My Golf III VR6 has a Sony radio and for some time reception has been very poor. I've had the car since new and I honestly can't recall whether it was OK originally or whether the deterioration has been nil, gradual or sudden; I think I would have noticed had it been sudden.
Anyway, I've just had a new antenna with a signal booster fitted. It appears to have made no difference whatsoever. The fitter is mystified and so am I. Before he did the job, he switched the removable head/fascia to another brand, but that made no difference either. I asked him whether he thought it was the radio box itself, but he suspects it is something else in the car.
Does anyone have a clue as to what might be the cause? Stereo reception is pathetic; mono is much better but far from perfect. My locality is generally pretty good for radio and television reception. All suggestions welcome.
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The earth to the radio chasis itself should be checked. Plus the new aerial should be properly earthed at its base
Are saying he replaced the entire radio for diagnosis?
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The antenna requires 12V which is delivered by the VAG factory fit Radio down the coax lead. Some aftermarket radios (Older Sony ?) do not deliver the 12V through the coax.
You might need an adapter (about 9.99 from halfords) to take 12V from the vehicle loom and interface it with the coax.
I thought your fitter would be aware of this.
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My VR6 has excellent FM reception but none existant MW reception. It is through a Kenwood head unit.
Does your radio get MW ok?
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Re VAG groups cars and AM, this is almost entirely due to Blaupunkt going through a period of AM denial. Certain head units were poor on AM and most Blaupunkt anttenas were AM "blind" Get a combo of the two and... well.
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With the original radio my Octavia has excellent reception on FM, MW and even LW. When I tried to fit a Blaupunkt CD multiplayer I found its FM was reasonable(ish) but the MW/LW was very poor. After re-fitting the original and using a multimeter I discovered that a voltage was being fed back up the Aerial lead to power an in-line amp.
Also beware the "K" line, which is a computer diagnostic connection that is outputed on a pin that some vendors use for power!! Some VW diagnostic tools will be fried when used with badly fitted aftermarket stereos.
Best to use a proper adapter, eg:-
www.bluespot.co.uk/stock/vw.asp
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Many thanks for all these replies.
The radio is the Sony as fitted on first manufacture in 1996. It has never been removed.
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Waddayaknow: one brand new antenna is removed, another brand new antenna is fitted (just the antenna, not the woring, booster, etc.) -- end of problem. Moral: try the simplest things first, even if they are counter-intuitive.
Thanks again for all your responses.
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"woring"? Don't get too excited: "wiring".
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