AM Radio Issues - Poor Reception, Antenna issues, etc.

[dadler]

This may be an old topic, but my Phaeton radio consistently is very staticy. I finally asked the dealer to fix it and they say there is no fix? It is quite bad. My Toyota Prius AM radio sounds like a $100,000 car compared to this AM radio. AM is good for traffic reports and news in the NYC area. Am I the only one with this problem?

[Rowayton]

The AM section seems very sensitive to any nearby power lines on certain stations in my car too. Out on the open road away from close by power lines, transformers, and telephone poles my AM is quiet and works quite well. Some stations like 1010 AM (a station you most probably are using in your area) seems to be more sensitive to noise than say 880 AM under the same conditions on my radio. I'm guessing that the mid band AM stations on a Phaeton radio is eager to let us enjoy RFI along with the traffic reports. See if the problem exists on 880 AM. Mine is pretty quiet on that station no mater where I am driving. There are antenna noise filters available in the aftermarket but connecting one with any hope of it working would not be fun, easy, or perhaps even possible in a Phaeton.
RB

[W126C]

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who has the best sound systems ever put in a car and uses it for talk radio.

I agree, some AM stations are always clear and others are effected by the smallest interferences.

Could there be a market for FM Talk Radio? Oh, it's called XM.
Regards,
Brent

[geowben]

I agree Brent. Since I had my windows tinted I can only get one local AM station, and, like you, I listen to talk radio quite a lot. XM has been the solution for me.

[PanEuropean]

Quote, originally posted by dadler »

This may be an old topic, but my Phaeton radio consistently is very staticy...

David:

By any chance have you had your rear window tinted? The radio antennas are embedded in the rear window glass. Two problems can arise as a result of tinting, first is that if the tint is metallic, it screws up the antenna performance, second is that the tint installers often unintentionally destroy the antenna connections with their installation tools when they try to install the film up under the headliner.

Antenna Control Module

[dadler]

Actually 880 Am is really bad. As a Yankee fan it is tough to listen to the games on my commute home. Only a few stations are decent. I am being told theat in Gemany AM is nt used so get used tot he problem

[dadler]

I have not done anything to tint the windows, Could the dealer have done this? How would I find out?

[njwiseguy]

I have also found AM reception to be poor. Most of the normal NYC stations are OK (just OK) for me but I am pretty close to the city. As soon as I start up the thruway or head out west, the reception degrades quickly.

880 is pretty good, I will be listening today on my way to the stadium!

Chris.

[dadler]

I guess I will drive my Prius on Yankee days.

[Marc D]

Picked up my 2003 V8 last Wednesday. Great drive, still sorting out how everything's works!

Anyway, I need to get back to the dealer to get the AM antenna fixed since I have no reception at all! Can anybody tell me if this a common Phaeton issue? Many people here in The Netherlands never listen to AM - since almost everything is in FM - but I am an exception (listening to the BBC Worldservice on AM). Had no problems at all in other cars receiving AM.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

[PanEuropean]

Hi Marc:

Welcome to the Phaeton forum, and congratulations on your purchase.

All of the antennas for the vehicle are embedded in the glass of the rear window. There is further information about the antenna system at this post: Antenna Technology and also some good photos of the antenna components mounted on the rear window at this post: Retrofitting a Television Tuner. Below, you will find an illustration that shows you where the different radio antenna components are located on the Phaeton.

The first troubleshooting question that comes to mind is this: Does your Phaeton have any kind of tint (especially, any kind of film) applied to the rear window? Window tint has been found to be the absolute 'kiss of death' to rear window antenna systems in the past.

Michael

Phaeton Radio Antenna Components

[PanEuropean]

Quote, originally posted by Marc D »

Anyway, I need to get back to the dealer to get the AM antenna fixed...

Marc:

You mentioned that you have a 2003 Phaeton, which is a fairly early production vehicle. You might want to suggest that your VW dealer have a look at what software is installed in the large J523 controller (the big screen between the two front seats), and if appropriate, upgrade the software in that controller to the most recent release. I am not sure whether that will address the AM reception problem you have, but I do know it will clean up a multitude of other small problems. There is a post that describes the updating process here: Changing the Language used on the Infotainment Display. Disregard the remarks about the different hardware versions (different button layouts) that are made in that post, as those comments apply only to North American specification Phaetons. To determine the software version that is currently installed in your Phaeton, please see this post for instructions: TB: Phaeton Technical Bulletin 90-05-05 "Clock Runs Too Slow".

Also, I recommend that you ask your dealer to look up VW Campaigns number 66C4 and 97J9, and see if all of the work mandated in those campaigns has been carried out on your vehicle. There are some additional software updates mentioned in those campaigns.

Michael

[Marc D]

Michael, Big Thx! Checked and found out I have software version 0220 and better ask for the update while this also would give me - if I understand you correctly - the possibility to opt for a Dutch language version (now only English and German) of the system.
With respect to the AM reception I note that the rear window looks "normal" while FM, GSM and GPS reception are OK!
BTW: Also found your info on the trunk lid problem. Got it solved thanks to that!
BR, Marc

PS Sorry I posted this reply in the wrong thread earlier!

[PanEuropean]

Hi Marc:

Thanks for posting that follow-up - it's nice to hear that the information we have here in the forum is useful.

In the North American market, software version 0220 in the J523 creates a known problem with the analog clock in the center of the dash losing time.

The newest version of the J523 software for Europe is, I think, 253, but I am not 100% sure of that. There is a 223 version out there, and I know that was recently (end of August 2006) superceded by a higher version. Also be aware that the software for the navigation controller (the navigation CD reader) needs to be updated at the same time that the J523 is updated. This process is automatic when the update disc is installed.

Lastly, as you probably noticed from reading that other thread, the update process can take a long time (several hours, at least), so, plan to drop your car off for a full day, and be absolutly certain that the VW dealer hooks up a battery maintainer to the terminals of the left battery before starting the work. There are details about how to use a battery maintainer at this post: NAPA Battery Maintainer for a Phaeton (Includes TB 00-03-11, 27–04–01, and 27–06–06).

If your J523 software is at version 0220, then your instrument cluster (controller 17) software is probably below the latest release also. Please see this post for information about updating the instrument cluster software: TB: Distortion in the Display Unit in the Instrument Cluster (MFI, or Y24). Finally, while the car is at the VW dealer, make sure that your battery management controller (controller 71) is at software version 2700 or higher. The battery management controller software cannot be flash-updated - replacement of the part is required if the software is at 2500 or 2600 status. The software and hardware status can be determined by scanning this controller with a diagnostic scan tool. Part numbers that end in A have software 2500, those that end in B have software 2600, both of which are undesirable. You want a part number that ends in either C (software 2700) or D (software 2800). C is just as good as D, so there is no reason to replace the part if you have a battery management controller with a C suffix on the part number.

There is also a campaign out to replace some other parts in early production (MY 2003) Phaetons - please send me an email at this address: moore99 at rogers dot com - and I will send you more information by email.

Michael

[PanEuropean]

Marc:

I have added this discussion to the Phaeton Forum 'Table of Contents' (FAQ by Category) under the heading of "Radio - AM Reception Problems", so, I would be grateful to you if you could report back what actions were taken to resolve the AM radio reception problems that you have.

Also - just a 'shot in the dark' troubleshooting suggestion - please have a look at the display of frequencies on your AM radio band, and make sure that the vehicle is displaying frequencies in 9 kHz increments (the European specification), and not in 10 kHz increments (the North American specification). There are two different part numbers for that big Front Information Display and Control Head, or J523 - one is a NAR (North American Region) specification, the other is a ROW (Rest of World) specification. If someone has replaced the J523 in your car in the past, and by some error put a NAR spec unit in, that would perfectly explain why the AM radio doesn't work worth a darn.

Michael

[memmelle1]

Sir,
I have the same problem with my 03 Jetta. Did the problem occur immediately after picking it up from the dealer? My bet is that it did. My guess is that you now have a bad ground somewhere.

My dealership had my car for over a month replacing some mysterious wire harness that had to be custom made (and if you believe that.....). While they had it, I asked them to find out why the CD player would stop when the interior of the car got hot, summer or winter. They replaced the entire radio without my knowledge (they forgot to take out my cd-kissed that one goodbye). Ever since then, static, static, static. They couldn't figure out what caused it.

If the dealer was replacing a recalled part while you were getting your oil changed, or they actually told you about the recall, they might have disconnected the grounding wire associated with the radio and didn't reconnect it or poorly connected it. Or it could be the base connection of the antenna that has failed.

Hope this helps narrow down the problem.

[GripperDon]

Copied from another forum:

"Mechanic’s Tale: VW, Heal Thyself
Volkswagen needs to be the people's car, not the mechanic's friend.
by Douglas Flint (2005-08-15)

ORIGINAL ARTICLE CAN BE FOUND .HERE

What's in a name? Sometimes nothing. I couldn't tell you what Buick means. Perhaps the founder was named Stanley Buick. Saturn was probably chosen as a name because the 750 million miles or so between the planets Saturn and Earth represented the distance necessary to escape the lethal radiation of General Motors Corporate Headquarters. (They didn't make it.)

But there is no doubt what Volkswagen means and set out to be: "the people's car," a simple utilitarian car for the masses, affordable and easy to maintain. Now I don't believe Volkswagen can ever return to the simple air-cooled Beetle, which predates World War II. But they had better do something because the reputation of their cars is becoming toxic.

Europeans have always had a fundamental problem with the understanding of electricity and electrical things. Perhaps because old Ben Franklin discovered it and Thomas Edison figured out what to do with it, they outright rejected it as a nouveau riche affectation from the new world. When the world jumped from electrical to electronic, the German manufacturer's problems became even worse. The first thing I noticed is the AM radio function in most Volkswagens never works. This is a dangerous warning sign as the AM radio is almost as old as the telegraph, and every American male growing up in the past century learned how to build one using a coat hanger and a copper penny as a tuner, yet this is somehow beyond the reach of Germany's finest minds. And if you can't master the AM radio thing, what will happen with modern computer controls? "

[M1LUM]

"Europeans have always had a fundamental problem with the understanding of electricity and electrical things. Perhaps because old Ben Franklin discovered it and Thomas Edison figured out what to do with it, they outright rejected it as a nouveau riche affectation from the new world."

Oooh, now this could get nasty !

By the same token, seeing that the Internal Combustion engine was a european invention, it kind of explains why US Auto Manufacturers have stuck with awful, lumpy, chain driven V8's and relied on cubic inches to overcome any lack of efficiency.

. . . Stands back and awaits the incoming . . .

[GripperDon]

Not from me. I really only reprinted a very short part of the article. The part that had to do with AM radios. The rest was really bad about engine design etc. I didn't want to upset anyone and am a bit sorry that I posted the portion I did. If was just that the AM problem seemed so prevalent that motivated me.

[sethdallob]

My AM radio reception is horrible too. I brought it in thinking something was wrong, but the tech said it was fine. There are simply too many gizmos that interfere with the antenna - when the engine is off, the reception is fine, when it's on, it's horrible.

[GripperDon]

I should have said that Mine is the absolute worst AM reception I have ever had. My last 6 MBZ's have all been great. Thanks goodnesss I have added XM radio and the X3 Aux in.

[deepak.tripathi]

Here is another one. I have just noticed that while the FM band in my Phaeton radio is perfectly okay, the AM band does not receive a single station. Nor can I search for, or scan, a list. AM reception was never good (I live in a heavily-builtup town), but now there is nothing on that band, although there is background hiss, which I suppose means the radio is operating. Any clues?

[PanEuropean]

When I was replacing the antenna control module on my Phaeton with a slightly different version (one that would support television reception), I noticed that the original antenna control module had a crack in it, midway across the component. I'm not sure why it would have cracked - my only guess is perhaps as a result of freeze-thaw cycles, kind of like steering wheels used to crack on cars from the 50s and 60s.

Anyway, this might be the cause of your problem. Let's hope not, because it is a major PITA to replace that little part - you have to lower the headliner at the back of the car. See this post for more information: Retrofitting a Television Tuner. I have posted some pictures of the cracked module below FYI.

Before you (or your VW technician) go to all the trouble of investigating that antenna part, double-check to ensure that the correct country code is set for your car in controller 17. North America uses 10 kHz AM frequency spacing, and Europe uses 9 kHz AM frequency spacing. Just scan through the AM radio channels and make sure they are incrementing in 9kHz increments, as they should in the UK and Continental Europe. If they are incrementing in 10 kHz increments, that will explain why you can't get any AM radio channels. The fix for that problem is really easy, a 5 minute software coding change only - no disassembly required.

Michael

[PanEuropean]

Here are the pictures:

The new and old antenna controllers (longer one has TV capability)
Note the crack in the middle of the old one

Additional pictures of the cracked controller

[deepak.tripathi]

Thanks Michael for your insight. Unfortunately, the scan function does not work. It does not move forward. I have passed on the VWvortex page to my dealer and will visit the technician some time next week.

[PanEuropean]

Archival Note: Related post

FM Radio Reception Problems - discussion of cracked antenna amplifier

[PanEuropean]

Photos re-hosted.

Michael