Car Stereos: radio reception, rear cargo area, antenna amplifiers

Question
from receiving many fm & a few am  stations on my factory radio on 99 ford windstar. received 1 local and now can not find any stations period, what can i check to find why not receiving radio stations cd & casset works fine. i assume rear defroster & radio antinna blend together.

Answer
Hi Terry,

Your OEM antenna is embedded in the glass in the rear of the van, but it's not integrated with the rear defroster grid; it's actually located in the window glass on the passenger side of the rear cargo area.  Sometimes the contact at the edge of the window can break away.  It might be located under the plastic interior panel.  In-glass antennas are often used with antenna amplifiers; if your van is equipped with one, it will probably be located under the panel near the rear window.  There is likely to be some kind of connector in this area, which may have worked itself loose.  You may also find another connector behind the glove box.

The other possibility is that the tuner section of your factory radio has failed.  If I was troubleshooting this in the shop, I'd probably try pulling the radio and temporarily plugging in a different antenna.  It's easy to remove your factory radio, using a set of DIN radio removal tools; these can be found at most car audio or auto parts stores.  I don't know if you have access to an alternate antenna, but if you do, that's probably the first thing I'd try.  If the radio turns out to be the problem, your best option is probably to replace it with an after-market one (unless it's important to keep your van's rear-seat jacks and controls; in this case, look for an OEM replacement).  

Personally, I think the most likely cause for your problem is a defective radio; but you can't completely rule out a broken link in the factory antenna line.

Hope this helps!

Brian