Any New Info on Poor FM Radio Reception?

Hi there, living in Miami like you do and being so close to the FM transmitters, here is the route that I would take to trouble shootthe problem...

1- Make sure the antenna is firmly plugged into the back of the radio. I also have the JBL system and installed my own XM. I had to unplug the car antenna to make this easier, in fact I put a splitter in so I could feed a scanner as well as the radio. If the antenna is not plugged in securely at the back of the radio you will receive a very poor signal. Thus sounding like crap!!
2- Make sure the antenna on the car is connected to the outside mount. I am assuming you have the 15 inch or whatever the common one is. Its easily removable, and you have to make sure that it is seated properly.
3 At this point if you still have a problem, all you have left is the antenna coax. if you have an ohm meter great, or find a friend, hey just buy one, all you need is a simple cheap one. You want to measure continuity from the the plug that goes into the back of the JBL head. Turn on meter, set to measure OHMS, then short probes together, you should see a full scale deflection, if analog type, or a bunch of zero's if its a digital. If you can get that little test to work, then place one lead on the outside metal of the connector, and the other lead touch to the center tip of the plug. You should see NO reading. If you get a bunch of zeros, you have a shorted cable, and that will prevent the signal from getting into the radio. fix the cable, or replace the coax. I would also pop the antenna on the roof off and place a probe into the center hole, while not touching the grounding ring. You might have to add some small gauge wire to the other lead. Touch that wire to the center tip of the antenna plug, you should see a dead short, if not the cable center conductor is open, also making the RF signal unable to get to the radio!

Are all stations that you receive noisy and crappy??? If its not the Antenna or coax, sadly its the radio ...major pain in da butt!!

Please post what you find out

Good Luck

73 de Pat KK6PD

 

OK!!

Here are 2 excellent articles on XM installation. I used both guides, and they are wonderfully written!!!

#1 http://priuschat.com/forums/attachme...sxminstall.pdf



# 2 https://www.metrotpn.com/documents/PDF%20Files/Prius/Eddie's%20XMRadio%20Install/PriusXMradio3.2.pdf

The first is the factory install document, the second shows how to rip into the dash correctly so you can but it all back together so it still looks sweet!

Have Fun
73 de Pat KK6PD

 

Aaronlife,

Welcome to PriusChat.

The OEM antenna base has a real Achilles heel in the way it is built. Your
problem may lie here.

Inside the base, there is a small powered signal amplifer. That's not the
problem. Part of the waterproofing of the base is a plastic piece that for
want of a better name I will call the "base cup." When you look at the
base itself, the cup looks like a plastic ring, but it also runs underneath
the base as a form of gasket. It appears that after some time in the sun,
the the plastic ring can/does become embrittled.

The problem is that if the antenna was ever subjected to pulling/pushing,
rough treatment --getting it hung up on a partially opened garage door is
a typical scenario -- the seal between the base cup and the base can be
compromised. If even the tiniest amount of water gets in it corrodes the
circuitry. Who knows what happened before you got the car?

I know all this because a while back I decided I just had to see what the
little amplifier looks like. So I got a base from a junk yard and took it
apart. I was surprised what I found in the way of water damage.

If it comes to relacing the antenna base, you have to release, if not
actually remove, the headliner. There are threads with pix and description
in the archives. I thiink a new base alone goes for something like $40 on
the internet.

Hope this helps.

 

This explains why after 2.5 years I stopped getting any AM reception on my 2005, funny FM still comes in fine.

 

I have an '08 Prius with the JBL system. I find that all my local stations come in fine, no complaints here in Broward County and they work fine in Dade County. I have noticed that the ability let's say in South Broward to receive 98.7 which is up in Palm Beach county is poor. I can receive it in N.Broward, but not well enough to keep the wife from saying, "I'm tired of listening to static, put something on that is clear." Bottom line FM receive is not that sensitive however I can overlook that minor detail to save on fuel. It's a sacrifice I knew I was taking when I bought the car, just like knowing that the AC system is weak in that car. My previous car, a Toyota 4Runner with a nice Alpine after market radio picked up 98.7 fine all over Dade County. It also had one of those power antennas that extended up high above the cars fender. The Prius antenna sucks in my opinion, however until someone shows me a good quality (LONG) antenna to replace the factory one with, this is what I will have to put up with.

I do know that AM reception will be affected if you have metalized tint on your windows specifically the back window, just in case that question was coming up next.

Well, off to my routing mega cables in my Prius. By the time I'm done installing and modifying my Prius, I don't know that I will be able to call it a Prius any longer!

 

Replace factory antenna with Fuba Betaflex-D antenna....

 

Well Shazaam. This may explain why I also experienced reduced AM reception (along with a huge increase in engine / motor noise interference) in my 2005 (Package 6) about 1.5 years ago. Finally took it in early this year and the Dealer service rep said he replaced my radio but that brought little improvement. I will bring this to their attention. Quite possibly they may have known but didn't want to deal with headliner removal and replacement. . Guess I better press the issue before my extended warranty runs out.

Is there any better replacement / retrofit for this seemingly fragile component than Toyota's ?

Al