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Stock radio reception

7K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  jlezlanc 
#1 ·
Hi All,

My Wife's 08 OBW Limited has no radio reception anymore. She can still use IPod for mp3s and CD player, but stereo scan goes right thru entire spectrum without picking up any stations.

Can anyone tell me where to start looking for this? Hope it's not a stupid mouse. Or a smart one even worse!

thanks
 
#2 ·
The radio uses a signal amplifier between the antenna on the rear hatch window and the radio. It's mounted above the window, and is powered by 12 V from the battery. There have been cases where the wiring to the amplifier has broken in the flexible rubber boot between the hatch and the car body. See http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...2005-outback-suddenly-no-radio-reception.html for a start. Let us know what you find.
 
#3 ·
I'm 100% sure it's a wire in the rubber boot in the hatch. Okay, maybe 99%. Happened in my 05 XT
 
#9 ·
A used 2006 base model I bought has reception - but it is poor. I'll check this out - Thanks.
I am working through this same issue.

Am I to understand the antenna itself is part of the rear hatch window correct (it could be confused for the rear defroster wiring by the way it looks)?

Also the previous owner had an XM Satellite Radio tap, it used two inline radio wire adapters. When I uninstalled the XM junction box, I did not remove the adapters, rather I connected the male adapter simply with the female adapter.

If my radio has spotty FM signal, is it safe to assume my wiring is okay here? The result of a mix of between weak traditional radio station signal coverage and weak Subaru radio antennas?
 
#6 ·
Sometimes the wire break is obvious, sometimes it isn't. I suggest you feel each wire in both boots as you flex them. If the copper is broken inside the insulation you may be able to tell. The alternative is to take the rear hatch apart and see if the antenna preamp is getting power.
 
#8 ·
That leaves the antenna wires on the glass, the coaxial cable between the preamp and the radio, and the preamp itself. I would bet on the first two. The wire on the glass can get scratched, and the coax could suffer the same fate of flexing too much in the boot.
 
#10 ·
The antenna is the traces in the glass above the defroster traces.

Subaru outback standard radio reception is poor even when working correctly - odd for a car that is targeted at outdoor sport enthusiasts who use it to head out to the sticks. See the thread below for more info - isolating the antenna amp from the car body (chassis ground) helps - another opinion is that reception is better with the antenna amp bypassed altogether:

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...tion/275498-radio-reception-troubles-fix.html
 
#11 ·
I bet it was exactly what I learned here from other posts: the wires that go from the back hatch are broken.

just rewire them.

pop open the left side wire cover thing:
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UDjLMl2N...6D_wxJVSSKORw0kHw88cmQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7399.JPG

then find the (probably 2) wires that are broken and figure out which should connect with which. one seemed a bit thicker and one had perpendicular red stripes on it.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oyYsc54E...fDhqZa8E3KV54eTgdkfRtwCLcB/s1600/IMG_7400.JPG

then find some other wire, get it through the boot/wrapper thing, and connect the right ones up.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SFP3icI4...YRazAc-P6Uhj1d9QJ8i5ouQCLcB/s400/IMG_7404.JPG

nothing to it. I now have a million stations on my stock radio in my 05 XT
 
#12 ·
I have 2008 Outback limited, experienced similar problem to what is described in some of the posts (radio went from pretty good reception to horrible reception one day). I pulled off the boot on driver's side and found the smaller of the black wires (the one with the red stripes on it) broken. Repaired wire and all is well. PS-I've already done this exercise on the passenger-side boot (for reverse lights; the wire for those broke a few years ago).
 
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