| kramerd1506 |
Hello all. I'm just looking for some advice here. I have an 06 EXL with navigation and I have isolated a radio static issue to an antenna connector which is located behind the head unit, or in that immediate vicinity. It looks like one of those old-school round barrel-type radio antenna connectors that have been around forever. There is a short or the wire is broken basically right where the wire meets the male side of the connector. This only seems to affect the signal on AM radio stations. I can wiggle the connector and produce the popping/static sound at any time I am listening to AM radio.
Also, I have installed the USA-Spec iPod controller and it works fine and has no issues.
My problem is, the Pilot is under warranty and I don't know whether to take everything apart and remove the USA-Spec and put everything back together and then take it to the dealership, play stupid, and let them try to reproduce the problem (which is very difficult if you can't reach and wiggle the connector), and tear everything apart and fix it, or just take it in and show them the problem and save them all the time and trouble of reproducing the problem, etc... I'm worried that if I just take it in, they are going to give me a hard time about having taken the dash apart and the head-unit out to either isolate the antenna connector and/or install the USA-Spec.
Does anyone have any thoughts on the likelihood of them denying the warranty claim since I have worked on the vehicle myself? What should I do?
Thanks in advance! |
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| youbetcha |
Is there an unattached wire coming out of the antenna connection from the head unit?
see:
http://www.hondapilot.org/forums/sh...?threadid=14878
If the antenna wire coming out of the head unit looks something like this then I believe the blue wire needs to be powered: |
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| kramerd1506 |
Thanks for the reply. The antenna seems to be working ok as far as reception goes, so I don't think the antenna amp being powered is the problem. I think there is a physical break in the wire right where the wire meets the male plug.
But, with your picture, I could probably just replace that little part myself and avoid the warranty issue altogether, if that part that you posted is what's behind my head unit. I haven't been back there in quite a while so I don't remember what's back there.
Thanks! |
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| youbetcha |
quote:
Originally posted by kramerd1506
Thanks for the reply. The antenna seems to be working ok as far as reception goes, so I don't think the antenna amp being powered is the problem. I think there is a physical break in the wire right where the wire meets the male plug.
But, with your picture, I could probably just replace that little part myself and avoid the warranty issue altogether, if that part that you posted is what's behind my head unit. I haven't been back there in quite a while so I don't remember what's back there.
Thanks!
You can get them at Crutchfield.com. Let us know what you find out. Good Luck! |
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| ericsgr |
First, keep in mind that AM reception has historically been VERY poor with Honda stock radios.
Second...............the antenna that is connected to the back of the radio is FM only.............it has nothing to do with your AM reception. The AM antenna is a coil inside the radio.
The only way to get better AM reception really is to replace the radio. |
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| kramerd1506 |
ericsgr, whoa! I didn't know about what you posted. Weird. Well, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about but my symptoms are that FM works absolutely fine, no complaints at all. And I can definitely produce the static-popping sound at will by wiggling the wire running into the male side of the connector and I can only hear that popping sound when tuned to an AM station. I cannot hear the popping when I wiggle the connector if I am tuned to FM. Any thoughts on what's happening?
Thanks,
Dan |
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| ericsgr |
AM is amplitude modulation and therefore any noise that is introduced into the electrical will affect AM but not FM. Ever notice how lightening only affects AM? Or if you put a drill next to an AM radio you can barely hear the radio? Noise travels in amplitude modulation as well. So that is why electrical noise like that will sound as interference in an AM signal.
You could do several things that would make pop noises with an AM radio. Including moving the FM antenna around.
As for the reception problem. Are you not receiving any AM stations at all or are they just really weak? |
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| kramerd1506 |
Ok, that makes sense. I actually don't have a reception or signal strength problem with AM or FM.
The original problem was that as I drive down the road and hit even small bumps, the AM signal would pop and have noise introduced. I narrowed it down to that connector which I'm sure has a broken signal wire in it. It's just very sensitive to movement, even from the car rolling down the road.
So, I'm just going to replace the connector and all should be well.
-Dan |
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| kramerd1506 |
Update:
I got behind the head unit to investigate. It turns out that the male connector with the problem is NOT a Honda part. It comes from a small FM switch box that came with the Alpine RES that the previous owner installed. It's job is to allow the RES to send the FM signal to the radio so the soundtrack of the movie can be played through the Pilot speakers.
The male connector with the blue power wire that is pictured previously in this thread goes into the switch box and the switch box has another male connector (the one that has the problem, pictured below) that comes out of it and goes into the factory female connector which connects to the back of the head unit. So, the switch box is "in-line" with the antenna wiring.
Now the problem. I've cut the problem antenna connector off of its wire and I need to find a way to connect a new one. This is where I need my friends from HondaPilot.org and hopefully someone who knows more about coaxial cable than I do. Is there any way to splice a new connector into the antenna wire? If not, does anyone know where I can find a wire like this one. It has a small circuit board 2-pin plug on one side and a male antenna connector on the other.
Here is the wire and connector. The white plug goes into the ciruit board of the swicth box I mentioned earlier. It has two pins, one for the shielding, just going to ground I assume, and one for the signal wire. The antenna connector goes into the factory female connector which goes into the head unit. Sorry about the quality - camera phone. |
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| kramerd1506 |
Update:
I bought a new male antenna connector at a surplus electornics store and had a friend solder it onto the cable pictured above. I reinstalled in the Pilot and all is well. I can play DVD through the speakers and no more static on AM. :-) |
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