Poor radio reception

I had an antenna go bad on me on another car a few years back. The signal from the antenna base was not getting a solid electrical connection to the antenna whip.

You might just try buying a cheap aftermarket antenna and screwing it in place. If that helps, you could then buy a new whip from Toyota or an OEM vendor.

Best wishes,

Frank

 

There is a signal booster in line with the antenna cable. It's located near the antenna under the head liner. It's quite possible that it has failed. I had the same problem with my 04 listening to AM stations.

 

I have a OEM I am selling..

 

On my '04 Prius w/AM/FM radio, CD changer, NAV: On the AM side of the radio, I get a static noise as I accelerate and also when I apply the brakes. The AM signal fades out completely when I go under an underpass on the freeway. In Jan 2011, dealer pulled MFD, and put electrical grease on the connections for the antenna wires. This solved the problem for about 4 months. The static noise & signal fade has gradually returned and is as bad now as it was before dealer put on the electrical grease. Now he tells me I have a short in the antenna wire, which runs under the headliner. He wants about $700 to remove headliner & change antenna wires! If I have a short, I wonder why the radio siginal does not cut out and in? Dealer couldn't answer that. This problem does not affect FM reception or CD playback. Has anyone else had an AM static noise problem? any indeas? Thanks.

 

On my '04 Prius w/AM/FM radio, CD changer, NAV: On the AM side of the radio, I get a static noise as I accelerate and also when I apply the brakes. The AM signal fades out completely when I go under an underpass on the freeway. In Jan 2011, dealer pulled MFD, and put electrical grease on the connections for the antenna wires. This solved the problem for about 4 months. The static noise & signal fade has gradually returned and is as bad now as it was before dealer put on the electrical grease. Now he tells me I have a short in the antenna wire, which runs under the headliner. He wants about $700 to remove headliner & change antenna wires! If I have a short, I wonder why the radio siginal does not cut out and in? Dealer couldn't answer that. This problem does not affect FM reception or CD playback. Has anyone else had an AM static noise problem? any indeas? Thanks.

 

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE, bad reception solved. 2005 base model.

Was weird, opening the driver or passenger door would cause the reception to degrade and seemed to have poor long range reception. Tested the radio with a communication analyzer, seemed okay given the 75ohm radio vs the 50ohm analyzer impedances. Also checked the antenna base amplifier, same impedance issue but did confirm gain if only in the AM band. I cut into the antenna near the top and ended up cutting a foil wrapped around a fiberglass rod. Didn't get any continuity from the threaded base to either side of the cut foil so I guessed a break was located in the springy base. I ordered a replacement from Aliexpress which arrived today and the wierdness is gone. Cost $2 CDN plus shipping. Now strong signal whether doors are open or not.
9/11/16 Inch Universal Car Roof Mast Whip Stereo Radio FM/AM Signal Aerial Amplified Antenna For VW BMW Benz Mazda Audi Toyota-in Aerials from Automobiles & Motorcycles on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

 

That’s pretty darn cheap. I just ordered one to see if the last one a bought is bad. Been having reception problems lately myself.

 

I have an aftermarket radio and found no difference between unplugging the antenna under the headliner in the back or leaving it attached. Nor was there a signal/voltage on the powerwire leading to the amplifier!

I traced this back to me having snipped the aftermarket wiring to link a standard headunit to the Prius wiring to use the "antenna signal" output (blue-white iirc) on the headunit for the amplifier I added. Back then I didn't know there was an amplifier in the antenna base so I didn't think twice in using this signal as the "remote" wire for the amplifier...

I fixed this, instead of 2 radiochannels I now have 15 in some remote area. But the radio does drop out once in a while. I am not sure if this happened before I reattached power to the antenna amplifier.


BTW: the powerwire for the antenna amplifier is orange at first, it goes into the wiringloom but is looped back and changes to a black wire somewhere between the loop and the MFD screen. From there, both the antenna wire and the power wire for the antenna amplifier go under the dash to the right A-style.
For poweramplifiers (for speakers), the "remote"-wire is also often orange.

 

The amplifier is effective for the AM band but without power essentially open circuits the antenna........good catch..

 

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE, another update:O) Here is a link to a replacement antenna with amplified base.....
DWCX 12V 9'' Screw Whip Car Roof Radio FM Antenna Aerial Mast Amplifier Booster Fit For BMW Mazda VW Toyota Corolla-in Aerials from Automobiles & Motorcycles on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

 

My antenna arrived this week. No change from my old one.

 

are you getting power to the base? Orange wire in a plug behind the radio supplies the 12v to the ant base....

 

OP, where have you gone? My 2008 radio developed some static which I easily fixed by removing the antenna mast, cleaning the threaded mounting surfaces, and applying a bit of dielectric grease. Also clean the rubber seal area that comes together when mast joins base so there won't be any more water/dirt incursion.