Radio reception poor on newly installed Kenwood DNX5140 NAV stereo

[ryanhokie2001]

I just installed a new Kenwood DNX5140 stereo in my wife's 4Runner and everything works great except for the radio reception, which is now really poor. I am not sure what is going on. Maybe I hooked something up wrong? I hooked up the FM/AM antenna input from the back of the Kenwood DNX5140 Stereo to the male antenna cord from the 4Runner. I can get radio reception but now it is really poor. Is there something I am missing? There were 2 extra connections coming from the 4Runner that I didn't hook into the stereo b/c there didn't seem to be a place to put them on the stereo and I hooked the 2 blocks from the wiring harness to the stereo correctly. First, there was what looked like a male audio connector from the 4Runner that I didnt know what to do with, but I thought this was for the aux input that I'm not using anymore? Secondly, there was also another square small connector that didnt have anything to hook into. I also didn't hook up the blue motor antenna control wire from the wiring harness to the stereo b/c I assumed that this was only for a vehicle that had an outside antenna that went up and down, but the 4Runner's antenna is a part of the rear driver's side window correct? Will crimping this blue wire help boost the signal? Any help is appreciated. For what it is worth, I did the same stereo install for my Tundra and didnt have any probs with radio reception. Thanks!

 

[drmorbius]

I just installed a new Kenwood DNX5140 stereo in my wife's 4Runner and everything works great except for the radio reception, which is now really poor. I am not sure what is going on. Maybe I hooked something up wrong? I hooked up the FM/AM antenna input from the back of the Kenwood DNX5140 Stereo to the male antenna cord from the 4Runner. I can get radio reception but now it is really poor. Is there something I am missing? There were 2 extra connections coming from the 4Runner that I didn't hook into the stereo b/c there didn't seem to be a place to put them on the stereo and I hooked the 2 blocks from the wiring harness to the stereo correctly. First, there was what looked like a male audio connector from the 4Runner that I didnt know what to do with, but I thought this was for the aux input that I'm not using anymore? Secondly, there was also another square small connector that didnt have anything to hook into. I also didn't hook up the blue motor antenna control wire from the wiring harness to the stereo b/c I assumed that this was only for a vehicle that had an outside antenna that went up and down, but the 4Runner's antenna is a part of the rear driver's side window correct? Will crimping this blue wire help boost the signal? Any help is appreciated. For what it is worth, I did the same stereo install for my Tundra and didnt have any probs with radio reception. Thanks!

What was the original system in her car, was it the JBL system or the standard 6 speaker system? It sounds like you need to hook up the 12v to the antenna amplifier in the 4 runner. If you have the JBL it is pin 13 on the 20 pin plug, if you have the standard system it is pin 8 0n the 10 pin plug. It's called antenna + B.

 

[ryanhokie2001]

Got the radio working

I ended up connecting the blue power antenna cable from the wiring harness to the blue cable from the kenwood stereo and it actually worked! In fact, the radio reception is probably better now than it was at stock. I kept the 2nd male antenna cord coming from the 4Runner taped up with electrical tape just in case it came in contact with anything. I guess the trick with these "diversity antennas" is just giving them that extra power boost.