Anyone have any ideas? The FM reception is good, but AM does not come in, even for local stations. Only the AM station in town will come in, and that's with alot of static. I have an aftermarket Clarion CX609 receiver unit. the connections in back of the radio and at the in window antenna seem to be fine but all I get is static.

 

Help!

AM frequencies are very susceptible to interference from various sources. Ignition, power wires, lighting (very interesting to listen to an AM radio during a lightning storm).

Kinda hard to say exactly what's causing it, but you can probably find out pretty easy by tracking down somebody with a HAM radio license and one of those handy little units they use for finding EMI.

Did the Clarion radio provide good AM reception when first installed, or are you the second owner, and the Forester already had the radio installed when you bought it. If you have noticed the AM reception degrade over time, then I would suspect problems with the antenna or antenna connection.

 

If reception has always been bad, then I would suspect that the problem is with the radio. It might be defective, or if it is like other after market radios I have had, it is just a characteristic of the radio. Some radios that I have owned, have provided poor AM reception since day one. I suspect the manufacturer on my radios went cheap on the AM radio design, and put all their effort in making the FM radio portion perform well.

it's a pain to do on a guess, but a better ground on the radio may help.

 

do you get any engine noise over the radio?

Get rid of the Clarion. They've had QC trouble on their tuner packs for centuries. If AM/FM performance is your big thing, then get a Kenwood. They make their money on professional 2-way radio systems. These people know a thing or two about making a radio work.