| Answer: | As with many electronic add-on components, XM radio systems can be prone to electrical interference. This is usually caused by excess noise coming from the vehicles electrical system, usually the ignition system and spark plug wires.
This can be caused by a number of things, including poorly insulated spark plug wires, an improperly installed XM system or poor connections, however sometimes even properly installed systems can collect excess electrical noise.
This will usually occur if and when the XM unit and the amplifier (car stereo) are not grounded to the same spot. The way you can tell its a ground loop and not another type of issue is that its only present when your vehicle is running and the pitch of the noise varies with your engine's speed.
The first way you can try to fix this is by changing the ground location of one or both of the units.
This can many times be solved with the addition of a vehicle ground loop isolator. This can be purchased from your local XM radio retailer, stereo retailer or from many internet retailers.
Other resolutions also include checking all connections to ensure that they are all properly insulated and also check or upgrade your spark plug wires. Especially problematic are solid core spark plug wires, which generate substantially more electical noise.
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