• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Contact | 360-778-1266

Center for Hearing Loss Help

Help for your hearing loss, tinnitus and other ear conditions

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Reference
    • Glossary of Ear Terms
    • Drug Pronunciation Guide
    • Looping Information
    • “Learn About Hearing”
    • Useful Links
  • Museum
  • Blog
  • Shop
    • Alerting Devices
    • Assistive Listening Devices
    • Books
    • Loop Systems
    • Speechreading CDs
    • Telephones, amplified
    • Visor Cards

How Do I Eliminate Electrical Interference in a Vehicle When Listening Via My T-coils ?

 by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. 

A man wrote:

I just bought the MaxIT bluetooth neckloop and recently tried it in my 2003 Honda Odyssey van. The electrical interference from the engine was so loud that I couldn’t use it. As the engine went faster the sound got louder.

I then tried the MaxIT in my 1996 Toyota Rav 4 with no problem, as least at idle. Otherwise it has worked fine. As you probably know, the use of the device in the car is important to eliminate background noise while riding in the car. Thanks for any help you can provide.

What you are hearing is mostly ignition noise caused by the spark plugs firing. Unfortunately some vehicles are electrically “quiet” and others are very “noisy” as you just discovered.

About 30 years ago when I was an active radio amateur, we “hams” had to cope with the same interference to our mobile radios. Fortunately, we knew a few tricks that largely eliminated it. You can do the same. (You’d think they would do this in all modern cars, wouldn’t you?)

The first thing to do to eliminate this interference is to replace the spark plug wires with special high-resistance spark plug wires. That was often the primary fix. Also, we’d put a capacitor across the alternator and that fixed the alternator “hash”. A good garage mechanic with a specialty in electrical stuff should be able to eliminate, or at least greatly reduce, this interference to an acceptable level.

I’ve heard from numerous people who want to use their t-coils in their cars—and to their dismay, their cars produce a lot of interference. Incidentally, don’t blame the neckloop. It isn’t picking up the interference. It’s the t-coils in your hearing doing that. You just notice it when you are using assistive devices such as the MaxIT neckloop because otherwise you have your aids in microphone mode.

Magnetic interference is one thing all hard of hearing people should take into consideration when buying a car. Sit in the car, start the motor and with your hearing aids in t-coil mode see whether you can hear any interference and if so, how bad it is. If it is too noisy, look for another car, or you could have a bargaining point to have the dealership correct the problem (at no extra cost) before you buy the car.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Domingo Riesco says

    April 28, 2009 at 10:29 AM

    Silicon spark cables for the engine were made to avoid that interference. Maybe your car is using copper spark cables; in that case, you could buy some silicon cables to solve the problem. If you look carefully to the any spark cable, you must see the writing “copper” or “silicon”.

    Good Luck

    Reply
  2. hearing loss says

    December 20, 2009 at 10:12 AM

    I’ve heard of magnetic interference but I didn’t realize what all could cause it. Interesting article.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hearing Loss Research & Resources

Free Visor Cards

Download your free Visor Cards for hard of hearing or deaf people here.

Loop Systems

Loop your home or meeting room. Discover how you can hear wonderfully clear sound again when listening to the TV/radio, etc, or when listening to a speaker at a meeting.

Loop systems are one of the best-kept secrets in town. To learn more about Loop Systems and what they can do for you, click here.

Take Control of Your Tinnitus—Here’s How

If your ears ring, buzz, chirp, hiss, click or roar, you know just how annoying tinnitus can be. You do not have to put up with this racket for the rest of your life. This book teaches you many things you can do to help bring your tinnitus under your control so it no longer bothers you.

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Sounds Now Too Loud for You?

Hypersensitive to Sound front coverIf some (or all) normal sounds seem so loud they “blow the top of your head off”, or make you wince or jump, or cause you headaches or ear pain, or affect your balance, or result in fear or annoyance of sounds so you feel you have to avoid these sounds, this book is for you!

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Hearing Phantom Sounds?

When hard of hearing people begin hearing phantom voices or music, they immediately worry they are going crazy. It never crosses their minds that they are sane and are just experiencing Musical Ear syndrome.

To learn more about the strange phantom sounds of Musical Ear syndrome and what you can do about them, click here to read a comprehensive article about Musical Ear Syndrome.

Or get the book—Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Glossary Navigation

  • Full List of Glossary Terms
  • A to Z Index

Footer

Center for Hearing Loss Help

Neil G. Bauman, Ph.D.

1013 Ridgeway Drive, Lynden,
WA 98264-1057 USA

Email: neil@hearinglosshelp.com

Phone: 360-778-1266 (M-F 9:00 AM-5:00 PM PST)

© 2025 Center for Hearing Loss Help – Help for your hearing loss, tinnitus and other ear conditions

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life [which also includes perfect hearing] through Jesus Christ our Lord." [Romans 6:23]

"But know this, in the last days perilous times will come" [2 Timothy 3:1]. "For there will be famines, pestilences, and [severe] earthquakes in various places" [Matthew 24:7], "distress of nations, the sea and the waves roaring"—tsunamis, hurricanes—Luke 21:25, but this is good news if you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, for "when these things begin to happen, lift up your heads [and rejoice] because your redemption draws near" [Luke 21:28].