robgraham

I posted on another forum a question about the poor radio reception I'm getting - it's an 'X' reg Octavia estate and got this reply

"It's extremely common for the mast and/or amplifier in VAG group roof
mounted aerials to degrade rapidly after a few years. The masts can go
open circuit at the base where they flex, and the amps tend to suffer
from water ingress. MW and LW will generally go first in either case,
with FM following over time. "

Can someone confirm this and advise on a solution. The loss of MW some time ago and now FM is just as stated.

Thanks

Rob

kynastonp

If you have access to vagcom the radio can tell you some things ,if the aerial is active (powered) ,if the connection is open or short circuit ,mine showed as short ,opened the base up and there were signs of water ingress . if you can get at the end of the cable by the radio and measure the resistance between the inner and outer of the cable for a non powered aerial it should be Meg ohms,for a powered aerial about 230 ohms .
if you measure the output (aerial socket) on the radio there should be about 5v but be careful not to short them together
mine had exactly the same symptoms no am and poor fm even two miles from a big fm tx

robgraham

Thanks for that; what have you done to correct the problem ? Does it mean taking the lining down, etc ? Did you replace the amp with a VAG one or an alternative?

And has it solved the problem particularly with the AM - the reason I ask that is that I was told by the Skoda dealer when I bought the car (3 years old) that these radios are all poor on AM and nothing could be done about it.

Rob

Mark Donaldson

My 2004 Octavia vRS developed similar fault with loss of MW and LW reception last autumn. Took the car back to the dealer and at first told it was just a common problem and they all had poor reception on these frequencies. The problem got worse so took it back again and they investigated further and after having the car for a day found the already mentioned problem of water ingress in to the roof base unit. They replaced the unit under warranty. However the new aeriel is of a different design to the original. The original could only be partly unscrewed and still seemed to be connected by a wire. However the new unit can be completely unscrewed and removed. I don't know if this is an upgraded version or not that maybe eliminates the problem of water getting in. Maybe someone else knows more.
The car was in for the whole day as apparently the whole rooflining has to be dropped down and the dash pulled forward to connect the wire. I do not know how much truth there is in that.

robgraham

Thanks for that, Mark.

Do I take it that you had adequate reception on MW and LW when you first got the car and that it has now gone back to that level ?

It certainly does seem as if the roof lining does have to be taken down and that is why the dealer tried to fob you off with the 'bad reception' story.

If you did get good MW/LW before and it is now good again, I'm going to have a bash at getting my dealer to do a replacement despite being well out of warranty on the grounds that thet fobbed me off during the warranty period. Nothing venture, nothing gain!

Rob

kynastonp

my car is an octavia saloon ,so no experience of estates. Replacing the aerial and built in amp is a case of removing one centre trim panel at rear of headlining ,pulling down rear few inches of headlining, the aerial has one large nut to undo ,follow the cable down a few inches there is joint to split, and feed the aerial and cable out through the roof .replacement is the reverse as haynes say.Have a good look at the aerial base and how the cable is routed before dissassembly
Removing the cable and replacing it does look like a trim removal job but not the headining as the cable heads from the roof down the c pillar and the EKTA drawing (lhd) shows it following the sill
on mine vagcom said aerial short ,but just checking with the aerial disconnected at the roof end said aerial ok ,so bought new aerial and fitted it, transformed am reception and improved fm ,opening the old aerial base showed lots of water corrosion and a burnt component

paul

Mark Donaldson

I bought the car in March 2004 when it was six months old and the radio reception on all frequencies was faultless. Once we got into autumn the LW/MW reception started playing up, to the extent that these frequencies would not work at all, only FM was possible. Once new aerial installed all frequencies worked fine and have done so ever since. Hope this is of help. Mark

robgraham

Thanks Mark and Kynastonp - I pulled th radio out this afternoon (2 ground down bits of hacksaw blade such that the holes form a hook - totally successful and just a re-invention of the wheel, as I'm sure others have found this before). Anyway radio works adequately on all wavebands with just the DVM lead.

The access to the earial is probably not that much different on the estate as it is quite close to the rear door. All I've got to do is to work out how to take the trim off. That is if I fail to get the dodgy dealer to do anything about it - don't hold much hope but it's worth a try. particularly with all the info you guys have supplied.

Thanks

Rob

James_H

I managed to get the trim off to change my aerial but can't work out how to get it back on. The metal bits inside the holes in the roof - I can't get these out to back in the plastic, if that's what has to happen.

Any ideas?

robgraham

James - did you get your problem sorted - I didn't see any replies ?

I went to see my dealer the other day and tried to get somewhere on getting them to accept responsibility based on comments here and elesewhere about aerials leaking. Fat chance as we all know, and of course the usual line comes up of only having to change an aerial once that they can remember.

I did ask how much they would charge anyway and it turned out that it is only a half hour job, so taking off the fascias and dropping that part of the lining must be pretty easy if the garage monkeys can do it in half and hour.

Rob