Muckyman 1 Report post Posted July 27, 2020 Hi all, Newbie here, hoping you can help. I got a Gt86 at the weekend and all was well. Decided to wash it yesterday, and removed the bee sting aerial while doing so. The radio no longer has any reception (the aerial was screwed back on obviously) :-) Any help / pointers / advice as to what could have gone wrong or how to fix it? many thanks Michael Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MartinT 514 Report post Posted July 27, 2020 Check that no water got into the connector or wiring. I know the facelift models have powered aerials, they might all have? In which case, power to the aerial may have been lost, like a blown fuse. That's usually behind the head unit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nikndel 509 Report post Posted July 27, 2020 There’s a pcb in the aerial base I snapped a aftermarket one in it and tried to get it out luckily I found a new aerial dirt cheap and comes with a plastic bung to fit should you remove aerial for any reason Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muckyman 1 Report post Posted July 30, 2020 Could it be that the aerial is not broken but it’s just crap? I’ve not actually investigated it yet, (will at the weekend), but I can receive my towns local FM station and AM stations - I can’t get any national FM stations at all and I always could in previous cars. So, could it be faulty? If it was faulty would it not just receive nothing at all? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nerdstrike 186 Report post Posted July 31, 2020 The wiring to the antenna can act as an antenna, albeit a poor one. I was receiving only some standard TV channels at home until I found the end of the aerial cable in the loft with nothing on it. Try refit your antenna again, and then do as advised above. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muckyman 1 Report post Posted August 5, 2020 so, I did some investigation at the weekend. As far as I can see, the antenna connections are OK, bot at the antenna and at the back of the head unit. Could be one of the joins in the cable length is broken though. The car is going in for its recall on the 15th so I'll ask Toyota to look into this also. Is the general view that radio reception is poor in these cars because the antenna is rubbish, or is it the head unit that's at fault? ta Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nikndel 509 Report post Posted August 5, 2020 7 minutes ago, Muckyman said: so, I did some investigation at the weekend. As far as I can see, the antenna connections are OK, bot at the antenna and at the back of the head unit. Could be one of the joins in the cable length is broken though. The car is going in for its recall on the 15th so I'll ask Toyota to look into this also. Is the general view that radio reception is poor in these cars because the antenna is rubbish, or is it the head unit that's at fault? ta Sure it’s not water ingress after washing car☔️ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muckyman 1 Report post Posted August 5, 2020 23 minutes ago, nikndel said: Sure it’s not water ingress after washing car☔️ where? I took the antenna off to wash it, as it says to in the owners manual so it must be designed to be OK to do so, and dried the screw thread hole as best as I could before refitting it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nikndel 509 Report post Posted August 5, 2020 When I had to change my antenna base when I got a new one it came with a blanking plug for protection well mine did anyway just seems strange after washing car with hole open your radio gets no signal could be a coincidence Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MartinT 514 Report post Posted August 5, 2020 It's very likely that water ingress went down the co-ax cable, causing a short for both the signal and the amplifier voltage. You would have to carefully dismantle the aerial assembly and dry it all with a hairdryer or similar. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muckyman 1 Report post Posted August 6, 2020 to be honest, I'm not even sure if the radio reception was there before the wash. I only bought the car the day before and had been listening to music from USB. I may have listened to the radio but really can't remember. So, general consensus is the following? Drop rear headliner and unbolt the antenna assembly. Dry it all out and refit. No guarantee, but worth a try? ta Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike 458 Report post Posted August 6, 2020 If you're not sure it worked before, I'd drop the headlining (just do the 3 push clips) and disconnect the aerial base, remove the head unit and check for continuity with a multi meter. You could also check for a voltage on the wire providing power to the aerial. If the wire is good then you're probably looking at the aerial base and it's either toast or just needs drying Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muckyman 1 Report post Posted October 15, 2020 After trying a longer aerial with a small improvement, I have finally solved my radio reception issue - with a Pure Highway 200 DAB digital radio adapter. Works perfectly and highly recommend for anyone having issues with radio reception. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites