Driving home from work the other day I suddenly lost all reception on my radio. One second it was playing fine, then there was a slight ‘pop’ over the speakers, then suddenly nothing but rather quiet, unvarying static all over the AM and FM dials.
However, pop a CD into the player, and it plays just fine.
The system is the standard issue “audio system” for a 2000 Lexus ES 300. 249,000 miles on it, if that’s helpful.
My owner’s manual is non-helpful. Anyone out there have an idea as to what’s causing the problem. Or a suggestion for a simple fix?
Sounds like the tuner has failed. The fix will be to replace it, but I don’t know if it’s going to be a cheap and easy to find part, or if it’s expensive. For a Lexus, I’d bet on expensive.
Exactly where I was going..though the receiver itself could have failed, considering the mileage on the vehicle it’s possible that the antenna just worked loose.
Good luck getting to it on a Lexus, though The only times I’ve had to mess with antenna connections there was room to reach up in the console (barely).
Look for a Lexus discussion forum. I had radio problems with my '03 Nissan Maxima, and after finding a Maxima discussion forum, I actually located a FAQ page that explained how to repair my very common problem.
it is always good to check for the antenna connection. though the fact that there was a pop and not just silence or an intermittent signal just before failure suggests something other.
check car specific forums.
while auto radios might be able to be repaired, if user level fixes don’t work, they are usually too costly to do so. replacement with another identical unit or dash compatible unit might be needed.
a mp3 player with a FM radio plugged into an auxiliary input would give you some FM stations for now.
Thanks for the input, gang. I’ll have to see about posting this query at the Lexus website kindly provided by Machine Elf.
I suspect the fix will be rather too dear for such an old car. At present I can at least listen to my Ipod via headphones. Its radio dock still powers the iPod. The car’s too old to have any nice USB or other input ports.
I’d get a new car, but I spent all my saved up new car money on a new roof for the house.
Some modern electronic radios will try and detect if you are tuned to a station and if it decides you are not tuned to a station it will not play the static. This is how the radio works in my car.
Doubtful, but even if I did, I subsequently hit the AM, FM, and CD buttons. Got the CD playing just fine. But I just can’t go back to rotating my CD 6-pack in the glove box anymore!
But what the hell, I’ll fiddle with the AUX button again too.
Not necessarily. That pop could have been caused by the antenna wire disconnecting, similar to the pop one hears in headphones when they are unplugged from the player.
The only times I’ve had to mess with antenna connections there was room to reach up in the console (barely).