That’s it for you. The antenna is more important than the engine. Sorry to say
A car wash took mine out 5 years ago, and I’ve never had issues with water, even with all the rain in Portland/Seattle
Toryn said:
A car wash took mine out 5 years ago, and I’ve never had issues with water, even with all the rain in Portland/Seattle
That’s good to hear, my biggest worry was water getting into the headliner, but it doesn’t seem like that’s a big problem as I thought. I’ll keep an eye on it though
Eventually, water can get in and mess up the coax cables. If you don’t care about the radio working again, you can leave it as is. Just keep in mind, it might leak into the headliner
My antenna, including part of the base, was knocked off by ice about a year ago. The radio reception isn’t great, but I haven’t noticed any other problems
Mine broke recently too. I just covered it with gorilla tape and haven’t had any problems since
I have the small shark fin antenna and honestly, I haven’t noticed any issues from not having it. I just use my phone and CarPlay for music
Man, I wish this happened to me. Instead, I warm up my car for 5 minutes with the heat on full blast to defrost my 2018 Titanium. Then out of nowhere, the whole windshield cracks. The defroster literally killed it and it’s an acoustic windshield. I’m really bummed out.
It’s less than $20 to replace that cover including shipping and tax if you want to. An OEM part is about $80 from Ford directly. Your choice. If you don’t use the radio and aren’t worried about connectivity, you can just leave it be. It won’t cause any further damage or leak. If it looks like there’s a big hole, you might even plug it up with some glue or hot glue to cover it a bit
Contact your insurance, it’s totaled… just kidding. Get a new one, either OEM or aftermarket, and install it. It’s an easy DIY job. You’ll just need to lower the back of the headliner to access it. A cheap plastic trim tool will help keep the clips from breaking.
Edit: If you’re feeling lazy, there are shark fin covers that go over the old one and stick on with 3M tape. You could go for fake carbon fiber or some fun colors
There’s a nut that keeps it secured. A new antenna base costs around $60, or you can find a cheaper one at a junkyard. It’s not hard to replace, and you can finish it in about 10 to 20 minutes. If you leave it, it will likely get worse and cost more to fix