How to Replace antenna on 1999 Honda Civic EX 2 door?

Answer 1

The following are instructions for replacing the factory antenna on '96 - '00 Civics (may apply to other years, too). 1. The Easy Way. Do what everybody else recommends: tie a string or line to the connector-end of the old antenna coax cable BEFORE you pull it out of the car. That way you'll have a line to pull the new antenna coax back down through the A-pillar. You don't need to remove the radio to disconnect the antenna's coax cable because there is a second junction located behind the left knee bolster panel (the panel below the steering wheel) to the left of the fuse panel. This is where you want to disconnect the antenna's coax cable from the radio's coax cable. 2. The Hard Way. You're reading this because you didn't follow Instruction #1 above. What a blunder you've made! You've turned an hour's job into an all-day torture session with no end in sight. You've been cutting your knuckles and swearing trying to find a hole for the new coax cable to feed through, right? Don't worry, I've been there and there is a solution. Read on! First, let's review what you should NOT do (because it won't help). One: do NOT remove the driver's-side plastic A-Pillar trim. The antenna coax cable does not hide behind the trim...there are no access holes for the coax cable to come out behind the trim...you cannot see anything more than you can with the trim installed; so don't bother removing it. Two: do NOT remove the front fender or the driver's door. There are no holes or access panels hiding behind the fender or door to get access to the coax cable, so don't bother removing either one. Now, for what you SHOULD do. Inside the car, remove the lower left knee bolster panel (the panel below the steering wheel). With the driver's door open, look where the electrical cable feeds through the body (the body, not the door). On the inside of the car, find where that electrical cable comes out under the dash (above the left kick panel). Once you find it, you may also find a square piece of thick insulating foam crammed around that cable for noise insulation. Pull that foam out. The large square-shaped hole that the foam came out of is the hole where the antenna's coax cable needs to come out. You'll need to make a device to stick down the A-piller from the opening in the roof where the antenna goes down to that opening in the kick panel where the foam and electrical cable goes. I made mine using the old antenna. Securely tie a piece of heavy string about 3 -4 feet long to the end of the antenna. Stick it down the A-pillar until it cannot go any further. Then from inside the car, reach into that hole where the foam/electrical cable was and feel around for the end of the stick (the old antenna, or whatever you're shoving down the A-pillar). Hint: it helps to have someone else gently move the stick (antenna) around so you can feel for it. Once you have it, pull it through the hole opening just enough to grab the string you tied onto it. Tie-off the loose end of the string to something (so it cannot accidentally be pulled back up the A-pillar). Now pull the stick (old antenna) up and out of the A-pillar and untie the string from it. Next, tie the string to the new antenna's coax-connector. Insert the coax cable into the roof opening and GENTLY pull the other end of the string to guide and pull the coax down the A-pillar. If you do everything correctly, the new coax cable will pull out the hole and now you can connect it to the radio coax connector. Replace the foam insulation and the lower knee bolster panel. Voila! The following are instructions for replacing the factory antenna on '96 - '00 Civics (may apply to other years, too). 1. The Easy Way. Do what everybody else recommends: tie a string or line to the connector-end of the old antenna coax cable BEFORE you pull it out of the car. That way you'll have a line to pull the new antenna coax back down through the A-pillar. You don't need to remove the radio to disconnect the antenna's coax cable because there is a second junction located behind the left knee bolster panel (the panel below the steering wheel) to the left of the fuse panel. This is where you want to disconnect the antenna's coax cable from the radio's coax cable. 2. The Hard Way. You're reading this because you didn't follow Instruction #1 above. What a blunder you've made! You've turned an hour's job into an all-day torture session with no end in sight. You've been cutting your knuckles and swearing trying to find a hole for the new coax cable to feed through, right? Don't worry, I've been there and there is a solution. Read on! First, let's review what you should NOT do (because it won't help). One: do NOT remove the driver's-side plastic A-Pillar trim. The antenna coax cable does not hide behind the trim...there are no access holes for the coax cable to come out behind the trim...you cannot see anything more than you can with the trim installed; so don't bother removing it. Two: do NOT remove the front fender or the driver's door. There are no holes or access panels hiding behind the fender or door to get access to the coax cable, so don't bother removing either one. Now, for what you SHOULD do. Inside the car, remove the lower left knee bolster panel (the panel below the steering wheel). With the driver's door open, look where the electrical cable feeds through the body (the body, not the door). On the inside of the car, find where that electrical cable comes out under the dash (above the left kick panel). Once you find it, you may also find a square piece of thick insulating foam crammed around that cable for noise insulation. Pull that foam out. The large square-shaped hole that the foam came out of is the hole where the antenna's coax cable needs to come out. You'll need to make a device to stick down the A-piller from the opening in the roof where the antenna goes down to that opening in the kick panel where the foam and electrical cable goes. I made mine using the old antenna. Securely tie a piece of heavy string about 3 -4 feet long to the end of the antenna. Stick it down the A-pillar until it cannot go any further. Then from inside the car, reach into that hole where the foam/electrical cable was and feel around for the end of the stick (the old antenna, or whatever you're shoving down the A-pillar). Hint: it helps to have someone else gently move the stick (antenna) around so you can feel for it. Once you have it, pull it through the hole opening just enough to grab the string you tied onto it. Tie-off the loose end of the string to something (so it cannot accidentally be pulled back up the A-pillar). Now pull the stick (old antenna) up and out of the A-pillar and untie the string from it. Next, tie the string to the new antenna's coax-connector. Insert the coax cable into the roof opening and GENTLY pull the other end of the string to guide and pull the coax down the A-pillar. If you do everything correctly, the new coax cable will pull out the hole and now you can connect it to the radio coax connector. Replace the foam insulation and the lower knee bolster panel. Voila!