thumper

The unit already has bluetooth built in.

sorry i meant the bluetooth options on the steering wheel do not work.

That actually makes a lot of sense. The only accessories causing the problem are the one that have motors. Motors make lots of interference if there's a ground loop. I'm thinking one of two things is the problem or it could be both.

 

One: Its almost certain that he tapped wires instead of using a CANBUS adapter he may have grounded the radio's ground, the parking brake wire, and the bypass wire to different spots. Maybe the radio to the vehicle adapters ground and the parking brake/bypass to the vehicle's chassis. Also If you have an XM module installed its ground could also be attached to the vehicles chassis.

 

Two: Where he tapped the ignition wire could be causing electrical interference through the antenna. Since now you have the antenna amp connected to the ACC wire this could be a source of dirty power.

 

Did attaching the antenna to the ACC wire at least fix your AM reception?

attaching the antenna to the ACC wire did not fix the AM reception, but there was improvement in the sense that it wasn't total static, and i could hear faint voices (ie. "ghost whispering") if i turn the volume up high.

i do not have the XM module, nor the bluetooth. was hoping to do that latter later but this is stalling things.

yes there is a bypass.

the heated options (including the rear defogger) do not appear to be affecting the unit. oddly enough the power accessories do not either, such as the windows and door locks or sunroof. what does cause issues are the hvac blower motor and wipers, and when the car is an any gear but park and drive (this is a DSG model).

the steering wheel functions no longer work after the install. i did not have the retrofit hardware required to make them work.

Thats odd... Neither of my VW's (Jetta and Rabbit) have this problem both with an F700 and the Metra Adapter. It sounds like a grounding problem. How exactly is radio wired into the VW's wiring?

not entirely sure. it's some kind of plug and play adapter, but i do not know the brand.

been to see the installer. he connected it to the ACC lead. now instead of either dead space or bursts of static, i get what i call "ghost whisperer" reception on my AM band... is this an improvement?

but things have now changed a bit. the strength/quality of both my AM/FM reception is being affected by the accessories in the car. i turn on the rear defogger and i get a faint buzzing sound. shift from D to R on my DSG transmission and the volume drops a notch.

is my car possessed?!?

 

Thumper: What state do you live in? If your near me I could help you out.

thanks for the generous offer, but i suspect we're not local (i'm from vancouver BC canada)

please no fighting! we're all friends here... please?

still no am reception until saturday....

the installer answered back to my email last night... here is what he commented:

Actually, now that I think of it, I would have connected it to the solid blue wire which is the antenna output. Makes sense since this is what we are supposed to do. The output however is the same for both the amp turn on and radio turn on so I don't see it making a difference.

i'm not very good at electrical work, and i don't want to mess with it on my own because i'm afraid that any damage i cause would affect the 2yr warranty on the unit. i have a tentative appointment scheduled for the upcoming saturday. i'm hoping to find good suggestions before then.

hi... i just talked to the 2nd installer online and this was his response:

Here's the thing...the blue/white wire is not powering any factory or aftermarket amps. Its not connected to anything. So unless the amplified antenna requires a ridiculous amount of power to operate (which it does not as we have seen with amp'd antennas for the past 20 years) then I see no reason to move that wire to ACC.

 

Now, I can take it apart again and move the antenna wire to ACC but I sincerely doubt it would make any difference at all.

 

sorry for all the confusion... i'm just trapped between what he knows from experience and what is being said here... and i still have no am reception

i just want to be sure of this because he has to charge me for time/labor evern time i go back.

the installer attached it to the radio output of the deck. It gives the antenna 12 volts once you have switched the radio on?

what do you mean by getting another antenna? as in replacing the oem roof-mounted whip antenna that's currently on the car now?

just came back from another installer. they used a metra equivalent as described above but... fm reception range improved, but no success with the am frequencies.... again, help?

thanks... not trying to hurt anyone!

i'm not by any means knowledgable in this sort of installation, so i may have gotten the facts wrong.

the installer showed me the antenna wire from the car, and there were 2 connectors on it. he said one was for the whip antenna, and the other is for the imprinted antenna in the back window. the pioneer unit only had the one radio connector.

what is even more odd is that while the car was in his installation bay, it was still able to get a decent enough signal to be heard, albeit with some static. but once everything was buttoned up and i was sent on my way, the signal faded completely and i couldn't hear anything at all anymore.

i don't know what else i've missed

i just put this into my 07 vw gti, and there is no AM radio signal (i listen to AM mostly for news/sports/traffic reports). the was told that my car has 2 antennas... there is one on the roof out back, and another in the glass. the F90BT only has the one connection.

is there any way of getting the AM signal back? i have am reception when the stock deck was swapped back in.