Radio Antenna

[Metallicabby]

OK - all the advice I have been given on this website has panned out! And we are grateful! You all said...get a Bentley Manual - BAM - I bought a Bentley manual. You said "fix things yourself" and -BAM- we are fixing things ourselves!

I am perplexed with this one though. How the HECK do you get to the under-side of the radio antenna in the fender to replace / repair it??????

HELP!!

Gerry

[speedtek]

it should be accessible from the rain tray area. You may have to pull the ignition computer bracket off (2 screws, on driver's side of rain tray)
It's the purple panel in the top right corner of this pic, yours should be black.

[CalAltaDubber]

This is a bit of work.

1. Jack the car up.

2. Remove the front wheel.

3. remove the wheel well liner. (I have a bit of a problem because the '88 and newer have the clipper kit where the '87 and older have the trim rings.)

The antenna is supported by the middle bolt on the rear of the fender as well as where it is mounted on the fender. The cable pokes through a rubber grommet in the inner body that leads under the dash.

Hope that helps.

Unfortunatly the Bently is vague about these sort of things.

[speedtek]

Yours was that complicated? Mine was just run up in the rain tray area.

[Metallicabby]

THANKS to all. You're right...the Bentley is vague about this area. Really doesn't mention the antenna.

We'll try it in the morning. I think I know exactly what you all are talking about!!

Thanks again!

[sixsracing]

I just did this last weekend. You don't need to remove the inner plastic liner of the fender well. You do need to remove the screws to the rear of the well area and manipulate the plastic panel from behind the mud flap/lower panel. This will give you enough room to remove the antenna assy. The last person to replace mine got lazy and used an antenna that dropped in from the top and left the old antenna in place. Nice touch. I did find it easier to remove the dash panel to feed the antenna lead to the radio through the firewall. Gauge panel can stay ini place.

I only had to replace mine because I had replaced a stereo in a Saab 9000 last week and their antenna wire had disintegrated in my hands 15 minutes before the owner picked it up. I had to take my stereo out and cut 8" of wire off my own car to fix theirs. OUCH!

[gull]

I replaced mine a few weeks ago. I partially removed the fender liner to access it. I didn't take the front wheel off, just turned it back and forth as needed to reach things, but that was a major pain in the tail...next time I'll just remove the stupid wheel.

I cut end off the old antenna cable, inside the dash, and cut the cable tie that secured it behind the radio. Then I taped a wire securely to it, and pulled it out once I had the antenna loose. That way I was able to run the new cable along the same route by attaching it to the wire and pulling it back through.

This isn't a tough job, but it will try your patience. The most frustrating part for me was getting the firewall grommet back in place. It's in the rain tray, kind of under the wiper motor, where you can only get to it with the tips of your longest fingers.