Has anyone had shop experience replacing Audi windshields with the radio antenna in them? (1990 200)
09-25-2006, 11:33 AM
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No but this guy might give some insight...
First question ... does your car still have the factory stereo setup? If not, the problem may be that when an aftermarket deck was installed they didn't connect the power for the antenna amplifiers. The windshield mounted antennae use amplifiers, and without power they don't work well at all.
Second question ... is the reception a problem in AM and FM or only AM? The V8 actually has two antennae for the radio ... one in each windshield. The one in the front windshield is intended only for FM use, and if the two connections are swapped at the deck the AM reception will be very poor.
When I bought my first V8 I found the radio reception to be excellent in both AM and FM modes. After I had the car in for the airbag recall (if I remember correctly I had to have the car in 3 times before they finally got that one right) the FM reception was gone. I called this to their attention and they fixed me right up ... until I listened to the AM reception. What I found was the dealer simply swapped the front and rear antenna connections at the deck! After investigating further I learned that the "coax" from the rear antenna was damaged somehow during the recall operation. I learned that there's a very fine gauge wire for the center conductor of the coax, it probably got pinched.
To test for this situation you can pull off the inner C-pillar cover on the left (driver's) side of the car. Behind the cover you will see a black module connecting to the rear defroster that has several electrical connections ... one of which being a coax cable connection. Unscrew this connector, turn on the radio and set it to the frequency of a known AM or FM station. Reception is likely to be bad or non-existent. Now take a length of wire ... a test lead for a multimeter works just fine ... and touch it to the center contact of the antenna ... if the reception does not change significantly you have a problem with the cable. If the cable is working, the next thing to check is that power is being supplied to the amplifier, and that the amplifier is attached to the tabs on the windshield. If all this appears to be working well, verify the continuity from the amplifier to the trace in the windshield.<ul><li><a href="http://www.audifans.com/twiki/bin/view/Audi/PoorReceptionWindshieldAntennae">http://www.audifans.com/twiki/bin/view/Audi/PoorReceptionWindshieldAntennae</a</li></ul>
Second question ... is the reception a problem in AM and FM or only AM? The V8 actually has two antennae for the radio ... one in each windshield. The one in the front windshield is intended only for FM use, and if the two connections are swapped at the deck the AM reception will be very poor.
When I bought my first V8 I found the radio reception to be excellent in both AM and FM modes. After I had the car in for the airbag recall (if I remember correctly I had to have the car in 3 times before they finally got that one right) the FM reception was gone. I called this to their attention and they fixed me right up ... until I listened to the AM reception. What I found was the dealer simply swapped the front and rear antenna connections at the deck! After investigating further I learned that the "coax" from the rear antenna was damaged somehow during the recall operation. I learned that there's a very fine gauge wire for the center conductor of the coax, it probably got pinched.
To test for this situation you can pull off the inner C-pillar cover on the left (driver's) side of the car. Behind the cover you will see a black module connecting to the rear defroster that has several electrical connections ... one of which being a coax cable connection. Unscrew this connector, turn on the radio and set it to the frequency of a known AM or FM station. Reception is likely to be bad or non-existent. Now take a length of wire ... a test lead for a multimeter works just fine ... and touch it to the center contact of the antenna ... if the reception does not change significantly you have a problem with the cable. If the cable is working, the next thing to check is that power is being supplied to the amplifier, and that the amplifier is attached to the tabs on the windshield. If all this appears to be working well, verify the continuity from the amplifier to the trace in the windshield.<ul><li><a href="http://www.audifans.com/twiki/bin/view/Audi/PoorReceptionWindshieldAntennae">http://www.audifans.com/twiki/bin/view/Audi/PoorReceptionWindshieldAntennae</a</li></ul>
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