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Sirius keeps cutting out

37K views 100 replies 56 participants last post by  typet 
#1 ·
I don't know if it's just me, but quite often my sat radio cuts out while driving. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it either. The closest thing I can find is when I'm at a red light and the light turns green. It started off as one of those quirky things but now it's driving me crazy. Does this happen to anyone else and is there a quick and easy fix for it?

Thanks,

Neil
 
#36 ·
re-pasting from another thread (http://www.optimaforums.com/forum/6.../6920-sirius-acquiring-signal-all-time-3.html) re Sirius XM cut-outs:

Wow... should have come here long ago. I got my car August 3rd at the Kia dealership in Carson, CA. Noticed the "acquiring signal" and cut outs immediately... why? Because before there, I had a rental Chevy Malibu w/ Sirius XM for three weeks and this NEVER happened. I drive the same locations throughout the Los Angeles metro area and now all of sudden with the Optima, it's a problem. It doesn't matter where I drive... it could be a main road w/ no obstructions, the freeways, side streets, underpasses - everything. It's five to six times a day if I leave the satellite radio tuned. If it's regular terrestrial radio, everything's fine.

When I took my car back to Kia in Carson on 8/16, they said there was nothing wrong.

The problem kept happening.

Then I took my car to Glendale Kia on 10/4. After sitting there for about three hours, I was told they need to order the new antenna - so I had to go back on 10/6. The antenna was replaced on 10/6 and I'm still having the issue.

Oh! While I was sitting there that Saturday morning, 10/6, a woman in the waiting area said she is having the same problem. She also said that they replaced her antenna and that the cut-outs are still happening. Now I see this is not something small,but a bigger problem with Kia.

I even called Sirius between the dealership service appointments. The Sirius tech told me that there is a satellite module inside the actual unit in the dashboard that needs to be replaced. He gave me a ticket number. I gave that to Kia Glendale w/ the tech support number I called. The dealership service dept guy called Sirius w/ the ticket number I was issued and then all of a sudden, no one knew of this mysterious satellite module that lies behind or inside the unit in the dashboard.

By the way, LOVE my Optima otherwise. This satellite radio thing is aggravating.

Has anyone here gotten a resolution from either Kia or Sirius?
 
#39 ·
re-pasting from another thread (http://www.optimaforums.com/forum/6.../6920-sirius-acquiring-signal-all-time-3.html) re Sirius XM cut-outs:

Wow... should have come here long ago. I got my car August 3rd at the Kia dealership in Carson, CA. Noticed the "acquiring signal" and cut outs immediately... why? Because before there, I had a rental Chevy Malibu w/ Sirius XM for three weeks and this NEVER happened. I drive the same locations throughout the Los Angeles metro area and now all of sudden with the Optima, it's a problem. It doesn't matter where I drive... it could be a main road w/ no obstructions, the freeways, side streets, underpasses - everything. It's five to six times a day if I leave the satellite radio tuned. If it's regular terrestrial radio, everything's fine.

When I took my car back to Kia in Carson on 8/16, they said there was nothing wrong.

The problem kept happening.

Then I took my car to Glendale Kia on 10/4. After sitting there for about three hours, I was told they need to order the new antenna - so I had to go back on 10/6. The antenna was replaced on 10/6 and I'm still having the issue.

Oh! While I was sitting there that Saturday morning, 10/6, a woman in the waiting area said she is having the same problem. She also said that they replaced her antenna and that the cut-outs are still happening. Now I see this is not something small,but a bigger problem with Kia.

I even called Sirius between the dealership service appointments. The Sirius tech told me that there is a satellite module inside the actual unit in the dashboard that needs to be replaced. He gave me a ticket number. I gave that to Kia Glendale w/ the tech support number I called. The dealership service dept guy called Sirius w/ the ticket number I was issued and then all of a sudden, no one knew of this mysterious satellite module that lies behind or inside the unit in the dashboard.

By the way, LOVE my Optima otherwise. This satellite radio thing is aggravating.

Has anyone here gotten a resolution from either Kia or Sirius?
I can't believe this issue has been going on for four years and no one has a solution. I was able to tolerate the random signal drops once or twice per drive, but today, it went to a whole new level and I was losing signal for 5-10 seconds at a time, and this was occurring every 30 seconds or so. It became impossible to listen to songs or talk radio like this.

I too had no issues with my GM vehicle driving the same exact roads only 6 months ago! Not once did it randomly drop signal, and yet the Kia does it daily (now every few seconds). Is there no resolution!?
 
#37 ·
Same exact thing here. I will not be paying for the service because it does not work with my 2013 Kia SXL. I had several GM cars before this, Camaro. Corvette, and also right now a brand new Toyota Tacoma that are NOT affected by this anomaly. We drove the Tacoma and the SXL side buy side on the highway, guess which one constantly cut out for no apparent reason? The new 2013 SXL Kia. The antenna and receiver in the car are of questionable quality. KIA dealer has been told about this several times and refuses to fix the problem in our car. So, just adds to the list. Very unfortunate. They tell me they are all like that. Wish there was a sign in the showroom that stated that as clearly before we signed for the car. Anyway, not a big deal. The subscription cost is ridiculous to hear the same music over and over months at a time, even around the same time of day! Better sound quality with my iPod connected anyway. Sirius may want to step up the pressure on KIA for selling the faulty units and offer replacements - the mighty dollar speaks.
 
#38 ·
Mine cuts out at least 3 times per drive, doesn't matter where I'm going. I listen to comedy channels and it always cuts out the punch lines lol.

Anyways, I notice it happening whenever I head into downtown, so I just assume the buildings were effecting it, but even when I'm out of the city of on the skirts of the city in wide open space it will cut out still.
 
#40 ·
Mine typically only does this around the airport (Sky Harbor) for me in PHX, otherwise not a frequent issue on cutting out.
 
#41 ·
mine cuts out at random also, I have complained multiple times, with no repair I just found out they even scratched a console piece on the dash, dont know how long ago, guess ill have to see if I can still get that fixed. I kind of just deal with it now
 
#42 ·
I was dealing with it when it only happened once or twice a day. But now that it's dropping out every few seconds, it's reached the point of being un-usable and I refuse to pay for a feature I can't use (I'm talking car payments, not SXM). Hopefully, the dealer will work with me to get it resolved.
 
#43 ·
Mine is having the same issue I was not using it for awhile and called and got a free 4 month trial and it was terrible.
Went to the dealer and they played with and finally swapped my radio I got the esn switched with Sirius and it would not connect at all.
Now the grease monkey claimed he activates radios all the time in the spot my car was parked at but we were right at the entrance to the garage bay next to a two story tall concrete building.
So then they recommended replacing the antenna which i have never done I didn't want mister greasy hands touching my headliner...My dealer has possibly gone down hill a bit its a whole new staff in the service writers dept people I don't know and I had a very good re pore with the guys the were there so who knows but just for information purposes they think its the anttenna
 
#44 ·
Well.... looks like Kia still hasn't fixed this issue. I have a 2015 EX and Siruis drops all the time; sometimes when I'm in the middle of no where -- no buildings, no mountains, no trees, nothing. I've used Sirius in other vehicles and never had this type of problem. Really a big bummer that there's seemingly nothing they can do about it either.
 
#45 ·
Well, as expected, I can't get the satellite radio to replicate the signal drops I experienced last week. It still drops in very specific places around town though, which is weird because I never had this problem in my GM vehicle on the same routes only 6 months ago.
 
#46 ·
I told my service advisor that I'm still also having signal dropout issues and that I even have a video of me driving out in the middle of no where on a perfectly clear day with "weak signal" issues. They claim there's a service bulletin out there for a system update. I'm supposed to have it done this weekend. I'll report back if it improves any.


Oh and someone should give me some sort of Thumbs Up for not opening a new thread and actually using the Search feature... :p
 
#52 ·
Just an update, I took my car in to replace the airbag emblem as it was corroded. The second tech said there was no such update for the radio. His resolution was to have a refurb replace my current radio. I kind of wish they would just check this unit out as I don't really like having a refurbished unit in my 7 month old car. Replacing the head unit isn't really troubleshooting the issue. For all I know, it can be some wire leading up to the antenna that's shorting out.
 
#53 ·
Just as I assumed. And odds are that a replacement radio won't do you any good. I highly doubt the signal issue is caused by the head unit. Unless the refurbished unit had that exact issue fixed, it's a waste of your time to get it replaced.
 
#54 ·
The issue is with the cheap antenna used on the Optima. I and many others had this same issue and it was discussed in length here on the forum in the past.

I believe the hardware is junk and this is why we all experience issues with it. XM is night and day difference as well even though both are owned by the same parent company.
 
#62 ·
Just reaching out.. Had my Optima 2015 for about 2 months now and am getting fed up with the Sirius radio "Weak" or "No Signal" cutting out 10 - 15 times a day with no reason. Could be driving on an open road in S Florida and it still randomly cuts out. I brought it in a few weeks ago and they said there was no issue when the technician drove it around himself. What did they do drive it around for a mile and say there is no issue. Sirius blames Kia - Kia blames Sirius. Is there any further escalation that could be done?
 
#66 ·
I have had my Optima only 2 weeks but have noticed the Sirius cutting in and out daily. I had Sirius in my other car and it never had any issues. I have not moved and pretty much drive the same route daily in Portland.
 
#68 ·
Yeah, same situation here. I came from a GM vehicle, traveled the exact same roads every day, but never had a single drop out until I got the Optima. GM's radio was XM based though. I know they're the same company now, but the hardware used in cars was likely different before the satellites merged.
 
#67 · (Edited)
I been having the same sirius problems as everyone else, now that my trial is almost up, i have been listening to milk music from my note4. There are a couple ads/commercials here and there but generally speaking its pretty much just music. Takes a couple extra steps to play music rather than just tyrning on the car and listening.. but milk is free, phone and data plan are already taken care of.. and quite honestly in my driving so far, my reception stability is 10x better than sirius. I also can skip songs i dont want to listen to, pause music and have it pick up where i left off, both you cant do with sirius. Also have just as many if not more choices of music. No talk or sports on milk though.

Of course your mileage may vary as cell service in your area probably isnt the same as my area.. but just another option for those lookig.
 
#70 ·
I have the same problems in Nor Cal.. certain spots on the freeway cut out EVERYTIME and there are no trees, etc involved. Never happened before with my XM, but sirius/optima I get "weak" frequently, and cuts out a lot. Very annoying. I asked dealer, they said never heard of such a thing. I pesonally just think the Optima (2014 SXL) satellite antenna is garbage.
 
#71 ·
I am having the same problem! at first it as at 2 places i know of. not it seem more random. like my house used to be just fine, the other day it cut out in the middle of nowhere! im going to bring it up when i go for my oil change.
 
#74 ·
Was sitting on the first level of a 5 story parking gage this weekend and the gf was like.. hey.. you got radio.. then I realized.. yeah wtf is sirrius playing for inside the parking garage, but when I am under a single tree in a parking lot it cuts out..

Murphy''s law
 
#78 ·
I've had this issue since day 1. I'll be driving on the freeway with nothing overhead and it'll just drop. I had the car in the dealership approx. 4 diff. times trying to have this issue fixed -- ultimately I gave up and just put up with the few times a day it drops out.... Kia was utterly useless at diagnosing or fixing this problem. It's maddening.
 
#79 ·
I found on another site what is likely the cause. The shark fin antenna is not well sealed or conformal coated and when water from rain/car washes/etc. get under it and in it, it causes corrosion and finally reception problems. One solution is to remove it, clean it and reseal it (or replace it with new). I may do this myself in the fall.
 
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