Hey everyone. For some reason, Sirius antennas are total junk. I only seem to get a year out of them before they start to act up and then they completely quit. This will be my THIRD antenna since late 2008. I am just about to go out and replace it (I do my best work in the moonlight). The last one (original) one had busted wiring (partially my fault). This one is much more complex. I think it is shorted out somewhere from water damage. Under the antenna where it sticks to the roof, the baseplate is totally rusted out and one of the magnets is disintegrated. It also started to rust the roof of the truck. The Sirius receiver is not working if it is wet out and when it is dry, the signal strength is low and it cuts out more easily. How I usually route the wire is antenna (mounted to roof near back door) > under the door seal (no problems there. I rarely open the back door and the wiring is fine there.) > rear light panel > left part of headliner to the A-Pillar > Down A-Pillar > underside of dash where I bundle the excess cable > to top of dash between the dash panel and the rest of the dash > receiver, mounted to 3rd vent. Are all the antennas junk or could I have a problem with installation? Thanks.

 

Fixed. I had to cut the wire from the old antenna to get it out. Found not just rust on the baseplate, but water and rust damage inside the antenna. Explains it all. The wiring getting pinched in the door must not help either. I took off the stoplight and routed the new wire through the right unused stoplight wiring hole and then in the same manner as the last antenna. This must also fix the water leak in the back door where the antenna wire was. Now all I got to do is reseal the stoplight because it was glued to the roof with some kind of sealant.

Before I had no signal at all 90% of the time. Now I have 2/3 bars and crystal clear audio and my truck is parked under a tree with the nearest branches just a few feet above the antenna.

Even though the problem is fixed, does anyone have any advice on making these antennas last longer? Is there a trick I am missing?

 

I've had mine for about 5 years, so i dont really know what to tell ya.

 

im sure sirius would replace it. they probably dont cost much to them

 

Since they include them with the $40 radios and a replacement is $25, I bet it doesn't really cost that much to them, but it is already done and there is no warranty on it that I know of, so I don't know what they would do. Next antenna I will call them and try to get them to pay for another one. It is replaced and I installed it a different way, so the chances of it happening again are slim. As I said, I routed it through the spare stoplight wire hole and before the hurricane, I resealed the stoplight with some Max Black RTV I had left over from a previous project. With the duct tape I used to seal the back window, it didn't leak at all from the hurricane. I listen to my Sirius all the time and it works better than ever now. Doesn't lose it's signal unless there are dense trees above the antenna or I am going through a tunnel. Bridges and drive thrus don't block the signal.

 

I'm just about to have the antenna installed. I watched the vid on the XM/Sirius site and I'm not into doing it myself. The video suggest intalling it at the rear. Why not install it at the front? Also, if you own more than one vehicle, why not just use the magnetic antenna and it might an be easy switch from one to the other.