Poor radio Reception - I have searched !

[latief]

I have weak radio reception on my newly acquired 2000 S320.

after searching for a long time here and on the Mbworld forum, it appears the problem comes either from window tint or the amp unit above the headliner . my car was tinted by the original owner, and the tint is starting to fade.....

I listen mostly to FM stations, and there are hundreds of them here, but i only get 4 stations or so which fade in and out according to location...

anyhow, another problem i am noticing is that the remote only opens the doors at close range which could be either a weak battery or the same amp unit causing the weak reception as i have read

finally, and this could possibly be unrelated, but i cannot open/ close all the windows and sunroof at the same time using the remote, but the system works if i use the mechanical key.....


so my questions are:

1-is the last problem related to the first two ?

2-i have seen references to antenna plugs in the trunk somewhere that corrode, where are these located assuming they exist? i just want to eliminate the easy stuff before ripping off the tint / removing the headliner....both are things i am not looking forward to...

thanks for the help in advance....

[latief]

So i removed the rear tint today... still no luck....very limited FM reception that fades in and out and very few channels.....

tried to play with the amplifier by pressing at the top of the rear headliner, but no luck.....

i also hear the car's engine in some of the radio channels....there is a a loose connection somewhere....

any thoughts?

[deucer]

I'm thinking poor connection to antenna or your amplifier is going out.

[traffic1976]

can some here helpme figure out the path of the antenna cable from the radio(becker) to the antenna in the back (driver's side) in a 2000 Mercedes c230 Kompressor ,
I can see it in the back of the radio but can't find it in the trunk
I bought the car a month ago and the radio is not working as it should be
I tested all the wires I can find in the trunk with no luck so I got the antenna wire from a junk yard and want to connect it to where ever the original one stops but can't find it, removed the back seat and looked in the driver's side footy panel with out much luck
Any body has a map of where that cable go after leaving the radio?
thanx for ur efforts in advance
p.s don't have an amp

[latief]

will an indy with a Mercedes diagnostic system be able to pin-point the problem? i can remove the headliner relatively easily and i can get a used amp from a junk yard i know, but i hate to go through all the trouble to find that the problem is somewhere else...

until now, this is the troubleshooting i have done....

-replaced head-units ( i picked up two different ones)
-removed rear window tint
-checked the wiring and antenna behind the command center, verified that if i remove the antenna plug i loose signal completely
-checked the two plugs on the right hand side (above the battery in the trunk, behind the carpet)
-pulled down the headliner a bit and pushed on those contact pins in-case they have poor contact
-visually verified that amp is plugged in..although very hard to see without a complete removal of the headliner....

so the next step is to remove the headliner and replace the amp unless i am missing something else, but i guess i need a confirmation that the amp is the culprit before doing this.....

thanks for the help !

[deucer]

If you have checked antenna coupling and connections at the amp and found nothing wrong does not actually mean it's the antenna or amp that are bad. It could still be in the cable itself. A crushed or bent cable somewhere along the path could cause reception degradation. Short of visually inspecting the cable from the HU to the antenna, you would need to have a scope to test the cable. Perhaps an Indy familiar with Mercedes systems could perform the test. I wouldn't buy anymore hardware until I was certain that would resolve your problem.

[latief]

so it is not showing any errors in the star system for the amplifier or anything else...

the mechanic "thinks" its the command unit, or the telephone control unit, but i am not buying this because it is the second command unit i change with the same problem.....

any other thoughts ?

[R_Chris]

EDIT: Sorry, not sure how I wandered out of the R170 section...

Did you check the actual connection to the antenna? I accidentally unscrewed mine the other day. The cable unscrews from the bottom of the antenna which is not something that I've seen before.

[latief]

update:

turned out to be the amplifier under the headliner...the problem was mostly focused in the FM frequencies

end result: either new amp or the easy solution was to run a separate FM antenna...i choose the second option and it works wonderfully...we ran a loop antenna around the front windshield.....you cannot see it and it solved the problem - finally!

this was a tough one but hopefully over now....

[keepsitsimple]

Originally Posted by latief

update:

turned out to be the amplifier under the headliner...the problem was mostly focused in the FM frequencies

end result: either new amp or the easy solution was to run a separate FM antenna...i choose the second option and it works wonderfully...we ran a loop antenna around the front windshield.....you cannot see it and it solved the problem - finally!

this was a tough one but hopefully over now....

Could you please post pictures or instructions on how you installed the additional FM antenna. I have the same problem and I would love to fix it.
Thanks in advance!