Lousy SXM reception. Just me?

[any4xx]

Hey Folks,

My new-to-me ‘14 2500 CTD Laramie has the absolute worst SXM reception of any vehicle I’ve ever owned. I just got back from a few days on the road and couldn’t believe how many times I lost service. Granted, each time it lasted only a few seconds up to maybe ten seconds, but my other vehicles with aftermarket stereos and SXM receivers never lose service. My truck has the 8.4” no-nav, but nav-ready head unit.

I’m already missing Apple Car Play so will likely be swapping up to an aftermarket head unit in the near future anyway. My question is whether this is a normal “problem” with these radios. And if it is, is it likely the receiver or the antenna? When I swap receivers I’d rather adapt the factory antenna to my new receiver than to run a second one up to the roof. But if the antenna is generally thought to be the issue I’ll save some time messing with it and just run another antenna.

So what say the masses here?

Thank you,
Tom.

 

[jejb]

My 18 has the 8.4" nav system. I live in the Ozark Mts and will loose XM reception at times in some of the hillier back country areas. But only very briefly, and only very occasionally. Overall, it works very well 99.99% of the time.

 

[Wallyb4]

Have you tried to do a reconnect to the signal? Sometimes you just have a bad connection. I for one do not like them and canceled it. As you stated when I was on their dine I never lost signal. Once I was paying for it I lost it 3 to 4 time a day. I have rock solid service in my Jeep. Once that service is over I will not renew.

 

[tron67j]

It is possible that the former owner had an upgraded radio in and put the original back in when selling the truck. The wire connector could be loose or damaged. You may want to take the radio out and check the connection. If that does nothing and no one else has a fix, you may need to replace the antenna if indeed the contract point is problematic. Good luck.

 

[bchap05]

My 17 had some issues with cutting out. I had a year free when I bought the truck and towards the end I was getting annoyed enough to take it in but never did. Fast forward I bought a Kenwood 1057xr 10 inch screen this year and used the Maestro connector to use the factory SXM antenna, rather than aftermarket.

I decided to try SXM again and was cutting out at least probably 2-10 times per trip. Was nearing changing out the factory antenna and using the aftermarket, but oddly it has been good the last few weeks now so I forgot about it. Assuming SXM updated my signal or something.

Read on a lot of forums of Chrysler products having the cut out though.

 

[any4xx]

Thank you for your replies. I know the previous owner and everything is and has always been in stock condition. I HAVE had the refresh signal sent with no change. I’m leaning hard toward the 10.1” Kenwood head unit. Like I said previously, I’m missing the Apple Car Play feature anyway. While I can get by without it, the satellite radio reception is pushing me over the edge.

I already have a SXM somethingorother-300 that I’ll be taking out of my Jeep Wrangler very soon. It’s not a big deal to just run the antenna that is with that unit, but not having to do so and just using an adapter harness on the factory shark fin would be nicer. But it looks like it’s a crap shoot as to whether the problem would be with the radio or with the antenna.

I did some more late night reading and it seems as if all of these FCA radios from this era can experience this lousy reception. I could certainly live without their service but I’m too lazy to put together playlists and I often travel to areas where cellular service is spotty. I like being able to set a station and not think about it for hours.

Again, thank you for your responses.

Tom.

 

[DeckArtist]

I had the same problem with my 2016 sport. No matter where I went the service went in and out so badly it made listening impossible.

I have a new 2020 that does not have that problem.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bchap05]

Thank you for your replies. I know the previous owner and everything is and has always been in stock condition. I HAVE had the refresh signal sent with no change. I’m leaning hard toward the 10.1” Kenwood head unit. Like I said previously, I’m missing the Apple Car Play feature anyway. While I can get by without it, the satellite radio reception is pushing me over the edge.

I already have a SXM somethingorother-300 that I’ll be taking out of my Jeep Wrangler very soon. It’s not a big deal to just run the antenna that is with that unit, but not having to do so and just using an adapter harness on the factory shark fin would be nicer. But it looks like it’s a crap shoot as to whether the problem would be with the radio or with the antenna.

I did some more late night reading and it seems as if all of these FCA radios from this era can experience this lousy reception. I could certainly live without their service but I’m too lazy to put together playlists and I often travel to areas where cellular service is spotty. I like being able to set a station and not think about it for hours.

Again, thank you for your responses.

Tom.

Go for it I love my Kenwood 10 inch. Especially coming from an Express 5.0