Awful fm reception - jdm import

[DKL]

I've bought a delica d5. It arrived in the uk 3 years ago and PO fitted a sony hu, a wolfbox and microphone etc.
But the fm reception is awful. I can get some stations but very intermittently and it only really works in built areas.
I've looked and there appears to be 2 aerial connectors behind the dash neither of which work well. I bought another as a test item and that is much the same. I bought a cheap signal amplifier and that helps a fraction but I can't get continuous fm reception where I know I should be able to.

The wolfbox is hard wired in somewhere and I haven't traced the power back yet but I plan to disconnect that and see if that helps.
I doesn't really sound like interference but I can't help feeling it must be. I shall test the spare aerial in another car to be sure but I'm a bit lost as to why the reception is so poor. I've had better reception with a coat hanger on a mini in the past!

[JimbobVFR]

Is the wolfbox a dash cam? In that case your plan of disconnecting it may be a good one.

I had what was apparently a faulty power supply for a dashcam cause the same thing, I replaced it and resolved the issue.

[DKL]

It is. The car has quite a privacy tint on it, jdm standard I believe, so the PO added the wolfbox as a rear view mirror effectively. I imagine just disconnecting the mirror end may not be enough as the power supply will still be active so I need to try and find the power pickup.

[trickywoo]

Albeit years ago when I had a JDM import I needed to fit a uk head unit as the Japanese FM range is different to uk.

[rider73]

trickywoo said:

Albeit years ago when I had a JDM import I needed to fit a uk head unit as the Japanese FM range is different to uk.

This. You need to replace head unit with UK or get a range shifter

[DKL]

Clearly it isn't clear! HU is a UK Sony one fitted on arrival here.

[shera2025]

Sounds tricky! Poor FM reception like that often comes down to interference, especially with aftermarket units and hardwired devices like your Wolfbox. Testing the spare aerial in another car is a good call. If it works fine elsewhere, it’s probably something in the D5 setup. Disconnecting the Wolfbox and any extra electronics might help too. Sometimes these cars are just a bit fussy with FM signals, unfortunately.

[fooman]

I didn't think FM was still a thing! You could always get a Bluetooth adapter and stream from your phone.