I have searched the forums and apparently I'm not alone, I have a 2005 Elantra GLS and it's a great car, the second Hyundai I've owned (the first being a 2001 Tiburon). The only gripe I have is the horrible radio (AM and FM) reception. The dealer has replaced the radio, which albeit sounded great on CD and when listening to some FM stations, the radio itself sounded excellent- but it's receive sensitivy sucks. They've replaced the antenna, no improvement. My old Hyundai had the exact same type of radio, and didn't have this problem. The dealer insists there is nothing wrong, but listening to FM can be annoying, constant switching from Stereo to Mono, static, and overall poor sensitivity- I can hear stations on my cellphone's FM radio better than my car radio. I've thought about replacing it but what concerns me is do I just have a dud radio or is there something in the electrical system causing RFI? Funny thing is I have two Motorola Spectra two-way radios installed in the car (one on VHF high band and one on UHF) and they get no interference from the car- and yeah, the dealer tried to blame them for the lack of performance.

They backed down when I disconnected power to the radios. I hold a GROL from the FCC and work on radios for a living, my money says it's a bad radio or antenna cabling, though I did ohm out the antenna and ground and they aren't shorted and continuity is good. But what can I do other than replace the radio which I really don't want to do as I like the "factory" look and honestly the sound quality (at least from CD and strong FM signals) is quite good. Ideas? TIA, Erik

 

Just replace the radio. If you want you can get the "factory look" by buying the install kit from the dealer from the 04 Elantra GT which featured a Kenwood stereo that was dimensionally the same as most aftermaket radios. It replaces the OEM radio and the open bin beneath it with trim that fits around an aftermarket-size radio (single DIN, detachable face style), and a bin with a door on it.

There are more economical options as well. If you just slap an aftermarket radio into the spot, there will be a gap, but it is pretty easy to trim it out with foam tape or electrical tape or whatever.

Here is some stuff I posted to another forum. Toward the bottom where I talk about trimming out the stereos, the second and third versions are pics taken on my car.

Note on Applicability
This guide applies to the left-hand drive XD platform Elatnra, model years 2001-06. This applies to North and South America, most of Europe and some of Asia. It does not apply to Japan, Australia or England, or any other countries that have the steering wheel on the right side of the car. Sorry 'bout that.

Upgrading a Hyundai Stereo
Tools & Materials needed: Phillips head screwdriver, wire stripper*, electrical tape*, Hyundai adapter harness (available where you buy your stereo for probably less than $20)
*The wire ends on the adapter harness and stereo may already be stripped so the wire stripper may not be necessary. Electrical tape is one way to cover the spliced connections; I prefer to actually solder the connectionsbetween the adapter harness and the head unit harness, and cover them with shrink tubing. It is recommended that you do not cut the wires in the car. Ever. :- )
Upgrading a Hyundai-branded stereo to an aftermarket stereo is pretty easy and can be done by someone even if they have no prior experience with car stereos. Time to install the new stereo will be 30 minutes to 4 hours, depending on how well things go. Average time for someone not very familiar with what they're doing is probably less than 2 hours.
Replacing just the head unit (the box in the dash) will make the OEM speakers sound much better. But if you're not upgrading the speakers, be careful about putting a powerful head unit in. There are many stereos that put out about 20 watts continuous per channel (50 watts peak per channel) that will work well with the stock speakers, as long as you don't leave it cranked up all the time.

Dash Fascia Removal
The first step is to remove the dash fascia, the covering that surrounds the stereo head unit. To do this, move the tilt steering wheel all the way down and move the shift lever back. Next, disconnect the negative battery terminal. Then remove the ash tray and the two Phillips head screws behind it, as well as the two Phillips head screws in the instrument cluster bezel just above the speedometer and tachometer. With those four screws removed, the only thing holding in the dash fascia is a series of pop fasteners. Starting from the ash tray end, pull the fascia out away from the dash. The fasteners will pop as you pull the fascia. Work your way along the fascia from the ash tray end to the end near the door, until the fascia is loose. Next, reach behind the fascia and disconnect all the electrical connectors including cigarette lighter, aux power outlet, clock, hazard switch, Passenger Air Bag Off indicator, dimmer, Traction Control switch, and any other electrical connectors. Each connector has a tab that needs to be pushed in order to release the connector. This part of the job is the most potentially frustrating if you have no prior experience. The first time it took me over a half hour; the second time took just a few minutes. Here is a [URL=http://www.ela

 

Thanks for the GREAT information! I ended up ordering the full kit with the door, and don't mind spending the 44.60 to get it looking right. I already have a wiring harness adapter that accepts the factory connector- I'm just out to find a decent performing and looking head unit. I really don't care for this shiny cheap metal-plastic look of alot of the aftermarket radios. I used to own an Eclipse 5441 and it was an excellent unit which also had a subdued black face- take a look at Eclipse stuff now and they look like cheap JVC junk. I've found a Panasonic unit with 5v preouts, MP3/WMA playback, remote, satellite radio controll, and an FM tuner with 9dbf sensitivy (which has to be hundreds of times better than the POS OEM stereo FM front end) and it's runs aroun 150 bucks. I think it will make a decent replacement but I am gonna check with a local stereo shop to see if he may have any old but clean 5441's laying around- I really liked that head unit.

The dash faschia was a breeze to remove thanks to your instructions. You just have to remember to disconnect all the cabling from the clock, etc. I also took this opportunity to clean the dash and gauges well since I had it apart. Looks like the replacement radio will be a 15 minute job once the kit arrives. Once I get the new radio I'll prep the harness adapter up. I can't wait to actually be able to enjoy listening to FM in the car, the MP3 playback will be a plus too. Thanks again for the helpful and quick response. I just wish Hyundai would have put better gear in it from the factory. Before Hyundais, I owned a 1999 Corolla and it came with a pretty decent CD player/AM-FM stereo- turns out it was made by Panasonic's parent company Matsu****a. FM on it was superb- I don't know who makes Hyundai's head units but they degrade an otherwise excellent car. Nothing about 200 bucks isn't going to solve though. Thanks agin. Erik

 

I agree the radio I have in the same model and year is horrible. The last year I have been listening to my favorite sports radio station in NY at 66 WFAN. It has been almost unlistenable to while driving near m house. It gets worse near extensive power lines. However, in certain areas I get no noise at all. All FM stations are fine, but some other Am stations are also poor quality in certain areas.

I will live with it until I replace the car. Others have said it is do to the poor reception in area since main radio antennae for AM was knocked down from Trade center and not replaced with high quality replacement. that only using smaller antennae in Alpine, NJ.
I don't know if I agree, but people also said that certain areas the wires are leaking more current so reception on some stations will be poor.