Skoda Citigo Radio options help please

[Gavlar1980]

Good afternoon, Im hoping someone out there can shed some light on my problem, I purchased my Citigo in march 2016 and from day one bad radio reception, Its been into skoda for the issue twice and the first time replaced the aerial base which did not resolve the problem but they nicely creased up my roof ling in the process the second time it went back and they said there is nothing wrong and to listen to stations like kiss , capital, heart etc i would need a dab radio. my argument was my other halves Citroen C1 has a standard  stereo and we can pick these stations up no problem. 

They were adamant that it must be a dab radio in her car when i know its not. 

The problem still continues so i thought sod it i would buy a factory dab unit for the car and fit myself with a windscreen aerial, according to the dealer the citigo is not available with a dab as a option but the do supply one but its not approved by skoda .

Im pulling my hair out with this car i have also noticed this evening that turning the headlights on improves the radio reception (wtf) is that about

HELP HELP HELP

Any ideas anybody

[vrsdaveb]

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/7432138

 

Try one of these they just plug into the radio and work well. My Citigo went into the dealers with crap reception and they said there was no problem ( I think this is the standard Skoda response) although obviously there is!!

Edited 14 November, 2017 by vrsdaveb

[Gavlar1980]

Thanks for your reply. It's so irritating that you buy a car in good faith but can't even get radio. I'll look into that thanks. 

[g6zru]

There is a history across many VAG models of poor radio (non dab) reception.  In most cases it is caused by the aerial base/amplifier being corroded because of water leakage through the moulding. I've had 3 replaced on  2 Yetis and one Seat Mii. If the water leakage is allowed to go on for too long the water can then enter the cable itself. In that case the only cure is to replace the whole aerial, base  and cable but few dealers are prepared to do this. Some will also replace the aerial mast as well but I'm not convinced that this is the answer.

Fitting an after market DAB radio to the Citigo/Mii/Up is fraught with problems, mainly with locating the DAB aerial in a place that it will work.

I understand the factory fitted option DAB radio is very good as it has proper aerial connections for  AM/FM and DAB and the Clock and Temperature displays which are very convenient. However, any add-on unit can cause problems due to lack of space behind the dashboard.

Anyone who knows better and has first hand experience of successfully fitting an alternative please give details.

 

Fred

 

P.S. DAB reception is not as reliable as the broadcasters would have you think!  Some parts of the country can't get DAB at all.

 

Having said all that I am very happy with the Bolero DAB fitted to my 2016 Yeti SE.

Edited 15 November, 2017 by g6zru
Further thought!

[Gavlar1980]

Thanks Fred

I was thinking of going down the route of a factory fit DAB radio and a windscreen mounted aerial to save removal of roof lining etc. I tried myself buying the aerial lead and connecting either end but made no difference. I don,t understand how the lights affect the reception , the car is totally standard with no hid kit etc. 

I have a work van which i have fitted a aftermarket DAB radio and am so pleased with the reception and choice of stations.

Many thanks 

Gav

[Jonny118118]

I’ve got the factory fitted DAB radio and even that looses signal around Scarborough. Overall though the sound output is a lot better than the standard fm radio.  

[Gavlar1980]

Thanks Jonny

I understand signal strenth is different in different areas but locally it quite good , Even am / fm is good .I think Skoda aftersales is shocking , I have pulled my hair out with this car . once it was a year old it developed a knocking rear shock .Booked it in and they say nothing wrong.

Personally after three years im handing it back which is a shame but it has to go.

[Stagsfell]

Had this problem on my wife's Mii and got a major improvement by fitting a longer aerial mast to the existing base in place of the "stubby" fitted as standard. The one I got was 42 cm and cost £3.95 off Ebay - can't remember supplier but there are loads on there. Worth a try.

 

Dunno if the Citigo radio is the same but on our car you can access a second level of menu by pressing the menu button on the radio and holding it until it comes up. This shows signal strength etc which on our car doubled after the mast swap. 

 

 

Edited 20 November, 2017 by Stagsfell

[g6zru]

Sounds good to me but does that also apply to DAB?

 

Fred

Edited 23 November, 2017 by g6zru

[Stagsfell]

On 23/11/2017 at 16:11, g6zru said:

Sounds good to me but does that also apply to DAB?

 

Fred

Only have am/FM on the Mii so can't comment I'm afraid.

[Gavlar1980]

Thanks for your help , Any suggestions or experience with this issue is really welcome. 

[g6zru]

38 minutes ago, Stagsfell said:

Only have am/FM on the Mii so can't comment I'm afraid.

OK thanks for that. I'm not going to go through that again so I'll leave it for now.

 

Fred

[WaveyDavey]

On ‎20‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 17:10, Stagsfell said:

Had this problem on my wife's Mii and got a major improvement by fitting a longer aerial mast to the existing base in place of the "stubby" fitted as standard. The one I got was 42 cm and cost £3.95 off Ebay - can't remember supplier but there are loads on there. Worth a try.

 

Dunno if the Citigo radio is the same but on our car you can access a second level of menu by pressing the menu button on the radio and holding it until it comes up. This shows signal strength etc which on our car doubled after the mast swap. 

 

 

I was thinking about doing this myself..... Not sure if I've got one of the longer OEM aerials in the shed from our old vRS cars..... I've noticed a couple of Up! and Citigo cars around Sheffield with the longer style OEM aerial fitted too so obviously a commonly used remedy.

 

I raised the issue under warranty when ours had it's first service in September and the dealer said they re-terminated a connection and it seemed slightly better afterwards but we've noted more recently that it's the same as it was before again.

 

 

 

Yes it's the same radio with the same technicians menu available.

 

Edited 26 November, 2017 by WaveyDavey

[g6zru]

On 11/26/2017 at 23:28, WaveyDavey said:

I was thinking about doing this myself..... Not sure if I've got one of the longer OEM aerials in the shed from our old vRS cars..... I've noticed a couple of Up! and Citigo cars around Sheffield with the longer style OEM aerial fitted too so obviously a commonly used remedy.

 

I raised the issue under warranty when ours had it's first service in September and the dealer said they re-terminated a connection and it seemed slightly better afterwards but we've noted more recently that it's the same as it was before again.

 

 

 

Yes it's the same radio with the same technicians menu available.

 

That sounds as if they replaced the end connector. It's understandable that if they checked the connector at the radio end and found water damage they assumed that changing it would cure the problem. Unfortunately that doesn't solve the problem of where the water came from. It could only get that far by coming from inside the cable, suggesting the whole cable is waterlogged, usually caused by a leak from the aerial base. Changing  the connector, and in some cases the aerial base, will result in an improvement but the problem will return. In that case the only cure is to replace the aerial base AND the cable. Dealers are reluctant to do this as it involves removing the headlining.

 

Fred

[Mickbr]

Been having the same issue with mine until today . I was sat in the works car park today and removed the sat nav holder from the top of the dash as its going for bodywork repairs today , then bingo perfectly clear radio reception.  Odd i thought so put the holder back on and sure enough lost reception again , did this 3 or 4 times and each time it affected radio reception. This was with just the holder and not with the sat nav attached . 

[Eltezz]

1 hour ago, Mickbr said:

Been having the same issue with mine until today . I was sat in the works car park today and removed the sat nav holder from the top of the dash as its going for bodywork repairs today , then bingo perfectly clear radio reception.  Odd i thought so put the holder back on and sure enough lost reception again , did this 3 or 4 times and each time it affected radio reception. This was with just the holder and not with the sat nav attached . 

 

Interesting. My radio reception on FM is ****e in the Citigo except for the local BBC station which is a huge signal. I was going to return it to the dealer and moan about it but now will try this and see if mine is the same.

 

If so, it might be worth experimenting with dismounting the Garmin unit and waving it around the radio, see what happens...

[Gavlar1980]

Thanks for the post Eltezzs and Mickbr

Ill certainly try that, I have noticed that the lights being on or off also effects my reception. with the lights on much better.

It is a real mystery and its about time Skoda fixed these problems instead of insisting nothing is wrong.

Edited 13 January, 2018 by Gavlar1980

[Eltezz]

Right, have removed the Garmin from its mount whilst listening to a very poor Radio 4 signal with interference on it and the signal immediately became clean as the Garmin left its holder. Waving the Garmin around the mount and in front of the radio produced no effect. I then tried waving it around the aerial whilst listening with the doors open - no change.

 

This means it is not radiated direct from the unit but something to do with the connection via the mount. This is a design problem with the data connection between the Garmin and the Citigo radio. It's not going to go away without modifications to one or the other so it looks like if you want to listen to FM radio you will have to remove the PID from its mount.

 

Possibly one of a reasons that later cars now have a phone mount and TomTom licence instead of the PID...

[Gavlar1980]

I will certainly try this tomorrow and keep you posted, the car annoys me so much i hardly use it. its tucked up in the garage and i use it occasionally . 

Many thanks for you posts it totally makes sense what your saying.

[adam85james]

I've completed a DAB Adaptor installation in my Citigo and it's been flawless since install.

 

The kit I picked up only needed some very easy work. After removing the A PIllar trim,  the aerial needs to be stuck to the metal, then to the windscreen before running the cable inside the refitted trim and through the dashboard.

 

The excess wire is the most annoying part but some careful adhesives around the dashboard and it's as well hidden as it could be. 

[mac11irl]

My wifes citigo came from the factory with the longer whip aerial. 

Standard am fm unit and no signal problems, where my old mk1 octy would be a bit dodgy in certain stations in certain places hers has never had a problem...

 

Also, the longer aerial makes it look even more like a remote control go kart. Which is what its like really

Edited 14 January, 2018 by mac11irl

[Eltezz]

On 13/01/2018 at 18:17, Gavlar1980 said:

I have noticed that the lights being on or off also effects my reception. with the lights on much better.

 

Having done quite a bit of testing I can also confirm this occurs on my car as well. Bizarre to say the least. I have now ordered a 40cm whip aerial to increase the FM signal and will see it that improves or worsens things when the lights are off and the Garmin unit is attached...

[jerrybean]

On 1/14/2018 at 23:09, mac11irl said:

My wifes citigo came from the factory with the longer whip aerial. 

Standard am fm unit and no signal problems, where my old mk1 octy would be a bit dodgy in certain stations in certain places hers has never had a problem...

 

Also, the longer aerial makes it look even more like a remote control go kart. Which is what its like really

Can you post a picture of the car with long aerial?

[mac11irl]

Will do tomorrow, its pretty dark now

[mac11irl]

@jerrybean

Photo this morning