LexusGSboy

CPO 2016 GS 350 AWD F Sport.....

A little while back, on the quick trip to CA there were a few spots where the Satellite radio signal faded in and out. We were in the redwoods, very tall trees, very narrow road, very narrow opening to the sky so I chalked it up to mostly just an issue with the signal getting to the car. Earlier that day there hadn't been an issue in some of the same spots but I figured it maybe had to do with how the car was facing.

On the way home (headed north) there were a few spots on the interstate - wide open, where it did a similar thing which I thought was odd - there wasn't an issue on the same stretch of road headed south. By this point it was very overcast and there had been a few really bad patches of heavy rain so I thought maybe it was just the heavy cloud cover (the heavy rain wasn't happening when it faded out). We don't get lightning storms here really (the air is too moist) so I don't think it would have been something to do with that. This happened on a stretch of road the car had been on both directions before a few times (back and forth to the dealer in Eugene) and I had never noticed an issue.

A few days later, back in town, I had an incident where the signal faded out again. It was sunny, there didn't seem to be anything that I would have thought was "in the way" of the signal. It seemed very strange that it would happen. 30 minutes later I went back through the same intersection going the opposite direction and nothing happened.

Yesterday I happened to have it on an FM station. I haven't used FM very much but some, probably not on this exact stretch of road and I had a few very brief patches of light static in one place but all the rest of my drive that day things seemed fine.

Today, I was on a different road from all the other places (by a couple miles or so) and I had the Satellite signal go out for a second. This is a road I travel on very regularly and I've never noticed this before. I think this may have been the first time I had been on that specific station on that specific stretch of road going that specific direction.

I tried searching here and googling a little and I didn't see anything for the 4GS. Most of the time things seem very normal. The car has not been through a car wash (that I've taken it through). The dealer did have it a couple weeks before this started, doing some minor bumper repair/paint that was part of the sales negotiation so I don't know they ran it through something. Only other thing I can think of is the very heavy rain on the trip possibly getting in there somehow?

So a couple questions:

1) Is the FM antenna in the shark fin as well? From what I read I think it is?
2) Is there some sort of cache setting I could have changed accidentally so that it's not buffering enough/as much? I believe it does stop playing pretty quickly after going under any sort of cover, although not always and again I assumed i was just an issue of how the car was sitting in relation to the satellite.
3) Is this satellite radio behavior normal? Seems odd that it was fine for about the first month I had the car and this all cropped up the last few weeks...maybe there's Covid19 hiding in the shark fin?

Thanks in advance!

BTW - is if there's a sticky or other area that talks about how to better use the search function? I'm happy to do more searching, I just never seem to have much luck. If it does find things they're often on a different vehicle so I'm not sure if they're relevant.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

I believe the satellite radio antenna is in the shark fin and the FM/AM antenna is on the back windshield(top center). Someone else can confirm. There are no settings for the antennas you can adjust.

Shanegs350

That is my understanding as well.

LexusGSboy

Thanks INRE to the FM antenna. I originally assumed it was in the rear window but something I read online seemed to indicate the shark fin being FM as well. I'm not sure of the reliability of the source so I'd trust this group's answers...especially peasodos since he's probably had every part of his car removed at some point for some mod

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

There are apparently 3 antennas. The radio is part of the amplifier antenna assembly. My guess is there is antenna for am/fm and one for digital/hd radio. I don't know for sure.

LexusGSboy

From that diagram I would assume that the Amplifier Antenna Assemblies connects into the grid on the glass of the rear window.

How did I know that you'd have that diragram I found one for an earlier GS - 2Gen I think...but I didn't see this one.

Thanks!

So that would mean that the FM issue and the Satellite issue may not necessarily be related.unless it's farther down the chain somewhere. If it's even a problem.

bclexus

Your loss of signal is almost certainly due to the satellites, not your car. There is one dead spot (literally 100 feet in width) near my neighborhood where reception drops-out about 70% of the time. About 2 miles away the same thing happens - I suspect it may be an extension of the same dead spot. There is no overhead blockage in either area where this happens. Funny thing is - I have never experienced a loss of signal anywhere else where there is no overhead blockage (e.g.concrete multi-level commercial parking garages). That said, one of my garage bays has a tendency to block reception about 50% of the time where the others never have.