QuestionI have a 2005 Prius that gets ok AM reception when close to the radio station; however, on most days the AM reception is terrible around my home, which is just a few miles away. My husband's Buick antenna picks up AM signals at this location very well, so I can only assume Toyota's antenna for that model isn't too good. Is there some way to correct this problem in order to get good AM reception?
AnswerHi Mary,
Unfortunately, I don't have much personal experience with the Prius. I did a little digging and found a discussion on this subject at a Prius forum:
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-technical-discussion/43702-prius-am-rad...
It does seem to be a fairly common problem, but whether it's caused by interference from electronics devices in the Prius, or an issue with the factory roof-mounted aerial, I don't know. There does not appear to be a factory antenna amplifier, which is found on some other models with roof-mounted or in-glass aerials.
I'm not much of an expert on radio reception, but I've been able to improve the AM quality in other vehicles by grounding the shield of the antenna plug behind the radio. This is just a matter of removing the radio, wrapping a bit of wire around the outside of the AM/FM antenna plug, and fastening the other end of the wire to the metal support structure in the dash. I honestly don't know whether this will make a difference in your situation, but it's a fairly easy job, so it might be worth a try.
Hope this helps!
Brian
