falconwing

I have a 2010 TSX V6 with Tech and recently purchased a subscription with Sirius XM. I live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where we do have mountains (around the Valley) and a lot of hills (in the Valley). Simply put, my sirius signal is poor and cut out a lot even when I am away from trees and hills. I have read that the antenna in the TSX sucks but is this really the case? What can I do to fix the problem that does not require tearing into the dash. Any ideas?

alexb92

Replace the XM antenna (its the shark fin thingy). 2009 TSX here and mine was just awful. Replaced it and now it works like a charm and rarely cuts out. About $80 on Delray Acura.

falconwing

I will try that! Is it difficult to replace the antenna? I just purchased this car and still learning all the secrets...Does the headliner need to come down?

Username 0

If you could replace the sat antenna with an aftermarket one, that would probably give you the best reception. That would require removing the stock radio and doing some wiring.
Removing the shark fin i think is a pain in the butt because i think you have to remove the headliner to get to it.

TSXV6Guy

There is a TSB on the XM antenna for 09-10 TSX. Number is 13-010.
I think you can remove the antenna without removing the entire headliner, just the rear roof light and slightly bending the headliner to be able to remove the antenna nut.

thunderbt3

I replaced mine as well a couple months ago using this method.

falconwing

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am going to attempt replacing the antenna when the weather is decent. I am hoping I can go thru the rear light as suggested without touching the headliner. If not, what is the procedure to remove just the back portion? What is holding it place?

thunderbt3

You wont be able to go through the light unless you have child-sized arms. Remove the light cover, remove the light housing, unplug the light housing, grab the back edge of the headliner and pull it down, its held on by a couple clips. Antenna is held on by a single big nut, a ratchet with a long handle is handy.

ESHBG

I can attest to this, mine was horrible and was replaced under warranty years ago, night and day difference.

Also may want to make sure your XM Module isn't faulty too, I had a bad one and that was replaced first and before the antennae issues really started to get bad. A good way to tell if the module is going bad is if the Note feature works consistently, if it does not you have a bad module.

falconwing

Ahh..thanks! I will check the Note feature and make sure it works before ordering the antenna. I hope it works because a new module is pricey. I'm hoping its just the antenna.

ESHBG

No problem! The reception issues were definitely the antennae but I figured I would throw that out there since I am sure a bad module and a good antennae is still a not so good system regardless; since both of mine ended up being bad, worth checking out.

falconwing

Played around with the Note feature and it seems to be working fine. I will mess with it for a few days to make sure it is working as it should but right now it does look like an antenna issue (fingers crossed!). I really appreciate everyone's help here. That is one reason why I bought my TSX.

alexb92

You should be able to just pull the headliner down just a bit, enough to get your hands back there. It's a really tight fit but its much better than going through all the steps required to fully remove the headliner. There are some clips that will pop out letting you drop it. Good luck.

falconwing

ordered the new antenna last night..will be awhile till i can attempt to install it considering we are expecting 2-3 feet of snow Friday and Saturday.

alexbenz

Try and take pics when you do so some of us can see. Mine cuts in and out in a few spots around town but its always the same places.

falconwing

I will take as many pics as I can when I go to install it.

falconwing

Well, the weather was perfect today to put my new shark fin antenna on. I tried to take photo's as I did this, but it was really impossible because of the tight space involved. The whole process took around 1/2 hour. I first removed the dome light lens and then the dome light assembly itself which is held in place with two Phillips head screws and a wire connector. The next step was to reach into the hole and push down on the headliner to free it. I found that there is one clip near the dome light that really opens up some needed space when freed. I was able to see the 17mm nut holding the antenna but did not need a socket or wrench to remove it because it actually turned freely by hand. The antenna wiring was probably the hardest part of the whole process as it is connected to a connector attached to the left side (passenger side) of the dome light. Unplugging it was easy,but plugging the new antenna lead it was a pain because there is not a lot of room to move around (I have medium sized hands). After about 5 minutes, I was able to get it connected and after tightening the bolt with a socket, I was ready to test the new antenna.

It WORKS perfectly!! For the first time, I never lost a signal. I drove to several areas that I either did not have any signal or lost the signal and with the new antenna, I NEVER lost the signal. I also noticed that with the old antenna when I first started my car my radio would say "loading", with the new antenna the radio starts playing the Sirius station without hesitation. I purchased my antenna for $78.62 from http://www.acurapartsforless.com/
Thanks to all of you who guided me on how to do this. It really gave me an idea on what to expect and the info was spot-on!