General Radio Antenna

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General Radio Antenna

Joined
Apr 26, 2009
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29
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10
Location
Liverpool, UK
Hey guys,

I need to replace the radio antenna on my 2001 multipla.

I've taken out the courtesy light but can't seem to find anything that is holding the aerial to the roof, can any one give me a clue? :)

Thanks,

Michael
 
you have to take the roof out ,sad but true ,and when you do that please tell me if you have found rust spots because mine was full with rust spots .first you have to take all plastic ,pull gently ,clips break easy,and you have to take all three seats from behind out of the car to take the roof cover out im sorry i did not make any photos
 
hey! I've done it :)

Didn't have to go through all that though sicone..

I removed the courtesy light and moved the plastic fixture thing holding the courtest light in place over a bit to get to the small nut holding the aerial to the roof.. the new one i bought from Halfords fitted perfectly letting me use the existing aerial cable so that saved me one hell of a job!


Thanks!

Michael
 
The aerial on my Y-reg Multipla ELX 100 16v snapped off, leaving part of the threaded section in the base. I managed to cut a slot in the top of the remaining part and unscrew it partially before the rest of it broke off. It's still stuck in there, so I ordered a complete aerial and base unit.

Here's what I did. If you have the same model, you're wasting your time following this, but I understand that other models are different and this may help.

I removed the two caps at the front of the courtesy light cluster and removed the screws. Then I had to prise out the mirror control box and the Volumetric Alarm Ultrasonic transducer box from the front of the courtesy light cluster. The ultrasonic transducer box was really tricky and I ended up getting the Elastoplast out after a screwdriver went into my finger.

Two more screws and the courtesy light cluster comes off. You can unplug the various electrical connectors to move everything out of the way.

It find it ridiculous that it is so difficult, because you have to go through this rigmarole to replace the bulbs in the courtesy lights.

There's a black plastic tray inside the aperture. There are two more screws holding that in place, mounted almost horizontally. I removed those, but that didn't help much. The plastic tray moves only a few millimetres once undone. Sadly, it doesn't move far enough to get access to the underside of the aerial base.

End of the line for my repair attempt.

Although what I bought was the genuine Fiat part, it's not the same as the one already fitted. The new one lets the aerial pivot down. The old one has it fixed in place.

So, for my car at least, what Sicone said seems to be true; you have to remove the complete roof lining to get access to the base of the aerial.

Anyway, I'm going to see if I can either drill out the old stud, or borrow a broken stud remover tool to get it out. Then I should be able to simply screw in the new aerial.
 
The black plastic tray can be persuaded to move underneath the roof lining, this then gives you better access to the aerial base.
Make a note of where all the cables are routed as you will have to move these out of the way when you do this.
 
Going to give mine a go later.
My old (non-original) stereo was nicked a few months ago, and I finally got round to getting a replacement.
No radio reception however, so I'm suspecting a knackered aerial (corrosion in the base leads to this suspicion).
After removing the interior light assembly to see what was involved in removing the old aerial . . . I bought a screen-mount type from Halfords, only £4.

Whether the screen-mount one works or not, I might have another go at removing the old one anyway.
 
Managed to snap mine off too leaving stub in mount. Had a DAB magnetic mount aerial which I managed to fit behind the original mount. Had to remove light unit, switches and plastic boxes underneath, then could get up aerial quote easily. Then managed to route cable through roof lining and down pillar into back of aerial- works great now!

So you can do it without removing roof lining and seats!
 
"Then managed to route cable through roof lining and down pillar"

Can you post any photos (or is it all beautifully hidden now?) I'm planning to put in a DAB aerial and want to make it an easy job!
Thanks a lot
 
Just this minute finished fitting my chepo screen-mount aerial, works a treat! (y)
I didn't bother removing the old one, too much hassle, just stuck the aerial to the top of the screen, poked the lead and +ve wire (power for aerial amplifier) under the front of the lining, then down behind the pillar cover (pops off/on easily), fed them through over the fuse-box (under 'glove-box' tray), and down to the back of the radio housing.
Spliced the aerial amp into an ignition-live wire, and bingo!
 
"Then managed to route cable through roof lining and down pillar"

Can you post any photos (or is it all beautifully hidden now?) I'm planning to put in a DAB aerial and want to make it an easy job!
Thanks a lot

I've Got a Pure Highway dab unit in mine, hooked up to the CD input of the original head unit unit. Works a treat and means I can keep the look of the original (which I like).
 
I did think of that but what really, really annoys me about the standard head unit is that it resets the volume to way-too-low every time you start the car or the music. I want a new head unit as much to fix that as anything - might as well go DAB in the process.
 
Sorry, it's all hidden! Had to remove both sun visors and all the gubbins round the switches and lights to get good access to the aerial. Had to gently and carefully ease the roof lining down at the front to pass the cable through, the pillar trim just popped off and on again once I'd hidden the cable behind it. The aerial mounts onto a PCB which I had to access to get the cable through it.

Also slit a hole the original aerial housing to allow the wire to pass through it and still be watertight, and because I didn't want to drill a new hole in the roof!

Can't post photos from phone though- pm me and I'll send one of what the roof looks like!
 
PS The radio is a Philips CEM 3000B which is pretty good, has a from mounted USB slot for mem sticks or iPhones. Came with the aerial too!
 
Thanks a lot for the description, sounds like I should be able to work something out.

Anyone recommend a source for a fascia plate ('02 grey)? Seems like the sort of thing that could be cheap and crappy or indeed expensive and crappy if you get the wrong one.
 
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