Weak FM radio reception in 2010 Prius?

One of these...
40cm long Car Aerial Masts

It is noticably better than the stock aerial with the chinese HU I have. YMMV

 

that was one of the first things i noticed on my 2011 prius... even compared to my 2007 dodge the reception with the radio is horrid. I will stay tuned with my fingers crossed I guess... and use that AUX jack until then. (sad that a hand radio will get better reception then the stock one in the car)

 

Here is some food for thought.

I am still experimenting with getting better FM reception.
I installed the Flyaudio and was still having the same bad FM radio reception (only a little better) so I do not blame the OEM radio anymore. In general they both have the same bad reception.

So, I started to experiment and added 4 gauge ground wires to the car.

1.) added a second ground wire to the battery (-) ground to the battery hold down bracket bolt.
2.) added one to the radio chassis then to a bolt on the inside of the bridge console; when I replaced the radio.
3.) added one to the other side of the motor opposite of the factory passenger side ground to frame.

IMO the radio reception has improved a great deal. Not perfect but an improvement for me.

It's still early in my experimenting but I am really happy so far.

my2cents.

 

I have two 2010 Prius (V)'s. I simply recently had both auto dvd/navigation models replaced under warranty. I no more have an FM sound problem with either weakened signal or noise.

 

There is TSB for USA market and navigation model. Somebody wrote that the replacement of the unit had no or small effect. May you are lucky or trying to spam the forum according to your other posts and profile (Prius 2008) info.

 

It's like any other RF device (TVs use RF as well).

If the signal is too strong "too hot" removing the antenna mast can reduce the signal strength and actually make reception better.

If the signal is in the happy medium "just right" Goldilocks range taking the mast off won't change anything.

If the signal is too weak "too cold" then taking the mast off will make reception worse or you may lose the station entirely.

At home I notice not much difference between no mast, the 4" mast, and the 16" mast. But when I'm on the road in an area with poor reception I notice more of a difference. It's still minor enough that I can't hardly tell the difference between the 4" and 16".

The thing is if you don't put a mast on you have to worry about those threads rusting so you need to tape or fill with goo to protect the threads. I'd rather just put the cheap 4" mast on as it keeps the moisture out and is mostly unnoticeable.

 

Anyone know anything about static electricity?

My 2011 Prius is the most staticy car I have ever driven. I shock myself on the door every time I get out. Granted, I do have cloth seats and it is fairly cold and dry here in GA.

Would static electricity have an effect on the radio signal reception/processing? Is the Prius (with its 12v battery and traction motor) more prone to producing static electricity? Is static electricity completely unrelated to the "static" of the radio?

Ryan

 

oddest thing, drove to work today, and switching between fm / am and near end of commute home (15 minutes from home in an hour and half commute), fm just "quit"...

am worked, satelite worked (i don't subscribe, just the free commercial for satelite).

After driving a couple of miles I turned off radio / switched off / on. Could not get FM to work. I had a stop before reaching home, and after stopping and getting back on my trip home (only a few minute stop..) The radio worked on fm just fine...

Maybe needed to be "rebooted"...

 

My Prius is not even close to my most 'staticy' car, a mid-80s Ford. The static is caused mostly by the interaction between your clothing and the seat material as you exit the seat. It is unrelated to the traction motor and battery.

Static can damage any electronics that is not adequately designed and protected. But it is the discharge events -- the spark, felt or not -- that does the damage, and that damage is permanent. The mere buildup of static should not cause 'static' noise in your radio until it actually sparks. Continuous sparking is almost always from something else, such as bad engine spark ignition, motor brush arcing, etc.

 

Reception on my 2005 has gone to heck. Can only pick up close strong stations with lots of static. Took the entire dash apart but found no loose or broken wires. Open to any and all suggestions including radio replacement?

 

How many miles do you have?
Is the in service date under 3 years?
There is a TSB on this issue.
It is T-SB 0141-10

 

We've covered this issue in great depth in this thread during the 3 years since the post you've replied to, including the TSB (which doesn't fix it and only applies to some versions).

It seems that later models *may* possibly be better, but there remains an RF interference issue with the 2010/2011 cars for sure, one that's not been adequately addressed (or even publicly admitted to by Toyota).

Many of us have given up trying to get a fix, or have installed aftermarket radios that give some improvement over the pretty poor stock radio in these models. If you read this thread you'll find examples where multiple radio replacements by the dealer didn't fix it, examples where a single radio replacement fixed it, some where changing the antenna made a difference, some where filtering out the RF noise from the car made a difference. I can confirm (from measurements on my car) that it's the car that is the main problem, in that (at least for the 2010 model I have) the car electrical system emits a lot of interference and the stock radio is very poor at dealing with it.

 

^ I wonder about the RF interference Jeremy... we bought a Corolla last fall and the FM reception in it is just as bad as our Prius.

 

To some extent I think it's a potential problem with many new cars, as they get more and more complex electronic systems.

When I did the measurement work on my Prius a couple of years ago I found that much of the RF noise seemed to be coming from the area of the power electronics, and at the time I wondered if the apparent lack of solid metal screening on the 2010 inverter assembly (relative to the 2005 Prius I had before) was a contributory factor. It may well be that the problem is not the power electronics at all though, but one of the many ECUs in the front of the car that are powered up when the car is switched to "ready". If that's the case, then it seems likely that other cars with complex electronic systems may well have a similar problem until the manufacturers sort it out. I get the feeling that Toyota were caught out with this problem, as they seem to have rectified it on later cars, as far as I can tell.

 

For the short period of time I had my 2011 base radio in, I found no problem with the FM radio reception.

However after installing a gen3 2012 display radio, I found the reception slightly marginal until I reconnected the 12 volt supply to the factory antenna amplifier.

I wonder if a technician would ever bother to verify the condition of the antenna amplifier or is it possible toyota improved this amplifier in late 2011 because it does make a big difference when it is powered up.

 

I have been a huge fan of Sirius (sat radio) for many years and have had many aftermarket radio heads installed in personal and company vehicles.
The antenna is always the 1/2 dollar - shaped magnet to the center portion of steel just above the windshield, exterior mounted. I've driven in tight tree-lined (huge trees) mountain passes and everything else that could possibly block a signal.
Driven 30k+ miles a year for work alone.
NEVER lost a signal of any consequence.

The SAT radio in my 2012 Prius has difficulty picking up signal even in the most perfect of conditions. If somebody walks along the sidewalk with a dog I lose signal for 10 - 15 seconds easily. If someone rubs balloons on their head...fuggitabowdit!

I'm guessing the FM/AM/SAT antenna are a common unit. I don't listen to AM/FM but I'm guessing it's as bad as reception factor I'm experiencing for SAT radio. Very dissapointing.

 

had a friend with $12,000 damage to his 2005 Pirus he is spraying Rataway Fragrance on the engine and has kept them at bay.

 

I have a 2011 Prius that had the factory radio. Same issue with me too, very poor reception with stations that I had great reception with in al my previous cars. I too thought the problem was related to the radio. That is NOT the case.
I just installed a high end ($1000) JVC radio/navigation/and everything else you can think of on it, and guess what? The crappy reception is exactly the same. So, why are people replacing radios? It won't help.
Does anyone make a new and improved, and hopefully longer, antenna? All I have seem was that shark fin one, which I know just from the looks of it that it won't improve my reception.
Any help with this issue would be appreciated.
BTW...this is my first post on the forum. Glad I found this site.
Bert

 

As you can see, the thread has 32 pages. We (including the factory) didn't find the reliable solution. The common meaning is, that it is caused by EMI generated by car and bad FM radio design. When I tested the EU version of PiP equipped with OEM Harman Touch (6.5" touch display unit), the FM radio worked fine, without symptoms from our cars.