Radio reception question

[brick8]

I have a few questions regarding the radio in my 2016 PIU. I get no AM radio reception at all and the FM is pretty weak. I did some searching on this forum and saw that some had issues with reception found that the antenna was not screwed in properly. My vehicle has a sharkfin with no place to screw in an antenna at all. Is this a specific PIU issue or is mine some sort of "custom" set up? Is there a way to replace the sharkfin with a real antenna without removing the headliner? Thanks!

 

[peterk9]

I have a few questions regarding the radio in my 2016 PIU. I get no AM radio reception at all and the FM is pretty weak. I did some searching on this forum and saw that some had issues with reception found that the antenna was not screwed in properly. My vehicle has a sharkfin with no place to screw in an antenna at all. Is this a specific PIU issue or is mine some sort of "custom" set up? Is there a way to replace the sharkfin with a real antenna without removing the headliner? Thanks!

I don't know if the PIU differs from the retail unit in this respect. I have attached a picture of a 2018 antenna from my files. The AM/FM antenna (not shown) screws into the base.
I know there are members that replaced their pre 2016 regular antennas with a Shark Fin and were able to do it without removing the headliners. Going the other way, I don't see any way of removing the "Fin" without dropping the rear of the headliner.
I don't know if this video might be of any help.

Peter

 

[Eric Z]

So may not apply to yours as up fitters seem to do their own things, but.... I have 2 dummy shark fins, just covering up old holes in roof and only the small coil antenna as only working one. Several antenna type wires disconnected in dash and under console, so check and trace that you actually have antenna attached to radio.

 

[brick8]

I pulled the headunit (ACM in Fordspeak) out and cleaned the antenna connection with Deoxit. FM reception is slightly better now but still no AM I really miss the aftermarket headunit I installed in my last vehicle that had HD radio. Doesn't seem like that is an option with the Explorer. I do have an old HD radio add-on receiver that I am thinking of installing but need to determine what Metra connector I need to convert the Ford-style connector to a standard old-school American antenna plug.