Radio Reception Issues

[Jesse Davidson]

How do you connect an external source to the sound system.I played around with my iPod and headphones and could not get either to work. Should have read my confusing Manuel first. I think I got it.

depends on how you want to do it

 

Bluetooth:

pair the device, and press media to play audio from an external source, NOTE: audio quality is very poor through bluetooth

 

USB:

plug the usb into one of the ports, and press media. I personally have found the usb connection in my Silverado to be very poor, so I use the 3.5mm jack route below.

 

AUX:

use a "good" 3.5mm to 3.5mm aux cable, mine has gold plated connectors for lower resistance transmission, as well as a high strand count of 99.9% pure copper for the wire, nearly all cables now use gold plating, it really comes down to the quality of the copper and the quality of the connection made from the copper strands to the 3.5mm jacks... again press the media button to play external audio. This is a line level audio, so you will have to make volume adjustments with both your phone/ipod whatever you have, as well as the actual deck in the truck.

[tnchevy]

One thing good I can say about my radio is that it readily connects to bluetooth on my phone and streams music I have saved on it pretty fast with no hiccups. My better halfs Jeep GC is the opposite and is slow and intermittent on streaming music over bluetooth. I still have 1.5 years left on my 3/36k warranty (only drive 5k miles a year) so I am still going to pursue this before my warranty is up. I have not taken this up with my local dealer because they are in the city and the local stations come in decent at that dealership. I did call my selling dealer though that is an hour away a while back and discussed it with them since they are in the middle of no where and I know stations will not pick up good there. The service manager was very well aware of the problem because of locals who were coming by complaining they couldn't "local" (hour away) country station that they could easily pick up in their past chevy trucks. He said he didn't have a perfect fix but said he has done some things to improve the signal but did not elaborate on what he did but he did say that he did not know of a software fix that was a definite solution. I have always listened to CD's in the past because my company trucks used to not come with CD players so I listened to the radio all day and on the weekends wanted to hear my own stuff and with the SD card and XM I still rarely listen to FM. It still bugs me though for the times I do want to listen to local stations.

[dbgman]

Well they said they did an update on my radio. It works better now but not where it should be. I can now get radio stations in my driveway where I could not before. I used to have to backup 5 feet to get reception.

 

I checked the software version but it still says 477 but the bulletin said it should be 478...

 

I have given up. Looking for an aftermarket solution now.

[GMCustomerService]

I gave up on this issue about a year ago because my forehead hurt from banging on the wall. ?I've decided that since the XM works so well that GM must be getting some rebates from them and could care less about the FM issue! ?A new issue is that when playing music (via Aux & bluetooth), from my iPhone, 90% of the sound comes from the left front speaker. ?Doesn't seem to matter what settings I change on the stereo system or the phone. ?I haven't tried it with a cable. ?Has anyone else had this issue?

Hello ClassC5,

 

We are truly sorry to hear about your radio concern. I would like to further investigate this on your behalf. If you wouldn't mind, could you please send us a private message providing your VIN, full contact information, current vehicle mileage, and more details regarding your concern?

 

We look forward to your response.

 

Sincerely,

 

Brandon J.

GM Customer Care

[WLC]

WOW GM was here! Why don't they tell us what's going to happen with our radios FM reception . I am waiting! Dealer sent an email offering 2 months free XM today and asking for a maintenance rating. They know the radio's are bad! Pretty much an admittance of guilt in my opinion.

[pappas pit]

WOW GM was here! Why don't they tell us what's going to happen with our radios FM reception . I am waiting! Dealer sent an email offering 2 months free XM today and asking for a maintenance rating. They know the radio's are bad! Pretty much an admittance of guilt in my opinion.

Don't get to exited. I sent him a email and of course heard nothing back. I have written a couple of them over the two years I've had my truck with no response. I'm sure when my warranty expires the Will let me know that it's to late to help me.

[Bandit82ta]

I've been working with my local dealer for a while and took a break after the module replace and software update and just trying to live with the crappy out of HD sound and sporatic random drops until today. This AM I get in the truck, start the engine, radio plays but screen is black backlit. Had it not come on now 4 or 5 times at random and usually a turn off, remove key, restart truck works. This time 3 times including reverse out of driveway (camera worked) did not get the thing to boot the radio module. Had to shut off, pull key, open door, close door and wait for a couple minutes after interior darkened then tried again and it worked. Sadly as i told them i can't reproduce at will and there is nothing different when it doenst work.

 

Local garage is looking for a "unplublished" update that just came out but i'm guessing someone here got it already and they want to check a connecting cable they said another truck had a bad one. I'm not knocking these guys as they are trying but man this is getting frustrating having to deal with so many trips to the garage, loaner cars, etc in the less then 2 years of had this pickup.

[border1225]

WOW GM was here! Why don't they tell us what's going to happen with our radios FM reception . I am waiting! Dealer sent an email offering 2 months free XM today and asking for a maintenance rating. They know the radio's are bad! Pretty much an admittance of guilt in my opinion.

I think XM knows their bad too. In the past I have always bargained with XM to get a great price, but last week they wouldn't budge. They asked if it was for my 2014 Silverado, and then they told there were no deals being offered for that vehicle.

[sk]

I think XM knows their bad too. In the past I have always bargained with XM to get a great price, but last week they wouldn't budge. They asked if it was for my 2014 Silverado, and then they told there were no deals being offered for that vehicle.

 

The vehicle year shouldn't matter. I have been doing this for years on 3 different GM vehicles and it still works:

1. Call XM and immediately asked for the Cancelation Department.
2. When they transfer you tell them you enjoy the service but want to cancel because the price is too high.
3. They will offer you something like $99 for a year. Politely tell them no thanks.
4. They will offer you something like $49 for 6 months. Again politely tell them no thanks.
5. Finally they will offer you something like $25 for either 5 or 6 months (some are slightly different). Tell them you will give it a try at that price.
6. Tell them you want paper billing. They will charge you an extra $2 to mail you a bill but you don't have to put a credit card number on file so they can't automatically renew you at the FULL RATE in 6 months.
7. Put a note on your calendar reminding yourself to call back in 6 months.
8. In 6 months go to Step 1 and repeat.

I have been keeping the service active on 2 vehicles like this for years. It usually takes me less than 10 minutes on the phone. As a side note I get an additional "multi-radio" discount on the second radio so when you add both radios, paper billing, and all royalty fees it comes out to just under $5 per month per radio. I don't need XM at full price but at that price I'll keep it.

Edited February 5, 2016 by sk

[border1225]

 

The vehicle year shouldn't matter. I have been doing this for years on 3 different GM vehicles and it still works:

1. Call XM and immediately asked for the Cancelation Department.
2. When they transfer you tell them you enjoy the service but want to cancel because the price is too high.
3. They will offer you something like $99 for a year. Politely tell them no thanks.
4. They will offer you something like $49 for 6 months. Again politely tell them no thanks.
5. Finally they will offer you something like $25 for either 5 or 6 months (some are slightly different). Tell them you will give it a try at that price.
6. Tell them you want paper billing. They will charge you an extra $2 to mail you a bill but you don't have to put a credit card number on file so they can't automatically renew you at the FULL RATE in 6 months.
7. Put a note on your calendar reminding yourself to call back in 6 months.
8. In 6 months go to Step 1 and repeat.

I have been keeping the service active on 2 vehicles like this for years. It usually takes me less than 10 minutes on the phone. As a side note I get an additional "multi-radio" discount on the second radio so when you add both radios, paper billing, and all royalty fees it comes out to just under $5 per month per radio. I don't need XM at full price but at that price I'll keep it.

 

That is exactly what I had done with my 2008 Silverado and kept XM until I bought my 2014. In this instance I was trying to activate XM, finally caving in to crappy radio reception, which I believe is exactly what XM knows some owners will do. I went round and round with the girl on the phone and even got elevated to a supervisor, but no deal. It was after i mentioned I was a previous long term customer who always got offered a reduced rate, that is when I was told that my current vehicle did not qualify for any deals. In fact one of the first things they asked if the service would be for my 2014 Silverado before they gave me any pricing. I totally agree that it shouldn't matter what vehicle it is for, that is why I think that XM knows about the problem and feels they have us GM owners over a barrel.

[WLC]

Don't get to exited. I sent him a email and of course heard nothing back. I have written a couple of them over the two years I've had my truck with no response. I'm sure when my warranty expires the Will let me know that it's to late to help me.

Sent aPM also.No response yet!!

[tnchevy]

 

That is exactly what I had done with my 2008 Silverado and kept XM until I bought my 2014. In this instance I was trying to activate XM, finally caving in to crappy radio reception, which I believe is exactly what XM knows some owners will do. I went round and round with the girl on the phone and even got elevated to a supervisor, but no deal. It was after i mentioned I was a previous long term customer who always got offered a reduced rate, that is when I was told that my current vehicle did not qualify for any deals. In fact one of the first things they asked if the service would be for my 2014 Silverado before they gave me any pricing. I totally agree that it shouldn't matter what vehicle it is for, that is why I think that XM knows about the problem and feels they have us GM owners over a barrel.

You didn't try hard enough, just renewed mine a few weeks ago on my 2014 for $25 for 6 months. I hope you went ahead and cancelled instead of accepting what ever they offered you. If you cancel they will try to reign you back in for a low price again. I like XM but not well enough to pay more than $5 a month for it. I don't drive much and most of the stations I listen to is classic rock, classic country, and the 80's and 90's channels which I have most of the songs they play on my SD card to begin with.

[iritated_silverado_owner]

I am aother pissed off silverado owner. It is absolute BS that a $40k truck can't have a radio that's worth a damn. I have been to the dealer numerous times, and they seem to think it's just fine. This is also coming from GM. I guess I can't blame the dealer at this point. It's the sloppy manufacturing that is causing the problems. It is FAR from fine. My truck is in the shop for some other stuff, and I have a 2015 Malibu for my rental...it is a literal night/day difference in the radios. I almost hate to return the Malibu simply because I don't need XM to get channels to work consistantly. I had a 2012 Silverado before this 2014, and I wish to this day over 18 months later than I had not traded it. I honestly thought GM took enough pride in their products to not have these kinds of issues, I also had a bad vibration in the rear end when I got it, but luckily it was only a bad tire and a simple replacement. I know one thing...after I'm able to financially make a move, it WILL NOT be another Silverado.

[pm26]

I am aother pissed off silverado owner. It is absolute BS that a $40k truck can't have a radio that's worth a damn. I have been to the dealer numerous times, and they seem to think it's just fine. This is also coming from GM. I guess I can't blame the dealer at this point. It's the sloppy manufacturing that is causing the problems. It is FAR from fine. My truck is in the shop for some other stuff, and I have a 2015 Malibu for my rental...it is a literal night/day difference in the radios. I almost hate to return the Malibu simply because I don't need XM to get channels to work consistantly. I had a 2012 Silverado before this 2014, and I wish to this day over 18 months later than I had not traded it. I honestly thought GM took enough pride in their products to not have these kinds of issues, I also had a bad vibration in the rear end when I got it, but luckily it was only a bad tire and a simple replacement. I know one thing...after I'm able to financially make a move, it WILL NOT be another Silverado.

Along with cheap components. I have a 1998 Nissan Maxima with factory Bose stereo. It was a $ 1000 standalone upgrade over regular radio that year. Even after 18 years of use, the sound is crystal clear and power of this system is unbelievable. Not a single component or speaker ever needed repairing or replacing. This is why they charged $ 1000 extra for it. I read that these were the best Bose systems Nissan ever had. And the car has a perfectly working power antenna in the rear fender to go along with that stereo. Nissan cheapened these stereos after 2000 model year, perhaps due to high cost. I had various other vehicles with factory Bose systems, including a GM one, and they are a joke compared to this one. Cheap windshield or stubby roof antennas are also one big reason why radio reception is poor.

 

Sadly, days of quality factory sound systems are gone unless you plunk down $ 3k -5k extra or something like that on some high priced European car or SUV factory sound system.

 

Remember the old saying "If you want quality, you have to pay for it"? Today it is more like: If you want junk, you have to pay for it, if you want quality, you have to pay through the nose for it".

Edited February 9, 2016 by pm26

[Imcrazy]

FWIW my 16 seems to get better reception that my 14 did....