Hi,

I am fairly new to Fiat’s, dare I say it as usually go for Fords!

Love this little Abarth though and intended to use it on a road trip to Italy this year snapping at the heels of my pals TVR but we know how that idea went....

Anyway to get to the point, the radio has stopped working or to be more exact I can’t receive any FM stations, it worked OK up until a few weeks ago. The radio will still pick up MW but the FM stations just will not tune in. It is as if someone had removed the aerial.

Has anybody else come across this issue?

It's worth checking the aerial, on another note on the Mazda forum it's been reported that the radio works on am/cd/aux etc but not FM and it's the TA button or traffic announcement setting muting the radio but it still locks on to the station.

Fordster said:

Hi

Click to expand...

Hi and welcome to the forum

Fordster said:

Has anybody else come across this issue?

Click to expand...

Aerial problems are reported fairly frequently here; water sometimes gets under the base of the aerial and the subsequent corrosion leads to exactly this sort of issue.

Thank you.

I will have a look through YouTube to see how to get at it

It'll be the aerial base

Before you think about replacing the aerial, unscrew the mast. Get some fairly coarse sandpaper or wire wool and rub it round the thread on the mast and inside the thread on the base. Surface corrosion can often affect the signal.

If that doesn’t work, you can pick up a secondhand complete thing or just a new base on eBay for around £25.

There are two types though. The connections are different under the headlining so you need to have a look before ordering one.

Drop the headlining at the back by prising out the round plugs above the rear seats enough to get your hand in and find the wire coming out of the base. Follow it to the right and it’s stuck to the roof with duck tape. Yank it down and look at the connection which is part of that bit taped to the roof. It will be either a white square connection or a round black one. Make sure you order the right one.

Had exactly the same issue. Bought a new antenna as it was the cheaper optionbut with no luck so got a new base unit. Perfect