I went to the touchless car wash tonight, probably the third time in the car'* life it'* been through one. I wanted to get all of the road crap off from the recent snow. I was listening to the radio. It'* not technically touchless... evil little spinning sponge things touch the car.

I left the radio on... and about a minute into it I said CRAP! MY ANTENNA! Switched the radio off hoping I got to it in time... but it only went down half way. lol. DUH! I tried to bend it back and for the most part it goes in and out, but it'* not smooth.

Is there a fuse I can pull for the dumb thing? I only ever use the cd player and flash drive, never the radio. I don't think I've EVER listened to the radio in this car. The POS sony head unit I used to have only put then antenna up when the am/fm tuner was on, which was nice. This one it just hooked into the remote wire (on a $200 more stereo) and is up whenever the stereos on.

I wouldn't mind shaving it some day if it weren't for the paint matching lol.

i think you can just pull the wires from the motor

Yep, just unplug it. You have to watch them in cold weather too. They ice over and then bend when they try to raise. Poor design IMO. The antenna for my '00 is in the windshield and I like that much better. I also noticed that the 92-99 bodystyle in general ices over easily. What I mean is that the car ices itself shut. My sister'* '98 will lock itself up with the least bit of precip. while my doors open just fine. I didn't think a bodystyle could have such a big affect on that.
Grant

X2

I forget did all Bonnes get power antennas?

Ed

No

my 97 does not have a power antennae.

No. I don't recall ever seeing an SE with one but I'm sure it was an option.

no, I had a non movable one, and it got ripped out by a rogue hose from a manual carwash.

If it accounts for anything, its an 'SLE' says RPO code lol

If you decide to replace the antenna, cut the remote wire behind the radio, then put it on a switch to a switched 12V source.

Believe it or not, Crown Vics and Grand Marquis'* had this wonderful little feature from the factory...one of the few things Ford ever did that made sense...