ok... i am totally angry with my antenna situation.

my old one was broken when i got the car so i dont know how that sounded.

i bought a new GM electric antenna and installed it. it worked find except for the reception SUCKED.

so, i go to junkyard, pick up a regular whip antenna from 3rdgen, and i test it out by plugging in into my head unit and it works great!

but heres the kicker- once i install it into the fender of the car, route the wires, plug it in... it SUCKS again too!

its like it works fine until its actually installed in the fender. so im wondering if the electric one is fine too but for some odd reason once its in the fender it gimps out.

what is going on here?! my radio tunes are really annoying and static.

thanks.

 

HMM...so the antenna works when it's not mounted which is strange because the bottom base needs to touch your metal chassis for ground. Make sure that the hole below where the antenna mounts is clean (no paint, no grease no body filler)
Your radio may get it's reception from your body acting as a ground. Try the process of elimination like try a different radio, try both antennas. Let me know.

 

Thanks! You were right. I cleaned everything off and also made another ground wire going to the base from a strong ground on the chassis.
It helped a lot!

I think Im going to stick with the regular whip and ditch the power though. It seems much more maintenance-free, though I do like the power for security and car washes.

Is it safe to paint the whip? As long as I mask the hole. The black is fading.

 

Glad I could help, I have heard here that the best paint for exterior parts on our cars is called SEM PAINT . I am going to try it also for my antenna whip and windshield wipers.