Sonata AM Reception - Horrible

To All,

I have a 2003 Sonata V6 with the stock radio/CD player. The AM
reception is simply horrible, very week. What can be done to improve
the reception and signal strength? I would appreciate your help.

Regards

MR

 

I've never noticed this problem with my 03 Sonata LX. Which factory
stereo do you have?

 

I can't find it on google but there was a thread a couple of months ago
regarding this.

If I recall correctly there are 2 connections to the antenna in the rear
glass and these can be reversed on accident at the factory causing the
problem your having with the AM reception.

 

Seems prety standard for Hyundai. My 02 XG350L AM really is bad and my
wifes 02 Santa Fe is bad too. Still, I try to look at it like I got a
$10000 discount on a car for poor AM reception. Overall the cars have
been good.

 

Our Santa Fe and Sonata both have crappy AM reception.Any signal booster
available?

 

Hi Jason,

thanx for responding. I have the base model Sonata V6 which comes with
the basic AM/FM Radio and CD player - I don't have the model number
readily available, I'll have to check the owners guide.

MR

 

Hi PC,

I agree, the car is running like a champ. The reception problem is a
minor annoyance and I was hoping for an easy solution.

MR

 

Hi Pookeybrain,

very interesting. I would like to search for this further. Do you have
any ideas what the subject header for the thread was?

MR

 

I believe this is what MR was thinking of:

http://www.hmaservice.com/webtech/iindex.asp?id=394880476#_394880476

However, in my experience with
1. Hyundai
2. 40 plus years in electronics
3. Glass antenna's
I think that this is just a radio with poor "rejection" (get multiple
channels on one freq) and poor "sensitivity" (can't bring em' in)
A "real" antenna might help. I guess you could buy one for a few bucks
and just plug it in the back of the unit. I would expect it to
improve. By the way, AM likes long antenna's. The longer the better.
I also think Hyundai is aming for the young crowd, who under 25
listens to AM???

PC

 

Hrm... That makes it more difficult for me to help. I have the LX
model with the double-din head unit. I can say, however, that my car
does not have this problem with AM stations. That would say to me
that it's either the head unit or that your wiring is faulty.

I would check to see if your antenna was wired incorrectly (a good
portion of them were and this causes poor AM reception). I believe
that there is a TSB up on WebTech (http://www.hmaservice.com/webtech)
that will tell you how to fix the problem.

 

Jason,

my AM/FM/CD model # is H260. Thanks for the link, I will check it out.

MR

 

My XG300L has about as good an AM radio as you can find BUT you
wouldn't know it because the computer hash from this that and the
other uP on board simply covers up the signals. I wonder if that
might not be the real problem. You can turn the engine off and, with
just the radio and accessory equipment on, the only complaint is that
the AM bandwidth is too narrow for good fidelity. But nothing is
wrong with the sensitivity of the receiver.

Fred, W8OY

 

I have the 2002 elantra gt, and my AM reception is not the best either, but
I discovered that when my cell phone is plugged in the lighter outlet; the
reception is markedly worse.

 

I am currently fighting with the dealership
about the AM reception of my 2004 Sonata. Quite bad.
They don't believe there even is a problem because the
AM stations are near the dealership. Even there, there is some
static. Go further away and majot statis. The 2005 Sonata Courtesy Car
has crystal clear reception.

The antenna is retractable...not rear window. Does the
reverse connection issue affect this as well?

 

They know there is a problem. It's one of those things, however, that
they have no solution available to install. The computer and ignition
noise is just not well enough contained to allow AM reception. To
make it better, the car would have to be subjected to thousands of
dollars of noise suppression wiring changes and modifications. And we
both know that isn't going to happen. I work in the broadcast
industry and I own a XG300L. The fact that I still own it is an
indicator of how much I like the car despite its poor AM reception.

What you have to do now is decide whether the radio reception ability
is the basis of the bargain. If it is or was, tell them you ain't
gonna take it any more and give them back the car. And do it the
right way so you're protected--with a lawyer's help.

Ford, Crysler and GM make cars that are full of engineering hours to
suppress noise in the AM band and, perhaps more importantly, to
prevent noise from entering the system, i.e., a cell phone won't crash
the ABS system. If you want superior AM performance, you need an
American-made car.

My solution to my daughter's inability to listen to Radio Disney while
in my car was to put Sirius Satellite Radio in. I get bluegrass for
myself so that's a neat trade since I get to keep my Hyundai. I love
the way the XG's noisy electronics do traction control and the
superior operation of the ABS system.

I was in Lebanon on a job before the war started and in a year and a
half in and out, my favorite vehicle was the Hyundai accent. We
rented a couple from the local dealer and they were the toughest, most
efficient vehicles we had. And the AM reception on those was just
marginally better than on my XG.

Cheers.


Fred, W8OY