Broken Windscreen - Advice for replacing Dab aerial (1 Viewer)

[jennywren]

Hi all
Following a cracked windscreen, we are having this replaced by Autoglass through our insurance (Axa) with a £60 excess to pay. They have given us a date when this will be done so all good in that regard.
However, I was informed by Autoglass that they are unable to replace the existing dab radio antenna that is fixed to the inside of the windscreen. The reason they gave is that it is not part of the original Ford Transit equipment. This is fact as I know it was fitted by the previous owners as part of a new Kenwood radio/cd/rear camera they installed.

My question is, can the existing antenna and small black box etc be removed from the windscreen and refitted or will it be necessary to supply and fit a new antenna. I wondered if anybody else had come across this situation.

And, assuming, it does have to be replaced with a new item, is this a generic bit of kit or is it specific to the make and model of the radio/cd.

Before speaking with the insurance company (so far, all communication has been with Autoglass via the Axa switchboard), do you feel this is for insurance company (and/or Autoglass) to sort / source / and fit or is it 'my problem'. It has never been declared as a vehicle modification so, perhaps this could have a bearing.

I have attached a photo looking from outside, apologies it is difficult to show clearly.

I would be interested in any views/advice. Many thanks

 

[MichaelT]

They replaced ours and the alarm blinker, even removed the old MF sticker for me

 

[jennywren]

They replaced ours and the alarm blinker, even removed the old MF sticker for me

Thanks for that, was yours original (fitted from new) or retro fitted. And was this Autoglass.

 

[MichaelT]

Thanks for that, was yours original (fitted from new) or retro fitted. And was this Autoglass.

Retro fitted due to crack, it was national windscreens I think.

 

[fishplug]

They are generic and relatively inexpensive and very easy to fit.

I don't think they're designed to be removed / reapplied. It might work and if you're doing the work yourself there's no harm in trying as you've got nothing to lose, however if you're paying someone to fit it then just replace it.

A quick search on eBay suggests they're around £7-9 so personally I'd replace it as a matter of course.

Well, that's not entirely true. I've had a couple of those windscreen mounted ones and have never had a good experience of them so I now buy 'proper' roof mounted FM/DAB antennas and replace the OEM FM antenna with it. About £25 last time I did it from memory.

That said, if yours worked for you and your setup then there's no reason not to have the same again.

The key to fitting these is to have clean, grease free glass to stick it to and you should be able to follow the old cable run back to the head unit. The connector is a simple screw fit which doesn't need to be more than hand tight really so the only tools you would need are the ones needed to remove any trim that the cabling runs through and whatever keys you need to remove the head unit.

Alternatively see if someone like Halfords will sell and fit it for you.

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[jennywren]

They are generic and relatively inexpensive and very easy to fit.

I don't think they're designed to be removed / reapplied. It might work and if you're doing the work yourself there's no harm in trying as you've got nothing to lose, however if you're paying someone to fit it then just replace it.

A quick search on eBay suggests they're around £7-9 so personally I'd replace it as a matter of course.

Well, that's not entirely true. I've had a couple of those windscreen mounted ones and have never had a good experience of them so I now buy 'proper' roof mounted FM/DAB antennas and replace the OEM FM antenna with it. About £25 last time I did it from memory.

That said, if yours worked for you and your setup then there's no reason not to have the same again.

The key to fitting these is to have clean, grease free glass to stick it to and you should be able to follow the old cable run back to the head unit. The connector is a simple screw fit which doesn't need to be more than hand tight really so the only tools you would need are the ones needed to remove any trim that the cabling runs through and whatever keys you need to remove the head unit.

Alternatively see if someone like Halfords will sell and fit it for you.

Many thanks for that. You are dead correct about the cost, this was not the main issue, it was, more the fact that you need to plug end of cable (from aerial) direct to dab radio unit which involves taking the dash apart, I was hopeful of avoiding this but from research, this appears unavoidable. After a further call with Autoglass, they have agreed that it is their job to refit it anyway but we will see on the day. I have bought a replacement from Amazon, just in case for £10.

I think you are also on the mark about the poor reception, we have also noticed this and did consider a 'rooftop' aereal but to be honest, we seldom use the radio in the van, we seem to default to spotify, it's just nice to have on ocassions. It's odd because in the car, it is always the radio!

 

[fishplug]

Sadly there is no way round taking the dash apart for replacing the antenna - whichever one you choose.

It's always the hardest and most time consuming part of the job.

The last one I did was on a car which had the antenna mounted at the rear of the roof, so the cable run meant removing the rear, centre and front plastic trim in order to get the headliner off to get to the nut that tightens the antenna onto the roof, then half the dash had to come off to run the cable to the radio.

It took me half a day!

Actually connecting the cable to the stereo was about 11.4 seconds of that.

Good news that Autoglass have agreed to do the difficult part for you though - It's one of the jobs I least enjoy. Not difficult, but just a monumental time consuming faff.