Careful w/Antenna Upgrade
 

I accidentally broke off my radio antenna while attempting to remove it, carefully, with a wrench. I wanted to upgrade the radio antenna to a shorter model (purchase on eBay) anyway, but was trying to remove the antenna prior to using a drive-thru car wash for the first time.

While I attempted to remove it, the antenna broke off with most of its threads still in the antenna socket/mount. My dad attempted to help remove the broken threads but that led nowhere. Obviously, I'll end up paying Ford for a new antenna and mount, probably.

Mom's and Dad's antennas (one's a Ford '05 Mustang GT, so his antenna's almost identical to mine) come off fairly easily and Dad's had the lock-tite glue but no issues. Mine? Sigh... breaks off during first removal attempt.

Re: Careful w/Antenna 'Upgrade'
 

Wow... I took mine off to go through a car wash.... came right off with a small crescent wrench. The "blue" locktite is supposed to be removable I think and thats whats on mine.

Sorry it didn't work as well for you.

Re: Careful w/Antenna 'Upgrade'
 

Yeah, my Dad said the same thing. "Should have come right off after a little pressure with a wrench."

I just mention it as a word of caution. I don't think all Escapes or FEH have some inherently difficult antenna removal but it's definitely one of those, "Well, shucks, that wasn't what I was prepared to have happen." His Mustang's was on tight but came right off while I watched him. (salt in wound ;))

Re: Careful w/Antenna 'Upgrade'
 

I'll bet it matters which dealer you got the FEH from. I doubt they are shipped from the factory with the antenna installed. They would be too easy to bend/crush/break when loading them on the car carrier. It's got to be a part of the "prep" work that a dealership does on a new vehicle.... peeling off the plastic and the "tape" from the outside of the vehicle to prevent nicks... and putting on the antenna...

And whomever put your antenna on.... was decended from a gorilla. We'll theoretically we all were but in this case the lineage might have been more direct ;)

Re: Careful w/Antenna 'Upgrade'
 

What color Loctite did they use? If it looks red, that is the wrong one and that might be your out with the dealer. I bought a special Ford antenna "wrench" and have never had any problems removing the antenna from either Escape. Also, your father should have tried using a screw extractor rather than drilling the old one out entirely. His method, while certainly well intentioned, was doomed from the start.

Re: Careful w/Antenna 'Upgrade'
 

Mine came off surprisingly easily when I first went to a car wash. The guy just unscrewed it by hand. I guess my dealer forgot the Loctite.

Re: Careful w/Antenna 'Upgrade'
 

I actually had considered getting one of these alternate antennas. I listen to XM, and have an in-line FM Modulator, so I rarely use the FM antenna itself. I do have a UHF antenna mounted on the front of the hood next to the FM antenna. They occasionally hit each other in the wind on the freeway. Having a shorter one would fix the problem. Where did you get the antenna from?

FYI, mine had the blue loctite on it, and did come off with a bit of hand force before I went into the car wash. It comes off relatively easily now with a bit of hand force.

-Eric

Re: Careful w/Antenna 'Upgrade'
 

My FEH is presently at the dealership getting a new antenna installed. I had two small rubber pieces/bits fall off in the first 2 weeks of ownership, anyway, so two birds one stone (or two bits and one antenna). Unfortunately, they've had the vehicle since 7 AM and they are only now (4 PM) getting around to even touching it.

C'est la vie. The loc-tite was blue but there were big gobs of it that I could see... way more than what was on my Dad's Mustang GT antenna when he removed it for the first time to demonstrate "how easy it should have been".

Re: Careful w/Antenna 'Upgrade'
 

eBay. "AntennaX" is the dealer/seller on eBay (The Antenna Xperts). Shipped quickly, good price. Nothing fancy -- looks just like the stock antenna, just 15" instead of the Tower of Power 31" we get stock on the Escape. Stay away from the rubber ones as they apparently tend to warp in the wind (I always thought that's how they came -- I see lots of them with that arc in them; apparently, most rubber ones don't come that way, that's what the wind does to them.)

I'll comment on reception when I get my FEH back with the replaced antenna (suspect the mount had to be replaced, too, and I want another OEM antenna in case I'm not thrilled with the aftermarket one I was preparing to install.)

Re: Careful w/Antenna 'Upgrade'
 

....

Well done. :P