Music Fades In and Out from Radio

Hi all,

When listening to the radio the music will get muffled and quiet for 10-15 seconds and then it gets loud and clear. It oscillates back and forth like this after driving for 20 minutes and it's incredibly obnoxious. Has happened since day one.

Santa Monica Toyota has been 100% useless in diagnosing this issue. I've contacted Corporate so that they will send out a tech.

I have this issue documented on my iPhone for proof for the tech but in the meantime has anyone else had this same problem?

This is the 3rd electrical problem I've had with this car since September. The first was a seat heater that wouldn't turn off. The second (which is currently happening) is a defective cruise control that will say ERROR and refuse to work sometimes. It's getting ridiculous.

'13 Rav4 EV.

I have noticed this when listening to KFI Los Angeles. The radio recognizes this as an HD signal and switches to HD to improve quality. On I-405, the signal quality varies as I drive and therefore it sometimes drops the HD signal and reverts to regular radio. I have tried specifying that KFI is not HD, but that appears to get cleared when I turn the car off.

This is no longer a problem for me because:

1. I live in Bakersfield and KFI is not received in HD here.
2. I listen to Fox News on XM.

Thank you for your quick response.

Does the sound quality go from quiet and muffled to loud and clear when going in and out of HD?

It seems like an electrical problem to me because other cars I've driven do not have HD capability and they have not played quiet, muffled music.

Mine does the same thing as it drifts in&out of HD signal areas for FM stations. One thing to remember is that we are in heavy sun activity right now so stations will appear to fade in&out more but the whole volume up&down does bother me!

Make sure that dynamic volume or speed based/DSP control is also turned off which will help. Otherwise we're helpless to the airwaves.

There are areas near me in which there's no XM at all!! On the 210/118 is a dead zone for over a mile (and no, it's not freq blocked or jammed).. I've taken a spectrum RF analyzer and freq counter to measure what's going on...

Just a dead zone prob on the transponders...

maybe :?

Just adding to the comments that it is the HD radio signal coming in and out. I notice this over the Cahuenga Pass when listening to KCRW. Seems like cars handle this HD radio dropout differently. The Focus maintains a much more consistent volume between HD and SD radio signals but does introduce a slight repetition on the switchover (that could be more due to the source though, not sure).

JasonA said:

Mine does the same thing as it drifts in&out of HD signal areas for FM stations. One thing to remember is that we are in heavy sun activity right now so stations will appear to fade in&out more but the whole volume up&down does bother me!

Make sure that dynamic volume or speed based/DSP control is also turned off which will help. Otherwise we're helpless to the airwaves.

There are areas near me in which there's no XM at all!! On the 210/118 is a dead zone for over a mile (and no, it's not freq blocked or jammed).. I've taken a spectrum RF analyzer and freq counter to measure what's going on...

Just a dead zone prob on the transponders...

maybe :?

Click to expand...

Thank you, I just turned off the dynamic volume so we'll see how it goes.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I officially hate the HD radio. What a stupid piece of useless technology. I live in the city so there's no reason why a strong FM station should sound like garbage.

Well, I picked up some 2nd channel choices I like from the HD radio, but it does fade out in some places.

I picked up an antenna at Walmart for $9 that helped the reception.

pchilds said:

I picked up an antenna at Walmart for $9 that helped the reception.

Click to expand...

That tends to prove that Toyota has a defective design.

Does anyone know how to turn off HD?? The owner's manual is entirely ineffective for this. I turned off the adaptive sound but I'm still hearing the muffled/quiet to clear/loud transition.

I quarter wave length for FM radio is 29.5", no 4" long antenna, is going to be ideal. In this case longer is better.

Njs1987 said:

pchilds said:

I picked up an antenna at Walmart for $9 that helped the reception.

Click to expand...

That tends to prove that Toyota has a defective design.

Does anyone know how to turn off HD?? The owner's manual is entirely ineffective for this. I turned off the adaptive sound but I'm still hearing the muffled/quiet to clear/loud transition.

Click to expand...

I've seen this setting to choose SD only, HD only, or both (default). I think in Sound when listening to FM but poke around. It's there somewhere.

Thanks Devin. I found it.

For whatever reason HD won't stay off, not even when the preset is saved new with HD off. I'm just going to complain to Toyota and see what they end up doing (hoping some tech can permanently disable it). Very dumb design IMO.

In the mean time I'll continue turning HD off every time I change the station.

Appreciate the help!

So thats whats happening - I hope you find a solution, its been bugging me too -

It's exactly what's happening. I'll keep you all updated if I make progress with the Corporate Specialist. I'm trying to get a meeting w him for the 2nd week of May.

I want HD permanently disabled.

Santa Monica Toyota disabled the HD! Apparently it is possible and they know how!

It's not hard. You go into the setup and choose "Analog only".

Mine seems to do this all the time too, its pretty annoying, does turning off HD really cure it?

macfly said:

Mine seems to do this all the time too, its pretty annoying, does turning off HD really cure it?

Click to expand...

Yes. The HD is what's causing the issue

davewill said:

It's not hard. You go into the setup and choose "Analog only".

Click to expand...

Worthless owner's manual has no instructions and there is no intuitive way to turn it off. All I was able to see was the button to turn HD off on the current channel. It would have to be turned off every time the radio station was changed.