My stock -SE radio isn't working. The unit comes on, but there's static no matter which frequency I tune it to. The previous owner said it did this intermittently but just before he sold it, it stopped receiving altogether.

I've replaced the antenna with a Radio Shack clone. It works perfectly--comes up when the radio's on and retracts when I shut off the radio or the car. The antenna lead is connected to the antenna assembly, and the lead is connected to the back of the radio.

My question: Before I assume my headunit is kaput, is there another antenna lead connector to check?

The attached PDF shows an "antenna feeder" but also an "antenna feeder extension." Where do the two meet? I ripped out the passenger side of the dash, the glovebox, the passenger kick panel, the door sill trim and carpet and the behind-seat cubby looking for it Wednesday night. No luck.

Any advice appreciated.

 

Without looking at the diagram, I would assume that it is referring to the junction behind the rear passenger side speaker. Try rolling up some sandpaper to clean inside the female plug end. Finish up the cleaning by spraying both plug ends with electronic cleaner (Lowes/HomeDepot/RadioShack/ect). You may also want to check your aftermarket antenna for a similar connection point right at the base of the antenna; I think my Metro power antenna has a screw on (or maybe that was the 2nd gen factory antenna I tried to adapt). Any of those spots could be corroded.

 

Well, the leaders in the diagram definitely point to areas of the antenna lead between the rear speaker area and the headunit. It seems like there would be a connection in the vicinity of the behind-seat cubby, but I pulled it out and couldn't find one. Will have to lift up the carpet in that area too.

The only reason I suspect there's a loose connection is the fact that I hooked up a test wire to the plug behind the headunit and tested for continuity to the plug at the antenna; no luck. I tested the core of the cable, too, not the shielding wire.

Sigh.

 

Strange that there would be another in addition to the junction next to the rear passenger speaker. With no continuity it sounds like either a broken antenna cable or a disconnected (at unknown junction) cable.

To test fix you could buy a replacement cable and temporary run it from the radio to the antenna. If it works you'll need it anyway and if it doesn't work you can just return it. Auto Zone and O'Reilly should have this in stock (Metra 44-EC144); I know Best Buy and Amazon do too and Amazon will be much cheaper.

Interestingly the Metra product description mentions a built in capacitor. Not sure if the Mazda cable has a capacitor and if the capacitor could cause the no continuity result, or if a bad capacitor could cause intermittent and eventual failure. That makes me want to replace my cable to see if I get better reception.☺

 

Thanks for the input. Fortunately I had saved the old antenna. The mast is broken but I figured if I plugged it directly into the headunit I should at least get a faint or static-y signal from the strongest FM stations, right? Well, I got absolutely nothing. So I think the headunit is fubar. I opened the radio casing last night to try and see if I could find any obvious loose connections or broken solder joints. Nothing. Oh well; the PO has a spare factory headunit he'll let me try. Will report on that.