Hoping somebody can help me out here. I was never able to receive AM signals in my 98 F150 XLT stock stereo unless I was almost at the AM transmitter. Hoping that an aftermarket deck would cure the problem (and give me a MP3 CD player) I replaced it with the Kenwood deck that was on sale at BB. Still no AM reception. And with me moving to Florida next week, I already know that the good stations are on AM.

Need a little help over here.

 

If you have no FM then you probably have a bad antenna connection or antenna wires. If you have the right converter (if needed) then the new HU should pick up any station well. Might want to look at a new antenna. They're pretty cheap, never installed one myself but shouldnt be too hard.

 

Sorry, but you need to tell us more. What did you hear when the AM station was tuned in? Were the speakers quiet, full of static, was there any broadcast coming thru?
Good radio reception depends upon a good antenna properly coupled to the radio receiver and GOOD CHASSIS ELECTRICAL GROUNDS.(not yelling, just emphasizing) You changed the radio, therefore your coax cable or antenna may be bad.

Before changing the antenna and cable, you must clean and reattach as many grounding lugs as you can. You will probabaly be able to find several grounding points on the chassis of the engine bay. Ford uses grounding straps with clips under the chassis to ground metal to metal. The clips become loose, and rusty, they must be properly re-installed or replaced to help eliminate interference that degrades AM reception. Good Luck

 

He said the factory radio did the samething. I most cases I seen someone put the wrong antenna on at the factory. Just goto a junk yard and pull one out.

Also make sure they plugged it into the radio.

 

I dig it muffinman, that is why I said his antenna or chassis grounds are bad, the radio has been eliminated as a problem as it was replaced. When trying to troubleshoot problems that may be caused by one or more factors, I try to perform the easiest repairs first, and work on the more difficult repairs later. Take it from a former Navy Avionics Tech/Radio Operator..This is the Gospel truth.
I can back up my story: For 8 Years my AM/Fm aftermarket radio had very poor AM reception. I could barely get three channels that are 20 miles away from me. Last year, the radio speaker output amp blew out the left channel, and I went to BB and bought a new Pioneer AM/FM CD player I installed it, had great sounding FM and CD, but still couldn't receive AM. The signal was weak, and overridden by too much static. I lived with it for awhile, but was always wondering why the AM didn't work.
Last month, I went under the hood and removed all of the ground connections from the chassis of the truck. I cleaned each ring lug with a fine sandpaper, and cleaned them with alcohol. I replaced all the grounds and tightened them ( nuts and bolts)securely. Then I went under the truck and found three grounding straps, each one had corroded ends or was loose. I cleaned all of the clip-on ground straps and repositioned them over clean metal. Also, I pulled the antenna off the truck and wiped the socket out as well as cleaned the base of the antenna itself. Miraculously, when I tuned in my AM radio the noise was gone, and I am receiving a good signal again. I just heard a wacky disc jockey the other night from Buffalo NY, and I live in the Philadelphia area. The enemies of a good ground are corrosion, dirt, and weak or loose connections. The truck becomes a giant static generator and there is no way for the receiver to overcome this noise.

 

so you might say you know a thing or 2 about antennas . Hey you ever tried an FM signal booster? I saw this and i wasnt sure how it worked. Figured your years in the Navy might shed some light. (or years in the garage!)


http://store.teptronics.com/at3007.html

 

Getting off the subject of AM to FM eh...? OK, the FM signal booster if placed in series with the antenna will probably give you a 3dB gain ( if that) over the FM frequency band. The model I see here seems very inexpensive but may provide you a little bit of improvement. Maybe your favorite FM station will fade after 55 miles instead of 50 miles. I would say that it will probably not be worth the twenty bucks. It is difficult to create a good wideband Radio Frequency amp that will perform well across the band. I imagine that this amp will cause more trouble, in the long run, than it is worth. The amp could even overdrive the front-end of the receiver and cause unwanted distortion.

In place of the amp, I would install a good quality antenna and coax cable first. A well-matched 50 ohm antenna and transmission line will always give your receiver the best performance.

 

If all else fails theres always XM or Sirrus

 

Don't go satellite!!! They have us forking out an arm and a leg for TV, and now have the nerve to make us pay for radio!!! I sure miss the days when you could get quality TV and radio programs for free.

 

You could say the same about Cell phones, Laptops, even your connection to the internet. If you feel you need it, Then it cost you to have someone provide it.