Sirus radio in my Journey appears to be failing

[SargeW]

Even though I have paid for a years worth of Sirus radio :'( I appears that the dash radio will lose signal and refuse to hook back up.  Sometimes it just says "Sirus Ready" on the display, but will not find a signal. 

Sometimes if I shut it off it will come back on, sometimes not. Anyone else having this issue?

 

[Molaker]

Pure guess, Sarge, but it sounds like it could be antenna problems.

 

[cougsfan]

This is not a problem that should happen.  My satellite radio works fine except when the signal gets blocked by trees or mountains.  I have had a few instances where clouds get so thick that they block the signal (mostly in the South), but it is usually just for a few minutes.
If yours doesn't work right, I would talk to the people who sold you the unit.

 

[DITTO]

Just fixed same issue...replaced receiver, than the bracket for the receiver in the cabinet... It was the antenna... To confirm, plug new antena into the pig tail from bracket, place outside...if all is well that confirms the problem...

 

[Boris and Natasha]

We're dealing with the same problem. We have the "plug and play", with the tuner in an overhead cabinet. We haven't really been able to do any troubleshooting, but I think we'll be replacing a tuner or an antenna soon.

 

[SargeW]

Yep, mine is the same model.  Do you pick up the antenna at Radio Shack?

 

[DITTO]

Sounds like we all have same system...the antenna was attached to a metal plate inserted into the roof.. I was at Lazydays for service at the time, had them replace it...took the tech almost 3 hours to replace the antenna.

Try these folks...I received the replacement bracket in the cabinet  from them.http://www.tss-radio.com/t/sirius-antennas/

 

[Lou Schneider]

The problem is in the radio, but Sirius and XM have made changes to their system that make receiver flaws more noticeable.  In the past they sent 10-20 seconds of redundant data so the receivers could buffer enough data to keep the audio going while the receiver was blocked from the satellite while going under a bridge, through heavy trees, etc., then catch up from the redundant feed when the signal reappeared.  This also masked receiver problems as the receiver only needed to receive a small percentage of the overall signal to keep up - if the radio missed some of the data it could make it up when it was resent.

As they've added more channels following the merger of the two companies, part of this extra capacity came at the expense of the redundancy.  This means there's less error correction available in the signal, so a receiver that was close to the edge under the old scheme won't have enough error correction available to keep up now.

 

[IslandGuy]

I have had intermittent problems with my Sirius/Dash radio...had the radio replaced one time which seemed to fix the problem with the Sirius...I have the plug n play model and I have it in my home when not on the road so I know that is not the problem. I occasionally will get a "CHECKING" status on my dash stereo...if I switch to FM/AM and then back again it may work...or I may have to do a hard reboot...this is different than losing the signal due to trees and such

 

[taoshum]

a magnetic antenna with a 15 ft cord is available, or was last year, for about $10 from amazon IIRC.  Doesn't hurt to have a spare that you can place in a better position anyway, but this would allow you to test the receiver using a new antenna.

Do you have the magnatek unit?  If so, I have a spare sirius decoder unit

 

[Boris and Natasha]

Update: We're in Forest City for service (Actually, we're staying in a hotel in Clear Lake!) and we had Winnebago check out our problem with the Sirius radio. The diagnosis is a problem with the Jensen dash radio. And, of course, Jensen doesn't make that model anymore. Not sure what we'll end up with...

 

[SargeW]

I'll watch for your solution, I think I may be next.........

 

[BigLarry]

You won't need it much this summer on your Alaska trip, Sarge. I lost my signal by about mile 100 on the Alaska Hwy and got it back three months later at the south end of the Cassiar-Stewart Hwy on the way south.

 

[SargeW]

Figures!

 

[John Canfield]

We picked up XM radio within 50 miles or so (forgot exactly) of Tok, but our antenna puck was on top of the coach with no obstructions.  If I held my head just right and messed with positioning a portable XM antenna, I could occasionally get a signal in Valdez.

 

[Boris and Natasha]

The rest of the story....
Factory Service diagnosed our problem as a bad dash radio. They explained that they needed some kind of part to do the installation, which would require some kind of mod to the existing dash radio opening.

We waited two days for the part to come in. Apparently they plugged in the new radio and still had the problem with Sirius. They then rediagnosed the problem as a bad docking kit, which they had in stock. They plugged it in with the old dash radio and the problem was resolved. (Thankfully they had yet to do any dash modifications!)

Winnebago allegedly submitted a claim to our extended warranty company (which has been most cooperative on the other claims we've made) and reported that the extended warranty co would only cover $69 for the new docking kit, for which Winnebago charged us $140. (A brief online search shows the product available for between $35 and $80.) Winnebago charged us for 2.5 hours of labor, which just so happens to match our deductible amount.

If we had it to do over again, we'd contact an automotive audio service center and have them check it out. We drove a long way to Forest City to spend time and money for a misdiagnosis, waiting on a part we didn't need and then getting gouged for the part we did.

(Add to that a second misdiagnosis and another issue that will have us making a return trip to Winnie town and we're not very happy campers. But, I digress...)

Hope this helps.

 

[John Canfield]

...then getting gouged for the part we did. ...

Factory Service is run as a profit center.  Most automotive repair shops charge retail (or near retail) for parts (making a little money on them) and then of course for the labor - that's how they keep the doors open. 

I remember a sign in a local auto repair I used to use quite a while ago - it was a cartoon of a customer in a restaurant handing the waitress a couple of eggs and some bacon expecting them to cook his meal from the stuff he provided (and just charge for the labor involved.)

Winnie Factory Service is good, but they don't always get it right the first time.

 

[SargeW]

Actually my ex FIL was owner of an auto repair in So. Cal for 20+ years. Most shops charged a 100% mark up on parts over THEIR cost, and then the standard labor charge for the job that they were doing. The parts mark up was the shops profit, and the labor rate was split with the mechanic. 

 

[John Canfield]

In my experience, dealers charge about retail, and retail is about a 100% markup.  It's been so long since I've used an independent shop, I'll defer to your statement Marty!

 

[Boris and Natasha]

To clarify, the prices I found online for the Sirius docking station were retail prices. We certainly don't expect Winnebago to charge customers less than that! But, they charged us nearly twice average retail. And, lest we forget, charged 2.5 hours labor to install it. Sounds like a very profitable profit center!

Back to the problem, an option that was never presented to us, but probably would have been worth exploring is simply removing the "plug and play". We've never taken it out of the docking station to use in the Jeep, so we're not really using that feature, anyway. The in-dash radio is Sirius-ready on its own. So, we're wondering what would happen if the plug-and-play was unplugged. Couldn't a person wire the antenna to the in-dash radio and be back in business?

But, we'll never know. Instead, we're enjoying tunes on our pricey replacement.

Update: Just got off the phone with our extended warranty company. The rep reported that their reimbursement for product replacement is Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price. (Sounds fair!) On the Sirius docking kit, the MSRP is $69.99. Winnebago Factory Service charged us $145.21.