Radio reception problem on Aftermarket deck

[Bake82]

Hey guys,

 

Problem I've been having since I put my CD player back into the cutlass. I have terrible radio reception. I took apart the dash today to see if it was a loose connection. I found out that the factory antenna plug is broken. The metal piece that sticks into the aftermarket antenna adapter is broke. All the pieces are still in there, but it moves in and out leaving me with shitty reception. Anybody know how I can fix this? I need radio reception even with the CD player. Hopefully someone can help me out. Thanks in advance!

[digitaloutsider]

Same thing happened to me. You need to change the antenna lead. It runs from your radio down to a crimped connection on the side of the car, directly in front of the passenger side door. You can get one of these out of a yard for next to nothing. Good luck uncrimping the wire though.

 

On a 94+ it just plugs in

[sl3196]

You could probaly just cut the two wires and splice them together. Unless you replace the whole wire dont really know what else you could do.

[digitaloutsider]

I tried. It gets worse reception than just having the plug broke.

[Bake82]

Hey Shaun,

 

To get at that antenna lead did you need to take apart the whole dash? not just the top pad, like the bottom and everything else to get to it? How long did it take you? Also will any antenna lead work from any w-body work?? What did you use to uncrimp the the lead by the door?? Could it just be easier to grab the whole wire and run it the whole length of the car, or would that require removing all the seats and such? Thanks for your help!

Kyle

[digitaloutsider]

Hey Shaun,

 

To get at that antenna lead did you need to take apart the whole dash? not just the top pad, like the bottom and everything else to get to it? How long did it take you? Also will any antenna lead work from any w-body work?? What did you use to uncrimp the the lead by the door?? Could it just be easier to grab the whole wire and run it the whole length of the car, or would that require removing all the seats and such? Thanks for your help!

Kyle

I'm not 100% sure about cutlasses, but I don't see why you'd have to COMPLETELY take the dash apart. It's fed under the glove box down to that crimped location. I did nothing more than use a screwdriver and have a LOT of patience to uncrimp it. It's a MAJOR pain in the ass. It would be much more difficult to take the entire wire, IMHO. It requires taking out a lot of trim, pulling carpet back, removing rear seats, and being in a bunch of uncomfortable positions. Whichever you prefer though. Soooo theeeree ya go!