Car Stereos: Aiwa CDC x227, aiwa cdc, motorola antenna

Question
I have the Aiwa CDC x227 in a 1991 Corvette.  The AM radio has not worked since the dealer installed a new power antenna. The FM radio signal is limited to certain stations. Any suggestions?  Do I have to replace the antenna, could it be an FM only antenna (is there such a thing)???  Is there an AM connection in the back of the radio????  Any ideas?  Should I just get a new satellite radio>>>>????

Answer
Hi Ron,

The AM and FM signals should both be present in the single "motorola" antenna plug at the back of the radio.  There's no separate plug for AM.  AM radio reception can be spotty at the best of times, but it depends on a good ground connection for the outside "shield" part of the antenna cable.  Usually this ground connection is made through the mounting of the antenna to the vehicle body, but in a fiberglass-body vehicle like your Corvette you might have to take additional steps to ensure that there's a good ground connection at the antenna mount.  Also, you might want to check the connection of the replacement antenna to the existing antenna cable.  If it wasn't an identical OEM replacement, then the connecting plugs might not have matched, and the dealer might have tried to splice the two cables together.  A poor connection here would affect both AM and FM reception.

In a few cases, I've been able to improve AM radio reception by connecting a wire from a chassis ground point to the outside "shield" of the antenna plug where it connects to the back of the radio.

Hope this helps!

Brian