-button reset and most of the issues went away.
What remained, but only for 50 kilometers or so, was the problem with the energy display. Portions of the graph would jump from one level to another. Also, my average energy usage went from the normal 200 Wh/km to 300 Wh/km. After about 50 kilometers all went back to normal. It seemed as though the energy measurement database had something wrong with it, but after 50 km it was flushed out.

 

[DavidMord]

The radio in my Tesla Model S…2019, used to work fine. In the last month it has begun rapidly cutting in and out making it sound very “staticky”. It is worst when the car is on. There is minimal disruption when car is off. Any suggestions as to what is going on, and better yet how to fix it?

I am having similar problems for a few months. 2019 MS LR. FM radio and Sirius are impossible to listen to with the static. Bluetooth works fine. Tesla service says I have to wait for a software update. That could be next week or…never. $85,000 car and I can’t use the radio.

 

[Shyam Jha]

My 2020 S LR has the same issue. Strong popcorn like static on FM and XM. Even phone calls and streaming is affected. Called Tesla tech home. No dice. He created an Appointment at the local service center. A few days later the SC cancelled the appt saying there is no fix, and a future sw update will solve it. This is my second Model S, and probably the last one. The appalling customer service is just not worth owning a Tesla anymore.

 

[baw]

My 2020 S LR has the same issue. Strong popcorn like static on FM and XM. Even phone calls and streaming is affected. Called Tesla tech home. No dice. He created an Appointment at the local service center. A few days later the SC cancelled the appt saying there is no fix, and a future sw update will solve it. This is my second Model S, and probably the last one. The appalling customer service is just not worth owning a Tesla anymore.

I share your sentiment and frustration. I have a similar thread here: No listenable music/audio in my car

I am finishing up my 2nd Tesla MS lease as well and literally just put a $250 deposit down on a new $100k MS for end of March. But..I am seriously considering backing out. Currently doing research on the Mercedes EQE and EQS. There are things I like better about the Tesla, but these kind of interruptions with no transparency into when they will get fixed are not acceptable. If you break someting, revert the code back. Very simple. New features are useless if you break existing functionality. So I am not sure what the heck is going on with them.

 

[nstauff]

No, I think this is a new and separate issue. It seems to have started with a recent software update on non-FSD cars. My car is fine (2017 Model S with FSD), but my wife and her friend (2018 ModeL Ss, without FSD) started having this issue.

Wife's friend took the car to a Tesla Service Center. They performed a factory reset which did NOT fix the issue (big surprise, right?!) and precipitated several new ones (like her sensors going offline).

I am patiently waiting for the next software update to fix the problem for my wife.

This happened to me as well. Sensors came back online after another soft reset.

My audio / Bluetooth has had this problem since mid January. Service center simply says “waiting on a software update.” This is unreasonable.

 

[nstauff]

I share your sentiment and frustration. I have a similar thread here: No listenable music/audio in my car

I am finishing up my 2nd Tesla MS lease as well and literally just put a $250 deposit down on a new $100k MS for end of March. But..I am seriously considering backing out. Currently doing research on the Mercedes EQE and EQS. There are things I like better about the Tesla, but these kind of interruptions with no transparency into when they will get fixed are not acceptable. If you break someting, revert the code back. Very simple. New features are useless if you break existing functionality. So I am not sure what the heck is going on with them.

It’s only going to get worse.

 

[tezco]

Just paid $500 for the radio upgrade for my Signature (2012) S. Crackling radio issue noted from the get-go.

 

[rdiaz1970]

Same issue with my Model S 100d. Just did the update 3 days ago and it all began. When the car is stoped or in park works fine no static when the car is moving unlistenable!! I would hate to have to wait till they send a new SW update.

 

[1windy]

Tesla service came yesterday for this. He showed me internal notes on this issue are confirmed and it is definitely a FW created problem and will be addressed soon.

 

[Spinny]

If you do a system reset by holding both buttons on the steering wheel, does it seem to get better? This is my experience, but it will return and get worse over time.

 

[1windy]

No