This morning the attendant at the car wash handed me my radio antenna. It had broken off inside the mount and the rod has only about 1-1/2 threads showing, not enough to get a bite to screw back in.

I need to remove the plastic cover from the mount so I can find the part number for replacement purposes. Someone said to just pry it up with a thin blade screwdriver. My old truck is in mint condition and I don't want to risk a scratch or pay the dealer a huge replacement fee.

Any suggestions?

 

The cover should just pop off really easy.

 

I can order you one if you need one?

 

Thank you for your quick reply. It's only been on there for 16 years. I tried to pry it off using a long common screw driver and a piece of 1/8 thk wood as a fulcrum and padding against the paint. It appeared to move a little but I was afraid I was just about to make my situation worse. I was always taught not to force anything until it was the absolutely last resort.

 

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. I've heard that one has to remove the plastic cap to get at the P/N so the correct part can be ordered. I'll play with that some more tomorrow.

 

If you get it off and want to replace it, i have it in stock. $25.00. Dont do to much damage

 

At 74 Yrs of age, I like to get into things carefully. Never know what an old fool will break if he hasn't been there before. When you get to be my age, you've broken a lot more stuff than you've ever fixed! I've done what I can to keep my old friend looking factory new, but it gets more difficult every day. Gee, just like me!

 

use a screwdriver pop it off spray some silicone lube to pop it off easier there will be two phillip screws holding it on take those off disconnect the radio bust under the hood passenger side back a bit pull the assembly out go to a junkyard like pick n pull by a new part for $1.50 reverse the order for installation

 

Thanks to all. What I'll do first is go to Lowe's and get a metal cylindrical spacer about 3/4' long and with a wall thickness of about .030". The outside diameter will just fit into the hole in the antenna mount. I'll use this to center a drill bit about 3/4 the diameter of the thread size. Then I'll drill down about 3/16" into the broken th'd and change the bit over to an extractor and reverse the drill.

Of course, the truck will spin and the broken thread will stay put. Well, ya gotta start somewhere!

 

Don't know if you've tried, but you might find the broken off stub, in the antenna's base, may be EZ to remove with a sharp scribe. Try using point to unscrew it.

Had one snap off clean, w/o bending, leaving the stub loose in the base & EZ to extract.

 

Thank you for the advice. What's going on is that the threaded end of the antenna mast has not quite 2 complete threads from top to break point. The rest of the threaded end was cleanly broken off and is still inside the mount base and I can't unscrew it. If it had fallen inside, who cares? I could then just screw in a new mast.

Who invented the word EASY?

 

I wouldn't even try to unscrew the mount base, IF the threaded end was cleanly broken off. Should be able to tease it out using sharp point of a scribe to unscrew just the broken off stub blocking the hole.

Pretty sure the hole dead ends, meaning no chance of it falling "inside" allowing you to "then just screw in a new mast". Got to retrieve the broken off end, IF you want to save the base.

An antenna mast broken off too short could be salvaged by 'heroic measures' but generally not worth the effort.

 

Situation under control! As an old radio man, it occurred to me that if there was still metal-to metal contact between the antenna and base, then it will still work. I put epoxy cement on 1/2 the diameter of the antenna mast mounting stub and stuffed it back into the hole in the mount, assuring that the stub was in contact with the wall of the hole in the mount. It is now installed there forever and the radio works fine on AM and FM.

If it falls off at the car wash again, I'll do a replacement of what needs it.

Thank you all for your patience and responses.