Has anyone noticed somewhat poor radio reception in the FM bands? I can hear crackling sounds even when in areas where I should have strong reception. I'm not sure if it's just that the audio system in this car tends to bring them out where other cars I have driven have muffled them. Or perhaps I'm just listening to the radio more.

I'm sure the integrated antenna is one explanation, but that's supposed to be a feature, not an excuse to have a non-functional design.

Is something wrong with my car? Some people who have sat in my car claim they hear nothing, but it's quite noticeable to me and some others hear it clearly too. I have been in civics that have integrated antennae too, and I occasionally do hear the static, but it doesn't quite seem as bad.

Can this be serviced at all? If the antenna was actually disconnected, I'm sure I wouldn't hear anything but static, so I don't think it's as simple as that.

 

I sometimes have that crackle. It usually occurs here in the hills of Pennsylvania. When I travel to the flat areas in western Ohio, the crackle is gone. My old car (Honda Accord) did NOT have the crackle in either location.

 

There is a service bulletin out for problems with radio reception. Take it into the dealer, and ask them about it.

 

The FM reception in my TSX is TERRIBLE! Static surges occur particularly when changing direction. They're audible when listening to classical music or talk segments. If one listens to Rock stations at high volume, the interference is obscured. I've called Acura twice about this issue without the least bit of acknowledgement; they claim it's standard for this car. I've had it into the dealer twice and they claim that nothing can be done about it. Neither of my previous Accords had this reception problem.
The Audio/CD unit is a piece of junk!

 

What service bulletin? Where can I find these?

I will mention it when I bring it in (I'm letting rattles and other complaints accumulate a bit first), but I suspect they won't be able to do much if they haven't dealt with it before.

If this is really an unavoidable part of the design, is there anything simple that can be done to help? I don't want to do much gutting of my car, but is there some kind of extra antenna I can splice in somewhere? (preferably on the inside of the car)

 

I was into the dealer a couple of weeks ago checking to see if there was a service bulletin out for the dreaded windshield cracking sound (which I fixed, thanks to this board) and the customer service lady was scrolling through all of the service bulletins out on the TSX (Most of which were on tools for the mechanics) and I remember seeing the one on Radio Reception. I knew previous people have had this complaint so I made a mental note of it. Since there is a TSB out on this problem, the mechanics will know exactly what to fix, and you shouldn't have to worry about them customizing your car. Sorry, I don't know the TSB number.

 

I was at my dealer's service dept. yesterday and and was told that there was no service bulletin regarding radio reception. So far, I can't convince Acura Customer Service nor my dealer that the FM reception in the TSX is poor. I've never experienced such poor radio performance in a car.

 

I'm going in tomorrow AM for my first oil change, and having them check out the radio too. I'll let you know if my dealer does anything or says there is a service bulletin...

 

Here are the 2 TSB I have:

Service Bulletin Number: 080103
Summary Description:
IF DEALERSHIP ENCOUNTERS THE STEERING WHEEL OFF-CENTER, CONTACT TECH LINE PRIOR TO REPAIRING THE VEHICLE. TECH LINE NEEDS TO KNOW HOW FAR, IN DEGREES, THE STEERING WHEEL IS OFF-CENTER.

Service Bulletin Number: 603
Summary Description:
INFORMATION ON REMEMBERING NAVIGATION SYSTEM PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (PIN).

There's a TSB on USDM Accord's windshield, rattle in the center console, and a host of other things (71 items).... but no antenna on theirs either.

 

moda_way,
did you get that off the hthsa.gov site? If so, I had looked at that too, however, if you look at www.alldata.com, there are a bunch more service bullitins, but still none dated recently. I beleive both sites may not be up to date with what honda has sent to the dealers.

 

So I went to my dealer on Friday for my first servicing. I also asked him to look at the radio, and the seat that moves a little on hard braking. I meanted to the service manager that I heard there was a service bullitin for the radio out. He said, "yes, but it's an old one" he pulled out a pile of papers, and handed me one, and said, here it is. It was from 1996 (I think), I was like ???, he said, but it's still relevant. Well, it wasn't really a service bulitin once I read it, but it was something from Acura explaining what causes radio static, etc. I'm not sure what to make of that. At the end, they said the reception was normal on the radio.

As for the seat, that I know a lot of people have had that issue as well, as soon as I told him about it, he said they would check it out, but most likely, it's because there is some play in the track on the TSX, and it's supposed to be like that. So they check that out and did nothing for it too, but at least they acknowledged the seat moving but said it was normal.

 

I got the same reply from my dealer regarding the seat

 

My car's driver's seat also is loose on its track.
It's particularly noticeable travelling around curves or when turning quickly. Even in my 18 yr old Accord, this never happened.
I don't understand how Acura can accept "play in the track in the TSX," as an acceptable feature.
What's the benefit of having the driver feel as if the seat is loose?