# Bad Radio Reception - still under warranty



## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

I read the forum rules - somewhat - and they say not to resurect an old thread - not sure why when it is still relevant - it says just to reference it. So here goes
http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/9-general-discussion/2009-really-bad-fm-reception.html

My Cruze, a 2014 LT that is certified pre-owned i.e. still under warranty, had great radio reception when I purchased it. It no longer does. I have had the car washed a number of times and have taken the antenna off, cleaned the threads and replaced the antenna - just in case, but it still only picks up the three local stations here. 

I went to the dealer I purchased it from and asked them to look at it. The Service Manager said to me "I am going to save you a little money and tell you to plug in the antenna better as it is probably loose". He then proceeded to tell me to reach up under the dash and just push it in. 

I was a bit taken aback, but thought, ok i'll try it. I went out to my car and looked up under the glove box and - you cannot just reach up under the glove box. I went back inside and told him this and he said to just remove the panel - no problem. 

I think hes nuts and that the dealer should fix this. What do you think?

(As an aside - what is Trackbacks? It is seen below here when typing the post.)


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

If your car has less than 36K miles then radio problems are definitely covered under the B2B warranty. Create an owner account at https://my.chevrolet.com and add your car to your account. This will tell you the warranty status on the car. If it's still under B2B then take it back (assuming it's a Chevy dealership) and tell them to fix the problem. If they don't get our Chevy Customer Care reps involved (use ours, not the call center in the owners manual). The other option if you don't want to deal with this dealership is to find a different Chevy dealership. If you don't have a Chevy dealership in the area go find a Buick or other GM dealership - they can do warranty work when there are no Chevy dealerships in the area (I think 50 miles is the range).


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## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

obermd said:


> If your car has less than 36K miles then radio problems are definitely covered under the B2B warranty. Create an owner account at https://my.chevrolet.com and add your car to your account. This will tell you the warranty status on the car. If it's still under B2B then take it back (assuming it's a Chevy dealership) and tell them to fix the problem. If they don't get our Chevy Customer Care reps involved (use ours, not the call center in the owners manual). The other option if you don't want to deal with this dealership is to find a different Chevy dealership. If you don't have a Chevy dealership in the area go find a Buick or other GM dealership - they can do warranty work when there are no Chevy dealerships in the area (I think 50 miles is the range).


Because it is Certified I believe the B to B Coverage is extended for another year or 12,000 miles as well. I think some non G.M. Dealerships use this term as a buzz word to sell the car. Also taking off the antenna, why is that necessary when washing the CRUZE?


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Blasirl said:


> My Cruze, a 2014 LT that is certified pre-owned i.e. still under warranty, had great radio reception when I purchased it. It no longer does. I have had the car washed a number of times and have taken the antenna off, cleaned the threads and replaced the antenna - just in case, but it still only picks up the three local stations here.


I Found the reception with the cruze worse than any previous cars I've owned, though you should not have an issue pulling in a station 25-30 miles away. I actually think the radio in my cruze and now sonic is too sensitive, quite often I can pull in other stations from outside my local area broadcasting on the same frequency(tropospheric ducting). The days this occurs i used to think the radio was just getting poor reception, however I realized that static was being caused by another signal being picked up. 

If you selct your region from the dropdown on the website below, you can see if there is any known troposheric contidtions in your area. Every single time I've had issues its been caused by this. On the same note this is how I can watch brodcast TV stations some nights from 100+ miles away. 
Tropospheric Ducting Forecast for VHF & UHF Radio & TV


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## apcnc (Oct 7, 2013)

May not even be an issue but sometimes you phone can interfere and also feedback if plugged in with a cheap charger. Feedback frequency may disrupt the rececption. If this is the case buy a better charger that is filtered.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

obermd said:


> If your car has less than 36K miles then radio problems are definitely covered under the B2B warranty. Create an owner account at https://my.chevrolet.com and add your car to your account. This will tell you the warranty status on the car. If it's still under B2B then take it back (assuming it's a Chevy dealership) and tell them to fix the problem. If they don't get our Chevy Customer Care reps involved (use ours, not the call center in the owners manual). The other option if you don't want to deal with this dealership is to find a different Chevy dealership. If you don't have a Chevy dealership in the area go find a Buick or other GM dealership - they can do warranty work when there are no Chevy dealerships in the area (I think 50 miles is the range).


I bought it from a GM dealership (that I absolutely despise - another story), but there is a Chevy Dealership just down the road. So it does not matter which dealership I go to? Will they continue with the free oil changes etc as well?

Thanks for the tips, I will open an account tomorrow.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Eddy Cruze said:


> Because it is Certified I believe the B to B Coverage is extended for another year or 12,000 miles as well. I think some non G.M. Dealerships use this term as a buzz word to sell the car. Also taking off the antenna, why is that necessary when washing the CRUZE?


Yes, I got another 12k/1yr on my warranty.

Read the previous thread for full explanation, but it is not required (I linked in the first post.)

EDIT: Really only received another year and no mileage. The end of the B2B caught me by surprise.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

spacedout said:


> I Found the reception with the cruze worse than any previous cars I've owned, though you should not have an issue pulling in a station 25-30 miles away. I actually think the radio in my cruze and now sonic is too sensitive, quite often I can pull in other stations from outside my local area broadcasting on the same frequency(tropospheric ducting). The days this occurs i used to think the radio was just getting poor reception, however I realized that static was being caused by another signal being picked up.
> 
> If you selct your region from the dropdown on the website below, you can see if there is any known troposheric contidtions in your area. Every single time I've had issues its been caused by this. On the same note this is how I can watch brodcast TV stations some nights from 100+ miles away.
> Tropospheric Ducting Forecast for VHF & UHF Radio & TV


Marginal so the site says
I do live in an area that is between two large cites and there is a plethora of stations to choose from and I am in a sweet spot for most that I listen to. My issue is now instead of 30 or so stations to choose from I get 3.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

apcnc said:


> May not even be an issue but sometimes you phone can interfere and also feedback if plugged in with a cheap charger. Feedback frequency may disrupt the rececption. If this is the case buy a better charger that is filtered.


No phone / no charger and everything else is direct wired.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Blasirl said:


> I bought it from a GM dealership (that I absolutely despise - another story), but there is a Chevy Dealership just down the road. So it does not matter which dealership I go to? Will they continue with the free oil changes etc as well?
> 
> Thanks for the tips, I will open an account tomorrow.


All Chevy dealerships are supposed to cover GM warranties. As for the free oil changes you need to look at the purchase agreement. If the oil changes are from GM then they will move. If from the selling dealership then only that dealership will do them. I definitely wouldn't let free oil changes impact your decision.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Well as a follow up, yesterday my radio no longer receives any over the air radio stations. Last night was pretty cloudy so I thought it might have been just interference from the the cloud cover. It rallied back for about three bars of a Steely Dan song (Hey Nineteen...) and that was that. Both AM and FM just continuously scan. XM advertising works, USB works, I'm pretty sure accessory mode will still work and the CD player works. I have not touched anything as far as wiring or under-dash goes since about September, so it shouldn't be from an accidental wire pull or anything.

Can anyone tell me how to get to the antenna connection?


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## plano-doug (Jul 1, 2015)

Blasirl said:


> Well as a follow up, yesterday my radio no longer receives any over the air radio stations. Last night was pretty cloudy so I thought it might have been just interference from the the cloud cover. It rallied back for about three bars of a Steely Dan song (Hey Nineteen...) and that was that. Both AM and FM just continuously scan.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> Can anyone tell me how to get to the antenna connection?


My 2013 Cruze radio craps out whenever it's raining or has recently been raining. It receives only the stronger stations, and has lots of static on AM. Usually, after a while, it comes back. My theory is that moisture is getting in the antenna connection and mucking things up.

Looking at my Haynes, here's what it says about the antenna. 
1. Unscrew the antenna mast from its mounting base and remove it.
2. To remove the antenna base, remove the trim around the rear window.
3. Carefully pull the rear of the headliner down enough to access the antenna mounting bolt, then remove the bolt.
CAUTION: Do not pull the headliner down too far, or it will leave a crease in the headliner.
4. Remove the antenna base and disconnect the electrical connections.
5. Installation is the reverse of removal.

For me, given the correlation between rain and bad reception, I'm focused on the antenna end, but, if it's not in the radio, it can be anywhere along the cable from the antenna to the connection on the back of the radio. So inspecting the cable as well as checking the connection at the back of the radio may be in order.

At first I was thinking you may have something going out in the tuner section of the radio. But since you have problems with both AM and FM, it's probably outside the radio.

I need to tear into my antenna, but before I do that, I need to find a decent hack for the intake tuning valve connecting rod. Grrrrr..... After staying together for a few months, it popped out again, and this time it keeps popping out after I pop it back in.

But, when I get to it, I'll post back what I find with the antenna.

Doug

.


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## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

I find it funny when sitting in the GM showroom that one Car will pick up tons of stations and the others can't?


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

plano-doug said:


> I need to find a decent hack for the intake tuning valve connecting rod. Grrrrr..... After staying together for a few months, it popped out again, and this time it keeps popping out after I pop it back in.


Can you post a picture of this? I am not sure what you are talking about.


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## plano-doug (Jul 1, 2015)

Blasirl said:


> Can you post a picture of this? I am not sure what you are talking about.


Maybe I can take a better pic later, but in this video (not mine), at about 54 seconds, you can see it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEYNOJrXp9I&ytbChannel=null

The rod is driven by a crank at the bottom. The top of the rod turns the intake tuning valve. The rod is mated with ball-and-socket joints on each end. The one on the bottom is my problem.

Doug

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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

plano-doug said:


> Maybe I can take a better pic later, but in this video (not mine), at about 54 seconds, you can see it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEYNOJrXp9I&ytbChannel=null
> 
> The rod is driven by a crank at the bottom. The top of the rod turns the intake tuning valve. The rod is mated with ball-and-socket joints on each end. The one on the bottom is my problem.
> 
> ...



Apparently I have at least tried to answer this question in the past. Here are a few links I have found. You have probably already read some of them as I also saw the video link you posted in one of them, but here goes:

[h=1]1.8 tuning valve link repair?[/h]
[h=1]P2070 Intake Manifold Tuning Valve Stuck Open - 1.8L Motor[/h]
[h=1]"Please Help Find Part" IMT Sensor Code, P2076[/h]
Auto Codes unanswered question

There really doesn't seem to much out there on this.

Robert


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Just found this temp fix for ya. Kinda long, but well explained


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Eddy Cruze said:


> I find it funny when sitting in the GM showroom that one Car will pick up tons of stations and the others can't?


Might have something to do with the metal structure above the car.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Now back to my issue....



plano-doug said:


> My 2013 Cruze radio craps out whenever it's raining or has recently been raining. It receives only the stronger stations, and has lots of static on AM. Usually, after a while, it comes back. My theory is that moisture is getting in the antenna connection and mucking things up..


On the outside? I know mine is sealed pretty well. After the radio initially started to act up, I installed a shark fin. I parked my Cruze right next to my minivan in my driveway and put the radio in scan mode in the van. Then went to the Cruze and did the same. ten times more stations on the vans radio. 

I then removed the antenna and replaced it. Tried the radio again. No changes. 

I removed the antenna, blew out the socket with canned air, cleaned it with contact cleaner, dried it out with canned air, put a dab of dielectric grease at the top of the threads on the bolt needed to connect the shark fin and a little thread locker at the bottom. I had previously tested the bolt for fit and then put the bolt through the antenna lead. I now connected the antenna and completed the install by cleaning the paint around the antenna with rubbing alcohol and after it evaporated I removed the 3M tape covering on the fin and stuck it in place making sure it was completely sealed around the fin. 

I retried the radio and had no changes, just three local stations came through on FM. It had been receiving them until two days ago now.



plano-doug said:


> Looking at my Haynes, here's what it says about the antenna.
> 1. Unscrew the antenna mast from its mounting base and remove it.
> 2. To remove the antenna base, remove the trim around the rear window.
> 3. Carefully pull the rear of the headliner down enough to access the antenna mounting bolt, then remove the bolt.
> ...


I read in another thread about the difficulty removing the headliner so for now I want to focus on the other end of the lead and any intermediate connections.



plano-doug said:


> For me, given the correlation between rain and bad reception, I'm focused on the antenna end, but, if it's not in the radio, it can be anywhere along the cable from the antenna to the connection on the back of the radio. So inspecting the cable as well as checking the connection at the back of the radio may be in order.
> 
> At first I was thinking you may have something going out in the tuner section of the radio. But since you have problems with both AM and FM, it's probably outside the radio.
> 
> ...



Keep me posted.

Robert


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## plano-doug (Jul 1, 2015)

Blasirl said:


> On the outside?


Yes. Attached is a pic of mine, in case there are other types. 

If I understand correctly, this antenna does XM as well as AM and FM. If that's so, then there has to be some sort of low noise amplifier (LNA) in or near the antenna base for the XM. I'm not an RF guy - I can barely spell it - but what I've picked up over the years is that, for satellite radios such as XM, the RF amplifiers need to be right at the antenna. If that's the case here, I'm wondering if your amp is/was bad. 

But, without having torn into it, I'm speculating for now. Interestingly, my Haynes has two radio drawings, but neither show an amp on the coax - don't know what to make of that. 

As for mine, looking at the antenna, I see a couple spots where moisture could get in there to affect it. But I need to take it apart in hopes of confirming that.

Doug

.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

plano-doug said:


> Yes. Attached is a pic of mine, in case there are other types.
> 
> If I understand correctly, this antenna does XM as well as AM and FM. If that's so, then there has to be some sort of low noise amplifier (LNA) in or near the antenna base for the XM. I'm not an RF guy - I can barely spell it - but what I've picked up over the years is that, for satellite radios such as XM, the RF amplifiers need to be right at the antenna. If that's the case here, I'm wondering if your amp is/was bad.
> 
> ...


XM works fine, just AM/FM is an issue. As for antenna types there seems to be at least two types. I have the larger of the two on my 2014.


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## plano-doug (Jul 1, 2015)

Blasirl said:


> XM works fine, just AM/FM is an issue. As for antenna types there seems to be at least two types. I have the larger of the two on my 2014.


I studied the Haynes a bit more yesterday. They list two radio types, 1) with graphic display, and 2) with navigation or color display. For 1, it shows two coax lines coming into the head unit. For 2, it shows 3 lines. This implies multiple antennas in both cases. But the text in the chapter covering the antenna only mentions one.

Perhaps there are two signals coming off the roof mast, maybe one for AM-FM, and another for XM, with an amp in-line. 

Looking at the rear window defroster grid, I don't see the usual extra antenna grid I see on my Impalas, so I was thinking the rear window is not part of the antenna system. (But maybe it still is.)

For the case of 3 wires, I'm thinking there has to be another antenna somewhere.

I need to dig into mine, but it's too cold out today. It can wait 

Doug

.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

plano-doug said:


> I studied the Haynes a bit more yesterday. They list two radio types, 1) with graphic display, and 2) with navigation or color display. For 1, it shows two coax lines coming into the head unit. For 2, it shows 3 lines. This implies multiple antennas in both cases. But the text in the chapter covering the antenna only mentions one.
> 
> Perhaps there are two signals coming off the roof mast, maybe one for AM-FM, and another for XM, with an amp in-line.
> 
> ...


I think the XM, the OnStar and then the radio all have different types of antennas. I think newer models have combined the XM and OnStar. 

The two types of "radios" make no difference. There are some excellent threads by @StLouisCPhT, @dhpnet and @modalita among others on upgrading to the Navigation and Non-navigation MyLink systems. I do not remember anything being required be done to the antenna system with the exception of the GPS antenna which I think is the OnStar antenna.

Robert


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## plano-doug (Jul 1, 2015)

Blasirl said:


> I think the XM, the OnStar and then the radio all have different types of antennas. I think newer models have combined the XM and OnStar.
> 
> The two types of "radios" make no difference. There are some excellent threads by @StLouisCPhT, @dhpnet and @modalita among others on upgrading to the Navigation and Non-navigation MyLink systems. I do not remember anything being required be done to the antenna system with the exception of the GPS antenna which I think is the OnStar antenna.
> 
> Robert


Thanks. BTW, I should have said the Haynes manual had "2 schematics" rather than "two radio types". 

Looking at parts on the web (gmpartsdirect.com), I see there are multiple antenna cables shown, some with two connectors on one end, indicating multiple bands. So I can maybe explain 2 of the coax inputs, but still haven't ID'd the 3rd one.

Doug

.


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