2017 RAV4 poor DAB reception

[James44]

Hi, my 2017 RAV4 has poor DAB reception, often dropping out. I drive various other rental cars which do not have a problem while driving the same routes.

I also drive the same routes in my wife's 2015 RAV4 and do not experience the same problem. Her antenna is the traditional twig on the roof. Mine has a small piece of wire loop on the windscreen in front of the driver.

The car has been in and out of my local dealer several times. They eventually agreed (admitted) the problem was down to the antenna not being up to the job. They did not want to admit Toyota has made a backwards move because my wife's DAB reception is fine, on an older model.

Is there a better aftermarket aerial which I can plug into my existing head unit [preferable] or do I need to look at a new head unit and aerial altogether.

Any advice would be appreciated as this is becoming annoying.

Regards, Jim

[nlee]

It sounds similar to the film DAB aerials you can buy that stick to the windscreen. I had an after market DAB unit in an old car that didn't have DAB built in and it had one of those types of aerials. To be honest, the reception was pretty good. If that is a solution you can get them for less than £20 and they have a standard aerial connector that should plug into the back of head unit if you can get to it (I've no idea what the connection is like but you can usually get adapters).

By chance do you have a dash cam or other electronic devices routed near the aerial cable? Many others have experienced poor DAB reception with dashcams if the ferrite core (the black plastic covered cylinder that the cable goes through and wraps around) has not been fitted to the power supply cable. 

[flash22]

If it is the factory dab, it's wired to the roof aerial, what radio is in the car ?

Edit. Has the aerial on the windscreen been fitted by the dealer to try to resolve the issue ?

[James44]

It's the standard head uinit. There is a sharks fin on the roof but my local dealer told me the small wire loop in the font screen was the DAB antenna.

[James44]

Thanls for your response. There is a dash cam fitted, fitted by the dealer when I bought the car. It is on th epasenger side of the screen so not too close to the antenna. I'll do some Googleing for after market DAB aerials.

[James44]

27 minutes ago, flash22 said:

If it is the factory dab, it's wired to the roof aerial, what radio is in the car ?

Edit. Has the aerial on the windscreen been fitted by the dealer to try to resolve the issue ?

The aerial and head unit are standard fitments.

 

[flash22]

Do you have the touch2 radio ?

Edit. Fit a 3-5mm TDK clip on ferrite to the DAB cable at the back of the radio with in 50mm of the plug

e.g.  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184140684636

stick the other on the Fm cable while you're at it

[philip42h]

I had a 2013 4.4 with a whip aerial and DAB reception was pretty good. I now have a 4.5 with a sharks fin aerial and DAB reception is merely OK. We live in an area with poor DAB coverage anyway ...

But, a bit of Internet research suggests that later models of the 4.4 - i.e. around 2017 - were fitted with a sharks fin aerial without DAB, and a screen mounted DAB aerial as James describes.

None of which actually helps at all other than to suggest that there is probably wiring in the loom for a DAB aerial within the sharks fin and it should be possible to get a replacement sharks fin that includes DAB. Maybe ...

[James44]

I'm the second owner ad it is a touch2 unit

 

[James44]

6 minutes ago, philip42h said:

I had a 2013 4.4 with a whip aerial and DAB reception was pretty good. I now have a 4.5 with a sharks fin aerial and DAB reception is merely OK. We live in an area with poor DAB coverage anyway ...

But, a bit of Internet research suggests that later models of the 4.4 - i.e. around 2017 - were fitted with a sharks fin aerial without DAB, and a screen mounted DAB aerial as James describes.

None of which actually helps at all other than to suggest that there is probably wiring in the loom for a DAB aerial within the sharks fin and it should be possible to get a replacement sharks fin that includes DAB. Maybe ...

Thanks, for your reponse. My local dealer was adamant the wire loop in the front screen is the DAB antenna. It's not a very big antenna either.

I was hoping somebody previously had a similar issue and could recommend an aftermarket DAB aerial which works.

[flash22]

I was looking at the wrong diagram

Shark's fin is FM only, DAB is on the screen, other Toyotas suffer with the same issue,  It's something to do with the coax and its shielding it just picks up RFI and EMI suppressing the DAB

see my edit above

[MartEd]

I was led to understand the DAB aerial was the shark's fin on the roof which is why y rear dash cam is affecting the signal which now keeps dropping out. 

I have ordered some Ferrite ferrite clips and also some braided copper shielding for the Dashcam wiring so I will report back once fitted. 

[MartEd]

I have fitted the ferrite clips and shielded the whole length of the rear Dashcam cable with the tinned braided copper and we have tested the signal in places I know it drops out. 100% full coverage with no dropouts. 

Since I fitted the ferrite clips and the copper braiding at the same time I could not swear as to which one made the difference or if it was a combination of the two but either way they work.

I bought 6 metres of 12.5mm braiding and only had about .5 mtr left over. I guess I could have got away with the 10mm but I was afraid it would not go over the plugs. 

https://hilltop-products.co.uk/cable-sleeving-protection/raybraid-copper-braid/sleeving-braid/sleeving-screening-braid-mbs-95-12-5mm-ray-101-12-5-eqv.html

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Limited-Premium-Utility-Recorder-Discreet/dp/B09PGGLCVS/ref=sr_1_3?crid=CV85SX1PZH0&keywords=C-HR+dashcam&qid=1675007212&quartzVehicle=111-11803&replacementKeywords=dashcam&sprefix=c-hr+dashcam%2Caps%2C78&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MG8GQ1F?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

[Robyn Groves]

I have just purchased my 2017 Rav4 and am the 2nd owner. My radio was experiencing a lot of interference in my 1st drive... Would love to know how this can be solved. I purchased a 5 year Statutory warranty with the vehicle. But it appears in the fine print that the radio is not covered. 🙄

Also the rear lights on the car are very cloudy. I did notice this the day I took the car for a test drive, but he had apologised for the car not being washed prior to me inspecting.... Is this also an issue with this car??

How can it be resolved please 🙏 

[moggio53]

Buy a cheap DAB radio from china (or Roberts Radio for best) and plug it into the head via the 3mm socket next to the usb