• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Is poor AM receception an indicator of other car problems?

OK- I bought the car -the FM tuner is excellent and gets superior reception in any vehicle I've ever driven. Sounds great too. The AM has a real good (sensitive) tuner as well. WFAN 660 NYC came in on seek about 20 mi E of Hartford CT (3pm). But that was with the engine off. So I'll have to live with a system that has great FM , cassette deck and CD player for now. Maybe do a little AM DX ing in unusual locations or at night with the engine off. But the problem is not the antenna. The vehicle has only 37K miles so it's probably not in need of a tune up.
One ironic thing about driving a Crown Vic. A lot of people are really nice to you out there on the road. Wonder why? And gas mileage is much better than expected.
 
Still didn't hear whether the antenna is in the windshield or a whip.
I bet you get twice as much AM signal if it's a windshield job and you switch to a whip.
People are nice to you because respectable, mature, sensible people have Crown Vics, also "seasoned citizens".
They are also favored by law agencies, government and the military.
These are all good reasons to be courteous to Crown Vics when you encounter them.

What year is it? Ford still had one or two crisp sounding AM radios as late as 2007.

Last week in Pittsburgh, PA, they gave me a Lincoln Town car for a rental.. hmmm, OK.
So it's comfy, but the AM radio sure is a muffle-box. They've dumbed that right down to 2 or 3 khz.
This weeks rental in Minneapolis was a Subaru Outback and the AM went clear up to 8 khz or so.
Sure was nice to get back to my own car and its 25-15,000 hz 1966 AM/FM Mopar/Bendix.
Except for the iboc noise, of course.
 
I don't know if I would be so quick to pronounce AM dead. True, listeners to AM are dying off and some of the "heritage AM's" are moving their programming to FM. For
for now at least, AM remains viable, at least on the big sticks. For the smaller stations, religious and minority programming is filling the void. AM won't be around forever but I'm not so sure it is on its deathbed just yet.
 
The respectability for Crown Vics, Impalas, etc. may be changing. They're prime candidates for being pimped out now.

I meant to mention it in my earlier post, but I have a 2005 Dodge Caravan that has the Chrysler RAZ radio/tape/CD system, that has great reception on both AM and FM. I also had a 2002 PT Cruiser with the same model radio at one time. I'm not sure if Chrysler is still using the RAZ in any current vehicles or not.

I know it was mentioned earlier that AM is being dropped on some car systems, and that doesn't surprise me. With factory and aftermarket systems including satellite radio and TV, inputs and hard drives for playing MP3s, and even DVD players, I'm not surprised that AM is being dropped. But then all I listen to on AM now is occasional sports and a certain few Christian programs that are on AM. I'm actually listening to my MP3 player in my car now more than any kind of radio.
 
My '96 VW has developed a bad antenna connection or ground at the antenna base in the fender, and to do anything with it, you have to jack the car up (or put in on a lift), remove the left front wheel to get it out of your way, then remove the inner layer of the fender, which is bolted to the back of the outer layer of the fender with a number of (rusty) bolts.

The mounting nut, etc... for the antenna is in between the two layers of the fender. When the car is assembled, they install the antenna into the outer fender layer first, then install the inner fender layer, preventing access to the antenna unless it's removed. So, if it happens to loosen up down the line or is broken off or otherwise needs to be replaced, you have to go through a labor-expensive procedure at a shop, or an aggravating day of work if you try to do it yourself.

And, I know you can get to the antenna jack at the back of the radio by pulling the radio out of the dashboard, but I can't imagine what kind of nightmare you have to do if you need to install a new antenna and re-route the cord behind the dashboard. The factory shop repair manual says that the steering wheel must be removed in order to remove the entire dashboard assembly behind it, and practically all dashboard electrical devices and switches must be disconnected and most of the in-dash ventilation system must be disassembled.

It used to be so easy to replace a car antenna in "ancient times" - the 1960s, '70s, and even into the '80s on some models. Nowadays, forget it. I guess I'll have to put up with the bad connection until I replace the car.
 
Usually the antenna is the main source for good reception (But the radio if a piece of crap can also add to the bad quality also)
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom