2023 with Poor FM and virtually no AM Radio

[Montana Ranger]

I have a new Ranger that seems to have no AM at all and very poor FM. I first thought the antenna cable or connection was bad. Now I'm not sure.

I've found that AM radio reception in cars manufactured over the last couple of decades or so have been mediocre at best. I've written that off to the extreme filtering required to get rid of all of the noise that now emanates from the vehicle itself. (Which is why the manufacturers want to be rid of AM radios altogether) The AM on my '19 Ranger Lariat is no exception. It works, but not for long as I get further away from town. I don't listen all that much to the FM in favor of the XM/Sirius, so I really don't have an opinion on its overall performance beyond knowing that on the occasions in town where I have used it, it worked normally.

You obviously knew how to check the antenna. That leaves bad coax between the antenna and the receiver. I wouldn't rule out the radio itself, although that would be more difficult to test without an identical Ranger nearby for comparison.

Sponsored

 

[Tom W8JI]

I wouldn't rule out the radio itself, although that would be more difficult to test without an identical Ranger nearby for comparison.

The big issue with AM radios these days is the manufacturers use long high capacitance leads to crappy little antennas. AM antennas are very high impedance voltage probes. The antenna impedance is off the charts so any shunt capacitance in the lead to the radio just kills the signal voltage. Plus the radios are not high impedance inputs like the old radios.

If you look at the cable in an old car, it is a 3/8th inch diameter hollow shielded wire with a thin hair strand down the middle. That was to minimize capacitance and make cable impedance high.

However, this radio is dead on AM unless parked right next to a kilowatt station. It is also really bad on FM, and the antenna barely makes a difference whether it is there or not. I still have to do a TDR measurement and see if a cable fault shows, but if it were the radio the antenna would make a bigger than normal difference. The antenna making no difference, other people's radios working, and my antenna testing good tells me it is probably just in the cable to the radio.

 

[airline tech]

I wonder if Bezel Diagnostics will show you anything.
Press and Hold - Simultaneously -- SEEK UP and SEEK UP on the steering wheel and FCIM
to enter the diagnostics screen.
There is a signal strength tab in that screen.

 

[airline tech]

Just did a quick test of the radio strength.
AM = 81
FM = 70
Average readings tuned to various stations.
As viewed from AHU Diagnostics Tab in the Bezel Diagnostics screen.

 

[Tom W8JI]

The dealer came down with a loaner and took my truck back for warranty work.

They called Monday and said the radio was okay and I said, "Have someone else check it again or check it yourself".

They called back and said, "Yes, it does have a problem".

They called today, Thursday, and said it had a broken antenna cable up above the headliner and the new antenna cable just came in. So hopefully this will be it...update...

and this was it. A broken feed cable from the antenna up under the headliner. The dealer delivered my truck back to me this morning and the AM and FM radio are great now. I get FM stations 50-100 miles away (I'm out in the country near Macon and I can get some Atlanta FM stations) and I can hear AM stations a few states away on some channels. AM went from complete dead to good. They put things back together right and even filled the truck up.

 

[airline tech]

At least they found the issue.

 

[VAMike]

They called Monday and said the radio was okay and I said, "Have someone else check it again or check it yourself".

They called back and said, "Yes, it does have a problem".

sounds about right

Sponsored