Radio reception deteriorated suddenly

Prospectors

Hi,
My passat radio unit has gotten very poor in its FM reception in the last 3-4 weeks. It was more or less perfect across range of frequencies but now it comes and goes several times every minute.
It just changed suddenly one morning.
Car is 2011 - not certain what model radio it is but I believe it's the vw original factory fit.

Any suggestions on how to fix?

corks finest

Prospectors wrote: »

Hi,
My passat radio unit has gotten very poor in its FM reception in the last 3-4 weeks. It was more or less perfect across range of frequencies but now it comes and goes several times every minute.
It just changed suddenly one morning.
Car is 2011 - not certain what model radio it is but I believe it's the vw original factory fit.

Any suggestions on how to fix?

Maybe antenna,wash car lately,loosen it? Earth wire,or just loose connection at back of unit?

Prospectors

corks finest wrote: »

Maybe antenna,wash car lately,loosen it? Earth wire,or just loose connection at back of unit?

There is no external antenna if you know what I mean. However I would like to remove the unit to see if something has disconnected at the back. I'll try to post a picture to see if anyone can advise on how to remove it

punisher5112

The silver surrounding has to come off and torx screws behind.

MobileAudio

Would be unusual for the aerial connection to come loose. Could you have turned off the AF mode by accident causing stations to drop.

iamthemanwork

Prospectors wrote: »

Hi,
My passat radio unit has gotten very poor in its FM reception in the last 3-4 weeks. It was more or less perfect across range of frequencies but now it comes and goes several times every minute.
It just changed suddenly one morning.
Car is 2011 - not certain what model radio it is but I believe it's the vw original factory fit.

Any suggestions on how to fix?[/QUOTE

Tune radio using cars own aerial to a station you are not happy with the reception. Unplug aerial from the back of radio. Get a small piece of wire and push it into the aerial socket. Your body plus piece of wire are now acting as an aerial.... if the reception from the weak station improves then it stands to reason the aerial on your car is faulty and needs to be replaced.
This is a typical fault I would see in my workshop a few days every week.

Prospectors

MobileAudio wrote: »

Would be unusual for the aerial connection to come loose. Could you have turned off the AF mode by accident causing stations to drop.

Thanks, I checked the af function and it is still on.

Prospectors

Tune radio using cars own aerial to a station you are not happy with the reception. Unplug aerial from the back of radio. Get a small piece of wire and push it into the aerial socket. Your body plus piece of wire are now acting as an aerial.... if the reception from the weak station improves then it stands to reason the aerial on your car is faulty and needs to be replaced.
This is a typical fault I would see in my workshop a few days every week.[/quote]
Ok thanks, I'll try this tomorrow. Am I right in saying the aerial connection is the the sort of elbow connection seen in the top left of the attached photo?

Prospectors

Ok quick update.

Took the car through a brushless wash the other night and since then the radio reception has recovered to its previous very good performance.

I didn't do/touch/change anything else. Seems strange?

exaisle

If it's not broken, don't fix it...