View Full Version : Has anyone sorted the AM reception yet?
chris_26_
10-03-2003, 04:45 PM
Even though I'm more or less used to R4 now, the bleeding archers means that from 7 until 7:15 I'm stuck with nothing to listen to.
It really winds me up that such an expensive car can't get very old basic radio tech to work.
Suffolk is more dangerous than you think...
What's wrong with the Archers??? Cue lengthy discussion:D
Andrew - 2003 1.4 TDI Silver Climate
chris_26_
12-03-2003, 10:11 AM
Now then, let's not get into the relative merits or otherwise of the archers. Safe to say that I personally would rather listen to the sound of 80s hair merchants Def Leppard being minced whilst playing one of their oh-so-memorable 'anthems' than yet more fake west country accents, bumbling yokels, and posh gits having affairs. That geordie bird sounds nothing like a real geordie. I should know, I am one.
Please, someone must have sorted it out by now. Weren't audi supposed to be 'looking into it'?
Suffolk is more dangerous than you think...
Agreed, AM reception is dire. I used to listen to football matches on Radio 5 when I was travelling, not now unless I'm in the A4.
BTW, does anyone from Audi UK actually visit these forums. Have we invited them Stu?
Audi A2 1.4SE
Build Wk40/2002 | OpenSky | Azure Blue | Climate | DIS | APS | Lumbar | Rear Drinks Holder | Floppy Wiper!
http://www.audi-a2.co.uk/uk24.htm
I have had the AM problem sorted on my A2, the following items were changed without a improvement ;-
rear screen
Radio head unit
Booster
earthing
Finaly when the amplifer was changed FOR ANOTHER OF A DIFFERENT BATCH the problem went way.
Should your dealer need advice, ask him to contact Wayside in Milton Keynes, the Service Manager, all credit to him, found the problem, those Ba***ds at Audi UK were no help at all, "it's just a charecteriscs of the car" what a load of rubbish.
andrew simmons
17-03-2003, 08:12 AM
hello
had the same problem when i changed from the standard audi radio to a sony cd player had bad reception across the board so went to a car radio specialist and got an inline aerial booster which now makes my radio alot better and seems to catch any frequency and the booster cost about £20.00 full fitted
Apparently all vw golfs are fitted with theses aerial boosters as standard because they have a bad reception.
cheers
Andy Simmons Audi A2 1.4 TDI SE Cobalt Blue[8D]
A.D.Simmons
The AB reception fault is not with the booster it is with the amplifier, I understand this is in the floor
quote:Originally posted by 4sst
The AM reception fault is not with the booster [u]it is with the amplifier</u>, I understand this is in the floor
prycop
18-03-2003, 10:51 PM
The AM reception on my Chorus II is Sh**t. Have to admit that FM is crystal clear - i need Radio 5 though!
Andrew can you elaborate on the inline booster you bought? Where from? Part Code?
As for the amplifier what is the problem with it? How can you get it replaced?
Anyone else with ideas on how to improve radio reception?
quote:Originally posted by prycop
The AM reception on my Chorus II is Sh**t. Have to admit that FM is crystal clear - i need Radio 5 though!
Couldn't agree more. I think I'll contact my dealer to see what they say.
Audi A2 1.4SE
Build Wk40/2002 | OpenSky | Azure Blue | Climate | DIS | APS | Lumbar | Rear Drinks Holder | Floppy Wiper!
http://www.audi-a2.co.uk/uk24.htm | http://homepage.ntlworld.com/adriancharles/
The amplifier, in the floor, is the cause of your bad AM reception you need to vist your dealer and ask him to contact the Service manager at Wayside in Milton Keynes to discuss this problem.
The service manager at Wayside was the guy who eventualy sorted out the AM recption on my A2 it was only when he changed the amplifer for another, from another batch, did the AM reception improve.
The Service manager at Wayside is a very persistant guy, he deserves a well done for finding the problems.
andrew simmons
24-03-2003, 01:24 PM
quote:Originally posted by prycop
The AM reception on my Chorus II is Sh**t. Have to admit that FM is crystal clear - i need Radio 5 though!
Andrew can you elaborate on the inline booster you bought? Where from? Part Code?
As for the amplifier what is the problem with it? How can you get it replaced?
Anyone else with ideas on how to improve radio reception?
Bought a sony radio cd player from a normal car radio fitter and when i had the radio fitted the guy said if i had any reception problems to get and aerial booster fitted.
Now if i had a digital camera i could show you what it pysically looked like but basically it's a small metal cylinder about 10cm long which connects with an aerial adaptor plug into the back of the cd player and then recieves a constant live from the sony wiring loom which you tap into thus boosting the electric feed to the aerial which then gives the audi aerial more power to recieve weaker signals.
The reason why you need the aerial booster is because i had not fitted a standard Audi cd player because the standard cd player has the facility already in build in but they don't tell you this when you are getting the car and ask about interchanging car radios.
I will ask for you the make and serial number of the booster you will require i would not pay more than £20.00 pounds for a booster thou.
I will try and get back to you as soon as possible.
Regarding the amplifier i have no problems or ideas regarding that.
Hope i can help you out prycop
Many Thanks
andy Simmons (A2 1.4 TDI SE) Cobalt Blue);)
A.D.Simmons
The fitting of a booster will not help, the A2 already has one fitted.
The Am reception problem lies with the amplifier
chris_26_
24-03-2003, 04:03 PM
Well, my car is going in for it's 40k service soon, and they've promised to fix everything which is even a little bit annoying.
They've got it for 2 days, so I'll let you all know. They've been informed that wayside know about the AM problem, and they've promised to sort it out. They still want to go through the usual routine of checking all the cables etc. first though, but they *are* prepared to change the amp out.
We'll see. Hopefully I can write a glowing report about Northgate this time :-)
Suffolk is more dangerous than you think...
[u]Make sure that they know to change the amplifier to one from another batch No</u>
andrew simmons
26-03-2003, 01:22 PM
o.k. people
does anyone know the batch numbers or there code on there amp or the amps that are likely to have a problems with them and does anyone know how to get to the amp to check the code so as to put people minds at rest as to weather they have a faulty amp or a good one since mine having i know i've said this before but having only a sony cd player fitted with and aerial booster can recieve radio 5 clearly i have not had my amp checked or know where to look for it so it would be very useful to check and see where the amp is located.
can anyone help in this matter
Many thanks
Andy simmons A2 1.4 TDI SE Cobalt Blue
A.D.Simmons
Sorry I can't help with the batch No I sold my A2 last week. I owned it for 20 months and drove around with no AM recption for 17 of those months.
All I can say is that when my amlifer was exchanged for an amplifier from an A2 that did not have the AM reception problem, my AM problem went away, when my amlifer was refitted, back came the problem. That is when the garage noticed that they were from two different batchs.
quote:Originally posted by chris_26_
Well, my car is going in for it's 40k service soon
Chris, have you taken it in for the service yet or had any update from them?
Ade
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/adriancharles/images/Ade_a2.gif[/img=left]Audi A2 1.4SE (2003)
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chris_26_
07-04-2003, 11:41 AM
Hi all, time for an update.
My car went in for the 40k service last tuesday and despite them assuring me that the parts needed had been ordered a week earlier, and them keeping the car for 2 days (whilst they gave me an A6 to drive - very nice!), ALL of the parts failed to arrice, so I only got the 40k AVS service. Oh, they also had my car in to look over it the previous week so they could verify which parts they needed, so theres really no excuse.
If you're interested, it cost about £238, although they didn't do any of the additional 2 year work which I will pick them up on. I know this because they left the check sheet in the rear footwell.
So, the parts are apparently still on order. They are going to replace the audio amp as requested, and I'll let you know how everything is when it happens. If you're interested, the other parts I'm waiting for are a replacement keyfob, passenger side rear view mirror glass (silvering flaking off), drivers side electric window switch (it keeps switching the rear window circuit off) and a new boot lock module to cure the non-appearance of the boot courtesy light.
Out of interest, I had to put new headlights in this morning, the originals lasted about 2 years. It only took about 20 minutes and was fairly simple.
I wish they weren't so damn polite all the time though, it makes it very difficult to complain when they're so infuriatingly nice :-)
Suffolk is more dangerous than you think...
weathermanint
02-05-2003, 08:14 PM
I listen to Radio 5 regularly and have had no problems - sound is just as good as on FM.
Audi A2 TDI SE Azure Blue
I'd be worried about my FM reception if that was true[21]
Andrew - 2003 1.4 TDI Silver Climate
Same here, FM is clear, AM is lousy for me
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hollyrescue
03-05-2003, 05:10 PM
Fm Ok, AM useless. I tried several in the Audi dealers, and they all expressed surprise that AM didn't work. The mechanic didn't!.
I fiddled about with it today and found a strange thing. Driving along, trying to listed to Radio 5 there was a fair bit of crackle and a horrible pulsing whistly beeping noise. I pressed the ECON button by accident on the ECC unit and this pulse/whistle/beep disappeared and the reception improved (but not much). Anyone else like to try this and see what happens to them?
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/adriancharles/a2ade.gif[/img=left]Ade [img]http://homepage.ntlworld.com/adriancharles/res/spacer.gifhttp://homepage.ntlworld.com/adriancharles/res/spacer.gifhttp://homepage.ntlworld.com/adriancharles/res/icon_profile.gifUK Owners Page 24 (http://www.audi-a2.co.uk/uk24.htm) http://homepage.ntlworld.com/adriancharles/images/s.gif http://homepage.ntlworld.com/adriancharles/res/home.gifMy Home Page (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/adriancharles/) http://homepage.ntlworld.com/adriancharles/images/s.gif http://homepage.ntlworld.com/adriancharles/res/icon_email.gifMail me (mailto:magis.moose@ntlworld.com)
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kit lewis
10-05-2003, 01:29 PM
I've been following this thread for a while as I have also experienced the pathetic 'they all do that' excuse from my dealer. Apparently it's only UK that has a AM radio system....
Anyway - my car is booked in to have a new amp to cure another problem of crackling from the rear speakers whilst the radio is off - so I will be able to let you know if this cures the AM reception as well. Watch this space!
Kit
Dolphin Grey 1.6 FSI SE with Red Leather, ECC, DIS & Symphony 6 CD
chris_26_
13-05-2003, 10:46 AM
Any news yet Kit? My dealer won't change the amp without Audi UK's instruction.
Suffolk is more dangerous than you think...
kit lewis
08-06-2003, 01:34 AM
Ok - sorry bout that - had to nip out for a bit!
The speaker problem took a week to fix and they have replaced just about everything in the car from the radio head unit (Symphony 6 CD) to the amp and the speakers. Problem was it didn't cure it at all - so what they have done (bodged) is insert a second speaker wire to the rear left hand speaker. Apparently the crackle is interference in the wiring loom.
It now occurs to me that if the antenna for the car is on the rear window, then it stands to reason that the aerial cable will be part of the loom, and will be subject to similar interference and degradation as it makes it's lonely way from the rear windscreen to the head unit. It should be shielded - but so should the speaker cable!
Just a thought - and after all that the AM reception is still crap!
Take care y'all
Kit
Dolphin Grey 1.6 FSI SE with Red Leather, ECC, DIS & Symphony 6 CD
chris_26_
10-06-2003, 01:01 PM
Well, my dealer hasn't bothered himself to get back to me about my reception, so I don't know what else I can do about it. Their last statement was that they can't do any fixes under warranty unless they're official Audi UK fixes. Does anyone know a friendly Audi UK employee?
Suffolk is more dangerous than you think...
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