Headliner removal to repair antenna

[CesarG]

Shark fin antenna is broke - wife hit the garage door which was semi open.

A couple of body shops have quoted her $2,000 to repair this which I think is outrageous.

Does anyone have any diagrams/instructions or manual I can use to remove the headliner to replace the antenna?
Thanks!

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[Mach-Lee]

To get the back headliner down, you'll have to remove the B and C pillar covers, remove the grab handles, and disconnect the rear washer fluid hose (attached to the top of the headliner) in the rear C pillar area, left side. Then just pull down. If that's not enough then you'll have to remove the sun visors and front camera cover too. Antenna is held in with a bolt. Then just a couple connectors on the antenna cables.

 

[Electric Goat]

Is your antenna actually broken or did it just slightly lift? I did the same thing to my antenna this past summer. My garage door spazzed out and decided to not fully open. Apparently, my safety sensors on the garage door were obstructed by cobwebs. Anyway, the antenna lifted slightly from the roof. I took it to a body shop and they said that the damage was extremely minor and probably not worth going through the hassle of dropping the headliner. Fortunately, I was able to buff out the scratches and reseal everything up myself.

I purchased J-B Weld 31319 Black RTV Silicone Sealant and Adhesive from Amazon and took my time with the repair. It actually turned out pretty great.

 

[CesarG]

Is your antenna actually broken or did it just slightly lift? I did the same thing to my antenna this past summer. My garage door spazzed out and decided to not fully open. Apparently, my safety sensors on the garage door were obstructed by cobwebs. Anyway, the antenna lifted slightly from the roof. I took it to a body shop and they said that the damage was extremely minor and probably not worth going through the hassle of dropping the headliner. Fortunately, I was able to buff out the scratches and reseal everything up myself.

I purchased J-B Weld 31319 Black RTV Silicone Sealant and Adhesive from Amazon and took my time with the repair. It actually turned out pretty great.

Thank you so much for your answer. I am adding some photos to see if your damage was similar.

Also, and pardon the ignorance, did you apply the sealant and adhesive just on the inferior periphery of the antenna or did you put more inside?

 

[Mach-Lee]

Thank you so much for your answer. I am adding some photos to see if your damage was similar.

Also, and pardon the ignorance, did you apply the sealant and adhesive just on the inferior periphery of the antenna or did you put more inside?

Sheet metal is bent FYI. I think I would just use my insurance.

 

[areacode413]

I purchased J-B Weld 31319 Black RTV Silicone Sealant and Adhesive from Amazon and took my time with the repair. It actually turned out pretty great.

That’s exactly what I would have done.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Thank you so much for your answer. I am adding some photos to see if your damage was similar.

Also, and pardon the ignorance, did you apply the sealant and adhesive just on the inferior periphery of the antenna or did you put more inside?

I would be concerned about water leaks. The bottom on the antenna is sealed, but that surface is now lifted from the roof.

 

[Electric Goat]

Thank you so much for your answer. I am adding some photos to see if your damage was similar.

Also, and pardon the ignorance, did you apply the sealant and adhesive just on the inferior periphery of the antenna or did you put more inside?

Yes, my damage was similar. I used a hairdryer to return my sheet metal back to it's original shape. Like @MachLee said your sheet metal might be bent. Fortunately, automotive sheet metal has a memory...to a degree. Also I used the hairdryer to reactivate adhesive already on the antenna. Then I slowly applied sealant around perimeter of the antenna I then tightly crisscrossed a lot of long strips of automotive detailing tape across the roof and the top center most part of the antenna to apply curing pressure. No apparent leaks whatsoever. So yes, I just applied it to the perimeter but quite a bit of it got pulled inward.


Also, keep in mind that I consulted my body shop first.

There's updated pictures of my car if you click the link in my signature. They're not zoomed in on the antenna but at least you'll get an idea of how flush everything came out to be.

 

[RonBme]

Shark fin antenna is broke - wife hit the garage door which was semi open.

A couple of body shops have quoted her $2,000 to repair this which I think is outrageous.

Does anyone have any diagrams/instructions or manual I can use to remove the headliner to replace the antenna?
Thanks!

Your headliner in the rear of the vehicle is held up by pretty decent magnets. Just pull it down straight. Don't pull too hard. Too fast but give it a nice pull and they'll pop off. They're just magnets holding on to the roof of the vehicle

 

[hartmms]

Same thing happend to my fin, except it was my fault. The fin is held on by a bolt and a X shaped metal bracket. I pulled the headliner down and removed the bold and unconnected the 2 wires. This allowed me to pull the fin off the car. Inside the fin is that cast metal that cracks instead of bends, but it was still intact. The sheet metal of the car was slightly bent up, so I took a piece of wood and a 2lb dead blow hammer and flattened it mostly back. The fingers of the X metal bracket also looked distended, so I bent them back so they could apply appropriate force to pull the fin against the roof.

There are 2 foam gaskets on the fin. One one along the premiter and a square one around the wire hole. Neither seem to have adhesive that sticks to the car. They seem to work by forming a compression seal. It mostly seals back against the roof (at least the square inner bracket does).

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