Bad reception on my XM Radio

Newbie here so forgive me if this isn't the place to post this.

I have a 2010 tacoma TRD offroad with the JBL stereo and XM pre-installed.

I have owned XM stereo's before and never have I ever gotten such bad reception. It is constantly dropping the signal. I have brought it to the dealer and they told me nothings wrong with the radio. So my question is does anyone else have this problem?

 

check the antenna connection?

(i work at best buy i know everything )

 

definitley sounds like a bad connection somewhere.

 

x2 Panda. I did my own install, Sirius radio with factory antenna + adapter cable and my reception is great.

 

My reception is pretty poor...i lose the signal much more often than in my old subaru, or in my wifes acura...

OP: How bad is it? If it's off more than on, definitely a connection issue....I lose reception on my if I drive through a wooded area or around tall buildings for after about 15 seconds.

 

My reception is okay, however there will be times it just drops sound completely and won't come back until the truck is restarted. It will buzz then come back to sound and do this for about 10 secs then never returns. And it still has signal cause it will still be showing the song and change when another song comes on. Haven't had time to get this checked out but I'm rather displeased especially for what they charge. I've used both factory and aftermarket in other vehicles and never had any issues.

 

Mine does the exact same thing, but it's only happened 3 times in a whole year.

 

I'll look into that this weekend. On a side note does anyone make a service manual for a 2010 taco, even a online pdf would do to give me a idea as to where to look.

 

The only time I lose reception on mine is when I go under an overpass. Not sure if that's normal since I've never had satellite radio before.

 

That was normal with my old sat radio, but driving down one section of highway where I always got reception now it cuts in and out. Mind you it's fairly open with not a lot of tree cover.

 

I wouldn't mind if it happened infrequently like that. Mine will do it a couple times a week.

 

The easiest sat antenna connector to check is the one on the driverside kick panel otherwise you need to either pull the radio since its a JBL or drop the headliner to check the connector at the antenna.

 

isn't your truck a 2010? I would think this is covered under the 3yr 36k warranty. take it in and get the dealership to fix it for you. That's what warranties are for. IDK what your mileage is so you could be out of warranty for all I know. Just my .02

 

There is definitely a problem but most likely it is not the antenna if it is still showing the artist but no sound. The sat radio plays on a 7 second delay, so if you go under an overpass (at speed) it should not lose a signal at all. The Tacoma stereo has some known problems with the volume on the 2009-2010, that is one possibility. If is loses the signal it will show that it is searching for it, not the artist. The antenna does have to have a clear view of the sky, it operates just like a GPS antenna, it has to "see" the satellite. To eliminate the stereo you will have to listen to boring terrestrial radio for a while and see if the problem repeats. If it does, the stereo is your problem.

 

If you head to the dealer, please post or PM me the results.

 

Ok so dealer says all connections are good, and the stereo works fine. So i'm going to barrow a friends XM portable and see if it is something to do with the XM service in my area. Thanks everyone for your help, I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

Loosing some recepetion on a satelite radio is normal. When the loss occurs look about you. The satelites are around the Earths Equator and if a big tree or building is blocking the antennas view of that satelite you will loose the signal. I was driving through the mountains last fall, huge cliffs next to the highway effectively blocked the signal more than I heard it. Deciduous trees absorb microwave signals so in the winter time areas you lost signal in the summer when the trees has leafs will not likely play. Its due to the sap with in the trees. Even cell phone tower designers have to take local trees into account when placing an antenna system. NOW in open country you should not be loosing the signal. When driving in Seattle its a mixed bag if I get receitin or not depending on where I am at. Hope this helps.

 

True but i still thnk this antennas on these trucks are weak. I lose recpetion in my Tacoma fairly often, whereas I did not lose it in my old car, or my wifes car, when driving the same routes.