Barchiola

It sounds nice when people say to just tie a string to the end of the old antenna wire before pulling it out so you can use it to pull the new one into place. It sounds nice but it didn't work.
It's also nice when people say to just feed a wire down along the sunroof drain tube and watch where it comes out but it's impossible so I doubt anyone that says it has actually tried it.
It appears I'll have to pull the whole f'in dash out to find the spot where the antenna wire pops out before making its way over behind the radio and I might just burn the car before I finish the job.
Any suggestions (preferably from someone who has actually tried and mastered this job)?
I'm thinking about putting a 1/2" hole saw through the pillar and popping the antenna wire out of the pillar about ten inches above the dash and then just running it down inside the trim piece with the other wires.
Ideas?
Thanks a lot,
Bart

Barchiola

well, i'm finally done and here are a few tips for anyone else that might have to replace their antenna.
First of all, the hole where the antenna wire comes out under the dash is not where you'd think it should be. the left pillar that goes from the roof down alongside the windshield continues down into the door jamb where the hinges are and it's about halfway down on the front side where the wire pops out. you have to remove the little silver box that is held on with a single 10mm bolt just below the fuse panel in order to see where the hole is and even then you can't really see it (actually you can see it but its' tough) but you can get your hand in the area and feel the front of the pillar for the hole. removing the two 10mm nuts that hold the fuse panel in place helps to make the fuse panel easier to move around a bit as you're reaching and looking for the wire's path.
to do the job, none of the interior trim pieces above the driver's side door have to be removed. the first thing i did was to pry off the trim piece and the weatherstripping only to realize later the wire didn't run behind the trim but inside the pillar.
You can get to the back of the radio by removing the center console piece which is held in by four screws. once the wire is loose, start pushing it back to the hole in the pillar. there are a couple of white clips above the many wire bundles under the dash that hold the antenna wire in place.
before you pull the wire all the way out, cut the plug off. i read somewhere of a guy that lost the plug in the pillar and couldn't get it out. this would have driven me to the brink of insanity if it happened to me as i already had enough trouble just finding the hole. i pulled the wire out thinking the whole job would be a piece of cake and didn't bother locating the hole beforehand.
you can try tying a piece of string to the wire and then pulling the wire out leaving the string in place to pull the new wire back down through the pillar. if you forget to use the string or if it doesn't work, use a piece of 14 guage copper wire (I pulled the bare ground wire from a length of 12 ga. wire) from the top down and into the interior of the car. use the copper wire to pull a string back through the pillar then use the string to pull the new antenna wire into place. tape the string to the new wire and let it overlap well past the plug so the stress from pulling the wire isn't all on the plug and if the new wire get snagged at all while pulling it into place just back it up a hair and give it a twist while pulling again.
having done the job once in about three hours I'd bet I could do it again in less than an hour now that I know where the stinkin hole is.
Hope that helps and good luck.
Bart

Barchiola

if a moderator would like to move this to the 1-5 generation forum, feel free.
I guessed a 95 was a sixth gen. but i guessed wrong.
bc

mfc392

wouldn't happen to have any pictures of this b/c i took the silver box off behind the fuse box and am clueless to where it would be. frustrating

chastings

Look at this Youtube video:

[autostream]http://autostream.com/ibcivicforums/?page_type=firebirdplayerthumbnail&framepage=1263& transactionid=1340385959-7011312134&posted_by=chastings_www.civicforums.com &youtube_video_id=kOSaVf9eJlc[/autostream]

The hole is viewed at the 2 m 49 s mark.

For even more detail, I have a sunroof, so the drain tube goes down the same route and into the engine in the same place. If you are having difficulty getting the copper wire downward, wiggle the drain tube to see if it doesn't open up the space you need. As long as the drain tube isn't in the way, it should slide right down. (I also used a purple wrapped stereo cable in lieu of a "copper wire.")

My mistake was that the cable that you need to tie the string to is the one on the bottom of the connection, not the top. So I tied it off, yanked the cable up and found out that I tied the string around the wrong end. There may have been alcohol involved before I attempted this.

The part that I used was the Metra 44-HD98 for the replacement.

Good luck! P.S. I have a 98 Civic EX, same process.

garomil

I just completed an antenna replacement on my 1993 Honda Civic EX Couple with Sunroof. Here is how I eventually got the new antenna in. I first removed the electrical box (cruise control) and its bracket. It mostly obscured the hole where the antenna cable comes into the cabin and made snaking cables needlessly difficult, if not impossible. After it was out of the way I carefully pulled the sunroof drain tube up and out-I left it attached on the sunroof side, but disconnected it from the black connector on the cabin side. Then there was enough room in the A-pillar to snake stuff through, and enough clearance inside the cabin for the antenna plug to get through. If you don't do this step then it is needlessly difficult or impossible to snake the antenna plug back through. To finish the job, I snaked a standard flexible coaxial cable through to the roof. I pulled the antenna cable plug and sunroof drain tube simultaneously back through slowly. I now get great reception again on my radio! I hope this helps out someone who is frustrated by this deceptively simple task.