swdshdyn

Backed out of the garage with the 350 and tore the antenna from the roof. Looks like it tore the co-ax cable which would be for Sat. and everything else working well. There is no connector at this antenna and does anybody know if the ant. wires go all the way up to the dash?
Dealer wants over $250 for a replacement antenna and seems like a waste if it would only bring back the sat. service.
Regards,
GaryK

MilesBFree

Did you open it up to see if there is a connector inside of it, or were you just looking at the outside? I would think they have a connector somewhere there and it would probably be inside the antenna housing.

If there is one inside, you can buy coax strippers and crimpers at the Home Depot or Lowes or Radio Shack, cut the wire back to a good point, and crimp a new end on. Not sure how much slack there would be, though.

You could also try to remove the headliner or side panels in the rear and see if you can find a wire that looks like the one you are seeing. It looks like there is a grouping of electronics in the left rear of the cargo area. See around page 76 of this manual:

http://www.theworkshopmb.com/GLKIntroduction2010.pdf

If you pop off a panel or two in the area you can see some of the wiring.

swdshdyn

I can remove the antenna and there are 3 wires entering the base of the underside of the "shark fin" but I can find no harness connector which will allow for antenna removal. There is only one wire that was broken and this seems to be for the Sat. This looks like a co-ax type cable with a center wire plus external mesh outer cable which was all broken right at the antenna base which might make things difficult for re-connection.

MilesBFree

Can you open up the shark fin and see if there are connectors inside of it?

Is there enough coax hanging out of the shark fin on which to crimp a new end (i.e.- after cutting off the torn/mangled part)? If so, crimp a male on the fin end, and a female on the car end of the break, and screw together?

Or did the coax break right at the base of the fin?

Is it the same type of coax as for cable / satellite TV, (RG-6)? Or is it thinner?

rmfnla

So Gary, how'd you do that?!

Your garage can't be that low; did you drive under the door before it opened all the way?

swdshdyn

Unfortunately, it looks like the sat. cable broke right at the base of the shark fin antenna and I did try to solder but only intermit. connection to sat. is available. The wire looked like a small co-ax type and had the outer mesh wire that sheilds the inner. The mesh wire has only a few pcs exiting the base of the shark fin and I attempted to solder these and then back to the original wire...no luck.
The roof antenna opening took a bit of a punishment and the sheet metal was pulled but not a total loss. I might just try to rework the roof and insert the antenna without sat. service but it seems kind of strange that MB has no connector at the antenna if needing a replacement.
No Howard Stern this week!
Thanks/Regards,
GaryK

MKenM

Sounds like it might be mini coax. It is a 75 ohm cable that you can buy at Radio Shack. I would suggest that you put a male connector on the end of the wire coming out of the roof get female connector and put it on the other end then make whatever connection to the shark fin that is needed. Hope there is enough room.

swdshdyn

Now to remove the headliner...anyone attempt this?

yualfred

Any picture to show us? It looks like you can still try to remove the material (epoxy or plastic) on the bottom of the antenna to expose more of the broken cable, so that you can solder it (crimp a connector requires even more length).

MBRedux

The headliner removal can be tricky without bending it... lots of clips that can break too.... take it to the dealer and be safe.

MilesBFree

Have you been able to open up the shark fin itself yet, to see if there is a connector inside of it?

(Or at least more slack to the wire itself?)

dieseldoc

You paid lots of money for a Mercedes. Open up your wallet and get it fixed properly!

BobGLK

I agree. Depending on your insurance deductible you may want to go that way. If it were me I would want it fixed right.

MilesBFree

Especially since the sheet metal of the roof was bent when the antenna was ripped off.

Might as well get that fixed too so as to not have to worry about a leak developing there in the future.

Between the cost of the antenna and associated labor, body work, etc., it would easily exceed the cost of the deductible (unless you have one in the $1k range and even then...).