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Hello! Just purchased a 2004 LS430 with 95K miles with ML/Nav/dealer-installed XM. The XM radio screen is blinking 'Antenna' and nothing is getting through. The XM receiver appears to be working (I can get its ID when I tune to channel 0). Is there an easy direct replacement antenna with the right connector on it? The current antenna is attached to the trunk lid on the drivers side with a magnet. I have subscribed to a two-month free trial and called them and they think everything is fine on their end...
The Antenna appears to have a pair of wires instead of a COAX.
I am working through a similar issue. I have an '06 with a factory satellite set-up. My antenna is a triangular box on the inside of my windshield next to the wiper rain sensor and I would like to replace it. I believe it also has the two wire connection. There are adapters that convert the original two wire setup to a coaxial plug. Call the store listed above or google others such as "satellite radio superstore". Please let us know how it works. Good Luck.
Thanks sgretchko! I am going to tear the trunk apart to eyeball the connector at the far end. Was on a business trip all week...Sunny day here in Dayton! Going to try a dose of 134a refrigerant as well today as it is now warm enough to reveal the AC is not blowing cold...
(During my trip I had a new Taurus -- I hated the foot well and the drive home from the airport was noticeably better in the 14 year-old LS430...)
I was at the grocery store yesterday and when I tried starting the MAC (Middle-Aged Crisis) the key would not turn. I was there trying to wiggle it into working when I saw 'display one' say something about the S/T lock. Found out on this forum all I had to do was to wiggle the steering wheel a bit when I googled that from my phone. Saved me from an embarrassing tow!
If I make progress today will take a picture and post it of the far-end SAT ANT connector...I presume the receiver is in the trunk some wheres....
OK I have located my quarry. The trunk-mounted antenna wire runs along the rear deck trunk trim piece (the 'headliner' trim piece of the trunk, so to speak). There are sneaky little blind fasteners along the rear lip of the trunk opening and they ran the wire right there along the rear lip of the trunk inside that trunk trim piece, from the driver side where they mounted the antenna to the passenger side where the receiver is mounted.. The receiver is mounted high in the trunk on the passenger side. I have pictures in my phone that I will include shortly. I have a picture of the two-wire connector plugged into the receiver...I gave it a bit of a wiggle but did not immediately see how to disconnect it. I have managed not to break any of the 15 year old plastic fasteners as of yet...
The exposed two-wire antenna harness does not look so good. Once it goes into the trim piece it looks new. I bet the wire is bad, but no matter I will replace the entire thing.
It's interesting that the satellite antennas are installed in different locations. Mine came from the factory (or, more likely, port) with the antenna mounted at the center bottom of the rear glass. The wire to it goes through the body in the channel forward of the trunk weatherstrip and then is hidden by the finished trim piece directly beneath the package shelf. It's a very clean installation.
Based on what I can see on the satellite radio superstore websites noted above, you have an old style yellow and green "fakra" connection. I would contact these establishments and explain what you have. There appear to be adapters that allow you to connect a new style plug to your unit or some old models that use these connections that are still available. My hope is that they will help you find a solution that will work for you.
From your pictures, am I correct that the satellite unit is mounted beneath the floor of the trunk right in front of the nav DVD player?
The receiver is mounted near the right (passenger) trunk support near the rear deck. The first picture in the post above you can sorta see it peeking out next to the green and yellow loose wires there. It is up high, not near the other radio components. If you would like, I will post a clearer picture...
Based on the internet at large, the Green connector is there for a vestigial terrestrial (gound) XM capability that now does not (and probably never) existed. The yellow connector is for the Satellite signal. The Fakra connectors are color coded because each one has different 'pins' and is clearly a play from the manufacturer of the dang things to make lots of money selling useless variants -- they apparently did not win as they are not used anymore from what I can tell. But, to avoid using a Dremel tool, you need to order the right color.
A splitter with a useless green and a vital yellow connector is available on Amazon. I instead opted for a much cheaper yellow Fakra adapter to a modern Antenna connector. I was going to post all this once the parts came and I verified the green connector is useless -- the splitter with the green+yellow cost more than both the Antenna I bought along with the adapter...
I will report back if things work with just using the yellow connector. Parts are coming Tuesday...
I see. Under the front right corner of the trunk lid close to the support. While my factory unit works fine, the Vais SL3 from my old car worked a little bit better. Before changing the unit, I may try changing the antenna to see if it makes a difference. Please keep us posted. Thank you.
OK that fixed it. Here are the pictures of what 'that' was:
Adapter and new Magnetic Antenna
Old and new antenna
Just the yellow side hooked up
Immediately got the 'Marketing audio.' Earlier signed up for a two month free trial (tuned to channel 000 to get the radio ID). Had them resend the initialization signal. Got all sorts of content. Seemed like all the stuff was the same on SAT 1,2,3. Not sure if that is right or not, never messed with it before...e.g. channel 49 is same stuff on sat1, sat2, and sat3....
Plan on hiding the antenna in the center brake light housing since I have the trunk trim piece kinda loose already. The new antenna is pretty small...
I pulled pretty hard on the old antenna to see if it can be easily removed. Pulled about as hard as I though paint was strong...did not come off. It is stuck on pretty good. Feels like they used some sort of foamy adhesive on it.
Might go after it with a heat gun someday, maybe....was not in the mood to work at it and ****** defeat from the jaws of victory...it stays there for now....
Last edited by squatch430; 05-01-18 at 02:13 PM.
Reason: typo
Update: Patching into just the yellow lead without a splitter does allow the radio to work. My inner OCD was not satisfied as the the word 'antenna' was still blinking on the display even though everything is working.
Out of curiosity, I purchased a 1:2 splitter with yellow and green 'Fakra' connectors and the blinking 'Antenna' text went away. This doubled the price of repair and did not change the functionality of the radio, but it did eliminate the blinky -- thus satisfying my inner OCD.
04-21-18, 02:17 PM
Dealer-installed XM Replacement Antenna
