FM radio problem with Ford Focus 2007. HELP!

[TheMrIggs]

Recently I purchased a 2007 Ford Focus with 90k miles on it. When it was purchased, the antenna at the top was snapped off from a car wash or something so the radio was very faint and only like 1 channel worked. I finally got around to buying a new antenna to get better reception and clearer audio on FM and I purchased this radio base and this antenna. After recieving and installing them, I indeed got more channels and clearer audio...but every 5-10 seconds the audio goes faint and staticy. I figured it could probably be the factory stereo, so i replaced it with a double din kenwood stereo. To my demise, same problem. So I thought well maybe the antenna is faulty, so i ordered this "Stubby" antenna. It just came in today. I screwed it in annnd same problem. I literally have no idea where to go from here. Any suggestions?

[cknotty]

A few months ago, I was getting fed up with poor radio reception on my 07 Focus ('Sony' branded stereo). Symptoms were frequently losing FM reception and a constant background noise on AM overlaid with electrical interference from things like injector pulses. Like you, I tried another stereo but the problem remained. After a bit of searching, I came across a thread over on TalkFord which described an antenna connection which is often missed.

The antenna cable is in two parts, and is connected about halfway along the driver's side A-pillar. To get to it, you need to pull off the trim cver - it's clipped on quite tight and there is always a risk of snapping the plastic tabs (trim removal tool may help!). The antenna connector is a small round looking thing - I simply disconnected the two cables and reconnected them, and instantly restored radio reception. I guess it must have got very slightly loose or a tiny amount of corrosion which affected the connection.

Can't guarantee it will fix the problem, but something worth trying for free!