2016 Expedition Limited with Sync 3 Sirius Acquiring Signal constantly

[mdntblu]

Does anyone else have a 2016 and use Sirius and have the Acquiring Signal happen a lot? We upgraded from a 2013 Flex to Expedition and the Flex with MFT was perfect and had no issues also I have a 2015 C-Max with MFT and have no issues but the 2016 Expedition has the acquiring signal no matter what. We have been all over Southern California and Arizona and it does it everywhere so I know it's the radio/antenna/etc and not the actual signal in my area.

Let me know
Thanks

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Brad,

I have Sirius in my 17 and I don't have any issues with it. The only time I lose the signal is when I park in front of the dealership because the building shades the antenna and won't let it connect as soon as you back up 3 feet it connects. I wonder if you have a skinned antenna wire that grounds out and causes it to lose signal.

 

[07xln]

Mine does it all the time but only in certain spots out on my daily route. Drove from Dallas to Branson and back in early March and it didn't do it once. It's weird but not bothersome enough for me to do anything about it. When it's acquiring it only happens for a few seconds.

 

[NevadaGeo]

I live in a rural area, mile high elevation with very few objects that would mask a signal. I have never experienced the problem you are having. I agree with Andy, could be your antenna wire grounding out. Time to take it in to the dealership...

 

[jeff kushner]

Hey Brad,

Is this happening with the actual Sirius channels or with the HD radio? I went into my setup and enabled my HD radio feature and will see the "acquiring signal" when listening to the radio but never when listening to the Sirius channels.

jeff

 

[07xln]

Happens to me on Sirius. I don't listen to terrestrial radio

 

[jeff kushner]

I seem to remember seeing someone here posting a TSB for that issue....I think they called it "Open sky connection issues" or something similar....you guys with the problem might want to do a search?

jeff

 

[mdntblu]

Ok guys, yes it does it only on Sirius my HD Radio works fine as I'm close enough to Los Angeles and most channels come in HD with no issues. I did some research and found out that on certain years of Expeditions/F150s/Escapes and maybe some other models that T-Mobile Cell Towers will interfere with the Sirius antennas and cause the acquiring signal. And so after reading that I noticed that whenever it cut out I was sure enough driving my some cell towers or they were within 1/4 to 1/2 mi away. In my neighborhood at a park there are 2 cell towers (one Verizon and one AT&T) and when I drive by those nothing happens but then as I keep driving getting closer to the freeway there are a bunch of different towers and I'm pretty sure one is T-Mobile and my radio cuts out every time in the same spot. I guess there is a TSB that we can get it fixed but I just need to talk to my service department because my wife loves Sirius and we have a subscription. (My 2015 C-Max has no issues and our 2013 Flex had no issues) it only happens on the Expedition. And a few weekends ago we were driving around Phoenix suburbs in Arizona and it was cutting out all the time but I didn't know about the cell tower thing to even look and see if one was close by. But now that I read that on another forum I've been looking and sure enough they are closeby.

 

[powerboatr]

my free 6 months, it seemed to work ok.
only use travelink now and its pretty quick about uploading weather and traffic.

 

[Toddb]

Ok guys, yes it does it only on Sirius my HD Radio works fine as I'm close enough to Los Angeles and most channels come in HD with no issues. I did some research and found out that on certain years of Expeditions/F150s/Escapes and maybe some other models that T-Mobile Cell Towers will interfere with the Sirius antennas and cause the acquiring signal. And so after reading that I noticed that whenever it cut out I was sure enough driving my some cell towers or they were within 1/4 to 1/2 mi away. In my neighborhood at a park there are 2 cell towers (one Verizon and one AT&T) and when I drive by those nothing happens but then as I keep driving getting closer to the freeway there are a bunch of different towers and I'm pretty sure one is T-Mobile and my radio cuts out every time in the same spot. I guess there is a TSB that we can get it fixed but I just need to talk to my service department because my wife loves Sirius and we have a subscription. (My 2015 C-Max has no issues and our 2013 Flex had no issues) it only happens on the Expedition. And a few weekends ago we were driving around Phoenix suburbs in Arizona and it was cutting out all the time but I didn't know about the cell tower thing to even look and see if one was close by. But now that I read that on another forum I've been looking and sure enough they are closeby.

That apparently is the issue. T-Mobile and Sirius are in a p***ing match over it. T-Mobile acquired some new spectrum adjacent to Sirius and some Sirius radios are not precise enough with their signal discrimination to avoid interference and loss of signal. Have experienced same issue with our 2016 Expedition in LA and PHX area as well. Interestingly the older Sirius receiver in our motorhome does not have that problem. It would be nice if there was a TSB or warranty repair under Ford, but my suspicion is that they'd have to pull the entire Sync3/Nav/radio unit to replace with a different model Sirius radio and that gets pricy. Not something I see Ford doing from the goodness of their heart!