QuestionQUESTION: i recently bought a nissan 350z, when listening to the radio it sounds like i'm in between cities. in other words i dont get a good reception no matter which radio station i turn the radio to. when i play my cds it is clear so i'm sure its not in the speakers. no matter what part of las vegas i'm in it always sounds the same (fuzzy) for a lack of a better word. i've changed out the antennaok with a friend of mine that has the same car(different yr) so i'm sure the antenna is working. any suggestions???? im tired of listening to a fuzzy radio station :(
ANSWER: It is hard for me to know what you are getting without listening to the sound. An overloaded amplifier sounds totally different than a weak signal from a defective antenna. Buzzing sounds are usually associated with bad speakers (loose voice coil).
And the antenna may be fine but the ground not tightly connected at the metal mounting area.
If this is a new car you should take it into the dealer and get it looked at under warranty.
If out of warranty you should find someone who can determine quickly what is wrong. A good audio tech can usually tell you with a quick listen and play with the controls for a bit.
You didn't say if the problem is on AM or FM or both - which makes a big difference.
If you can give me a little more description of the sound and if the bad sound is coming from all speakers or only the fronts or backs it would help me give you a better guess.
PS; If the bad sound is coming from only some speakers but not all of them and if the sound is a buzzing or break up sound that comes and goes with the sound sort of then you have bad speakers that will need to be replaced but if the sound is unniversially weak on all speakers it is likely an antenna grounding problem or electronic problem with the head unit. Also, if the cd player is giving good sound then it is probably not the speakers.
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QUESTION: Thank you for a quick response. its hard to describe the sound other than its like im leaving a city and the radio station i was listening to is getting farther away, so the radio is fading in and out, or another example is like im driving thru a tunnel and the sound decreases then once out of the tunnel the sound becomes clear again except im not driving away from the city and not driving thru a tunnel, just around the city and no matter what part of the city im in its always the same. and the speakers sound perfectly fine when im listening to my cds.i have tried taking the antenna off and making sure it is secured tightly when i put it back on. I dont know anything about the electrical system in a auto but it almost seems like theres a wire or wires thats not fully connected, if that even makes any sense. sorry thats the best description i can think of to describe what im hearing
AnswerThanks for the further explanation. Helps alot.
It would seem a problem with signal strength. Either an antenna related matter or the front end circuitry of the tuner section of the head unit. Grounding at the antenna can cause this and it is sometimes very difficult to find a grounding problem. It could even be with a poor ground in the cars body parts. If it is a tuner problem the only choice you would have it to replace the radio unit or have it repaired by a competent radio technician.
You are not alone with this problem. If you google the phrase "nissan z350 radio reception problems" you will find a long list reception issues. Some are clearly not related to your experience but some are. Seems the z350 has more than its share of problems in this category!
Final comment: I don't know the system you have in the car or the model year but some nissan cars have an rf preamp between the antenna and the input to the radio. If that preamp is not working correctly you would get results like you have described. Suggest you check that out. You should look for a power wire going to the antenna area and there would be a little module nearby that the antenna connects with.
Hope this helps.
