Hi all.

Just picked up a 2014 2.0 SkyActiv-G SE-L, 32,000 miles, great condition, just a few very minor marks.

Bought it to replace our 2008 Mazda 3 Takara that was written off recently by a little-old-lady driver pulling out in front of my Wife (low speed, no injuries).

Very happy with it, other than the FM Radio reception being hopeless.
Seemed OK when we picked it up, although I only tried a couple of Stations to see what the sound was like.

At one point the day after picking it up, it picked up around a dozen or so Stations from an auto-scan, and they all sounded good, but next time I started it up they had all disappeared, and a scan brought up just one local Station, with loads of static.

Tried again a day or two later, managed to get 10 or so good clear Stations, which I added to Favourites, thinking that might help, but no, lost them all when I switched on to use it the next day.

When I do a scan now, it only picks up one or occasionally two Stations, and the sound quality is bad, lots of static.

I've been through the 'secret' Screen Menu Tests relating to the Radio, Aerial Continuity shows as OK.
Signal Strength Check shows mid-20s dBuV on most Stations, not sure if that's good/bad.

This is in the UK by the way, where you're never out of range of a good strong FM Signal, the radio in the 2008 was excellent, never had any issues with reception wherever we went.


Doing some research online, it seems this is a fairly widespread and common issue, so I'm not holding out much hope of a solution.
I've ordered a Pure Highway 200 In-Car DAB+ FM Adapter, so I'll probably not bother with FM if that works as advertised.

 

Got the DAB+ Adapter installed. Wired it in through the Aux Socket, fantastic sound! FM? Who needs it?

Got a few more Mods to do, Dash-Cam, Reversing Camera, properly loud Horn (the one on it is embarrassing), and an additional double USB Socket.

 

Much as I hate saying it even here in the USA FM reception is not what it use to be and antiquated. I live in Northern California and a few times using FM makes me feel like being in the 70's with FM upgrades to an am only car. LOL

 

The thing is, I never had any issues with the FM on my '08 Mazda 3, other than having to re-tune if I went more than 40-50 miles from home.

 

My 2006 PT Cruiser with a Sanyo head unit gets way better FM reception then 2018 Mazda 3 . Go figure?

This must be the day for threads members comparing different vehicles as if it is relative to the one asking the questions about?

 

I spoke too soon . . .

DAB reception is pretty poor now, only reason I can think of is that the Magnetic Grounding Tail isn't contacting the Roof fully.
Due to the stiffening section near the front of the Roof, and the fact I can't pull the Roof Lining down far enough (without damaging it), I can't be sure the Magnet is seated correctly.

It could be something else entirely, but I just want to rule that out before digging deeper.

So, my question is, how do you release the Sun-Visor Clip, which secures the Lining?
It looks like it has a piece that needs to be slid out to unclip it, but no amount of prodding does it.


EDIT; Found it!!








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