No HD Radio Reception

[peterk9]

So the ACM is located in the back of the Explorer?

Peter

 

[N3DD]

So the ACM is located in the back of the Explorer?

Peter

Yes. The FM antenna is on the rear window, the antenna amplifier is in the rear hatch and the ACM is below the passenger side rear window. They run audio up to the front of the vehicle I guess to the APIM. Saves running shielded cable to the front of the car but is probably the reason for the pulsating AM reception.

 

[peterk9]

I thought the AM/FM radio antenna was on the roof along with the satellite antenna. There is a post here that says rear side windows have heating lines in the glass.

Peter

 

[N3DD]

I thought the AM/FM radio antenna was on the roof along with the satellite antenna. There is a post here that says rear side windows have heating lines in the glass.

Peter

The antenna is a loop in the rear window. There are no heating lines in the rear side windows on my LTD.

 

[peterk9]

The antenna is a loop in the rear window. There are no heating lines in the rear side windows on my LTD.

Perhaps it is just the Aviator that has the heating elements. Window Defrost Elements Peeling
This is what I have on both rear side windows of mine. A little difficult to get a good view.

Peter

 

[N3DD]

Perhaps it is just the Aviator that has the heating elements. Window Defrost Elements Peeling
This is what I have on both rear side windows of mine. A little difficult to get a good view.

Peter

View attachment 327600

View attachment 327601

Nice. But nothing like that on the Limited. Just tinted glass.

 

[chcali]

I no longer am receiving HD radio reception on both known AM & FM HD stations. I did a Sync3 factory reset which did not cure it. So I ran the AHU diagnostic for radio signal strength (which can be seen while driving) and noticed the signal strength varied between 40 and 60. I'm thinking that you need a much stronger signal than that to receive HD. I'm also leaning towards this is an antenna issue and not the radio. If that's the case I think they have to drop the headliner to replace the shark fin.

Anyone see this issue before?


UPDATE Was in for service this week for other issues and was told diagnostics show a U300 error code. Dealership had no idea what that was so they have been waiting for a response from Ford for the past 2 days

UPDATE 2 It's been over a week now and Ford has no answer as to how to proceed with this issue. Only a few days ago it was referred to Engineering. I'm also now noticing that the SiriusXM channels take quite some time to initially load which lends me to believe it's still the antenna. (I'm assuming the AM/FM and XM antennas are in the shark fin). The problem the dealership is having is that since there was that U300 error code Ford is still trying to identify that and not authorizing any onsite troubleshooting. If they eventually do approve it they do not have any workshop instructions on how to tke down the headliner, etc. I will be applying more persuasive pressure this week.

what happened/? AM having a similar issue. CD works clearly but all radio stations are fuzzy...I just installed Thule roofracks so mabye interference or the sharkfin got knocked maybe?

 

[peterk9]

what happened/? AM having a similar issue. CD works clearly but all radio stations are fuzzy...I just installed Thule roofracks so mabye interference or the sharkfin got knocked maybe?

Welcome to the Forum.
Since you are talking about reception issues, when you said "AM" were you referring to yourself or AM radio? If you think the crossbars are causing the problem the easiest way to find out is to remove them. I doubt that would be the issue since many Explorers have the crossbars.
BTW, the member you quoted was last seen here on March 14, 2014 so may no longer be following.

Peter