Finally picked up my brass strip at the dealership so I can listen to AM radio again. Is the a "How To" around? I couldn't find one. How do I get that C pillar panel off? Thanks, Don

 

The dealer should have given you installation instructions for the brass strip. If not, ask them, they can easily print them out (they did for me). You will need them to install it correctly but it's not hard. Unfortunately the instructions only cover installing the brass strip, not how to remove the interior trim piece.

In case you are wondering, the purpose of the brass strip is to provide a better ground for the coax cable (antenna cable) that plugs into the antenna booster.

To remove the trim piece to get to the antenna booster, I pulled the weatherstipping off in the area where the trim piece touches it (with left rear door open), there is a clip under there. Then pull straight outward around the edges, and when all the clips have released, pull the whole thing forward, toward the front of car, to release the rearmost part of the trim piece.

I remembered that I took some pictures when I did this job and have attached 5 of them (would have included more but you are limited to 5 on this forum). Sorry for the poor quality on some of them, my camera did not do well with close ups. Anyway, it's not too hard to do this whole job.

BTW, the brass strip DID help a lot with AM reception. You will be pleased. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the reply. Dealer didn't - but then I didn't ask. I saw them awhile back but just can't seem to find the tutorial. i'll keep searching.

 

I found the instructions I got from the dealer for installing the brass strip on the antenna booster and scanned them in. You now have everything you need.

Beachbum

 

Exactly what i needed! Thanks 'bum, your scan even printed perfectly.

As soon as my garage cools down below the high '80's I'll give it a try.

That being said, is this repair a bit less than "awe inspireing" to anyone else???

 

I tried this brass strip fix on my 2000 S80 T6 that was giving me nothing but static on AM. FM was fine.

First attempt was just to unplug and re-plugin the AM antenna on the large control unit behind the trunk fascia behind the left rear wheel. That seemed to help but then bumps would still significantly change the amount static. So I bought the brass strip from the local Volvo dealer parts for about $5. I recommend using this strip because it is the right width, thickness, and length for the small (less than RCA connector size) on the amplifier module it's intended for. Yes, I did try this fix as implied by recommending the Volvo supplied brass strip and it totally cleaned up the AM on my stock Volvo radio. I also loosened and re-tightened the amplifier mounting bolt.

How to get to the amplifier on a 2000 S80:
First, there is the air curtain assembly just above the amplifier. Per other's suggestions on the web, I disconnected the battery for 30 min before attempting to remove the rear seat left side bolster cushion and the C-pillar interior trim.

Second, the bolster cushion has two plastic clips that retain it in position, one near the top, the other near the bottom. The bottom clip is accessed by feel from the seat side of the bolster. Push a moveable arm on the clip to release it. Sorry no photo but you should be able to 'tell' by feel what part will move when pressed firmly. The top clip also has a release tab in the lower center. Once the bottom clip is released, then release the top clip and slide the bolster/cushion up to remove.

Third, the C-pillar trim covers both the air cushion mechanism on my S80 and the amplifier. There were two metal clips about 0.5x0.5x0.25 in under the door weather seal that held the front upper part of the trim. Then I recall two pop-in panel connectors, one near the lower front of the trim and one about lower midway back and a plastic guide that fits into a slot in a chassis piece near the back window.

Fourth, follow the instructions for bending the brass strip so the end that is inserted into the connector to improve the ground is precisely 8 mm in length bent a total of ~ 135 deg back towards the other end of the strip(making the short end longer than 8 mm apparently degrades the fix). This allows the brass strip to be inserted into the connector on the amplifier and then the longer end 'conformed' to the side and top of the amplifier - the longer end then taped to the top of the amplifier. And make sure the snaps on the coax cable connector are not blocked by the longer brass strip piece so they firmly hold the cable's coax connector on.

Finally, the SRS plastic cover near the top of the trim piece took a little experimenting to get it back in position when replacing the trim.

 

Didn't know there was programming on AM.