Since purchasing my Prius (a little over a year ago), I have had an occasional problem with the XM not working. It is a factory radio with a dealer installed XM receiver. Every once in a while, the audio starts breaking up as if the radio is losing the signal (wide open area - no obstructions). Shortly after this happens, I get no audio from the XM stations, although, the song names and artist still display. I do not get the antenna icon on the top left for lost signal as I do when I am in a tunnel, etc. All other radio functions (AM/FM and CD) work fine when this happens. I tried turning the radio off and back on to no avail, then recently, I discovered that if I turn the car Power off, then back on, the XM works fine. The problem with this of course is that turning the car power off and back on is not an easy task, especially when you're on the Interstate in traffic. Has anyone else noticed this problem? I suspect it is an issue with the satellite receiver and not the stereo itself. By the way, this problem started long before the Sirius XM merger...
I forgot to ask the question in my original post - has anyone else had this kind of problem? Any ideas?
I have had a similar problem on my 2006 - from the day I took delivery. It's a little different in that sometimes the Sirius radio just doesn't come on at all. It's like the Sat radio was never installed. Shutting down the car and restarting (rebooting, in essence) gets everything running again. It looks like (in my case, anyway) it tends to happen if I try to do anything o before the car's boot up sequence is complete. As an example, if I am in a hurry to take off and shift into D or R prematurely, it happens about 20% of the time. Try some observation on your car and see if you aren't try to rush things.
Have you taken it back to the dealer? I assume that a factory radio installed by the dealer in an 07 would still be under warranty.
Not yet, I am about due for another 5K mile service. I'm sure it's a warranty thing but since it is so intermittent, I thought I'd check with PC to see if anyone had any ideas I could give my dealer. Thanks.
Please post what you find... I have an after-market unit that was installed to my 2008 Prius Package 6... and I've had several similar experiences lately... not certain if it's related to anything XM has been doing as they reprogram their channels with Sirius stations.
I just received my 2009 Prius back in October and had the exact/identical problem you just spelled out. You would think that I would have written the post. My dealer kindly had a new receiver sent in and they switched them out and I have not had that problem again. It was so hard to try to explain this problem, but you did it beautifully. I put my money on you have the same problem and a new receiver will be the fix. Don't forget, you will have a new receiver number and it may work at first with XM, but in a few days, you will have to call to let them know you changed receivers. Good luck! Larry
Capt, Loose connections and faulty antenna would be the first area to investigate. I have experienced the lose of signal strength while listening to XM. I found that changing the antenna make a big difference in reception. I got the shark fin antenna advertised on this site. It works pretty darn good. Hopes this helps, Dbcassidy
If I read his post correctly, I recognized his problem as being just like what I had and it was not due to a loss of signal strength. The radio continues to show the stations and the verbage as to what is on, etc. as if receiving a strong signal. The problem is that there is no sound on the satelitte channels after it fades out until you cut the car off and restart. A new receiver corrected this issue for me.
I have an XM factory installed unit on my 2008. This problem occurred when I was driving through winding and rolling hills in the country side of western Illinois-Iowa area. It came back right away after I stopped the car, turned the car off and back on. I haven't experienced the problem before that trip or afterward. I chalked it up to the signal. I was able to receive the AM/FM radio while the satellite was out. Also, I found the same thing occurred with my portable XM radio. Someone who is familiar with how the satellites are used with Sirius and XM can probably explain this situation.
Thanks for the replies. It sounds like Larshar has experienced the same problem. I suspected the receiver since everything else worked fine. I'll hit my dealer up for a new XM receiver when I take it in for service. As I mentioned, this problem popped up long before the Sirius/XM merger, so I believe a faulty receiver fits the bill. Thanks again.
I have had this problem in the past... Initially I suspected the receiver was the problem, because everything else was fine (displays, controls, etc.) I noticed that it seemed to happen (rarely) after a loss of signal. It just would not recover. Of course, I could never get it to fail at the dealer. I tried moving the antenna from the dash to the back roof (behind the radio antenna) and have not experienced the problem since. In addition, I have had significantly less drop-outs due to trees and such. Don't know if this is what is happening to you, but have not had the problem for almost 9 months now...
Les: Now that I am more aware, I have noticed that the problem occurs in 1 of circumstances: 1) When I first start up the car and take off, or, 2) While under way, it will happen when I switch channels (not every time of course - that would make it too easy). The problem always occurs while I am in the wide open. Thanks.
It pains me to say that this occurrence has happened again twice since I had my new receiver installed by the dealer. I actually went a full week of traveling and not a single episode, thus my reasoning in my prior posts of suspecting the receiver. Now I am questioning that. Again CaptainMatt, like you, it usually happens to me when just taking off or underway when I switch channels, but let me add, it is usually happens when I switch to a high channel like those on the talk radio channels (160's). That's when the pulsating starts and then the eventual fadeout. Now I am back to scratching my head, but so far not a big enough problem to do anything drastic. Back to the drawing board. Maybe it is a satellite issue? Does anybody know if all the channels on XM come off the same satelitte? Could it be possible that the higher channels come from a different one? I don't know. Larry
I have had this problem in the past... Initially I suspected the receiver was the problem, because everything else was fine (displays, controls, etc.) I noticed that it seemed to happen (rarely) after a loss of signal. It just would not recover. Of course, I could never get it to fail at the dealer. I tried moving the antenna from the dash to the back roof (behind the radio antenna) and have not experienced the problem since. In addition, I have had significantly less drop-outs due to trees and such. Don't know if this is what is happening to you, but have not had the problem for almost 9 months now... How did you get the antenna to the back of the car?
