Roof Aerial

[Deleted]

As a novice I find that there are jobs I want to do but I am worried about making matters worse.
The roof aerial on my P5B has a plastic grommet / washer around it which is cracked and spli. I am sure that this is allowing water into the roof. This is not a good thing so I want to replace / repair it. Cqab anyone tell me how I dismantle the aerial and how it is connected to the lead to the radio please? Is it easy enough tpo fit back together from the outside or will I have to set about dismantling the interior headlining?
My options seem to be
1. Remove aerial and get new washer / grommet and refit with some sealant to ensure ir is watertight (the preferred route)
2. Bung a load of sealnt around the split grommet to ensure watertight (i.e. botch it) or
3. Stick a plastic bag over the aerial to cover the hole ( a real botch but a very quick temporary fix)
At the moment (i.e. this morning) I am using option 3 but I want to sort it out properly!

[Phil Nottingham]

It relatively easy to get to the roof aerial from inside more so on the saloon as its just a matter of removing the screen header trim although you have to pull off the side roof trims (partially) on the saloon or the pillar trims on the Coupe.

The connection to the aerial lead is via an eyelet connector on a stud which also serves as the clamp to fix the aerial.

Unless a secondhand one can be sourced (try David Green) a new aerial may be required - they are readily obtainable but not quite the same design. If water has leaked onto this it may have rusted badly anyway so the aerial may not be very effective

You may be able to improvise a rubber grommet but either way use silicon sealer to keep the water out. Make sure the metal is clean and bright underneath - protect with vaseline so the aerial is earthed properly

[dorsetflyer]

Another problem also happens with these aerials, there is no lockwasher fitted under the nut, and so it can easily start to undo itself. If yours doesn't have a lockwasher fitted, make sure you fit one when re-assembling.
Both mine have worked loose and one of them was as good as a weather vane for showing wind direction.
All it takes is about an hour to fix, and best if you have one other person holding down the aerial while you re-fit the washer and nut. Also use a tube spanner if you have one.
With the trim off it's also a good time to see the state of roof around the top of the windscreen, it could be well rusted so it's a case of remedial action before it gets terminal.

[Phil Nottingham]

Item number: 230021567841 on Ebay offers a brand new roof aerial for P4/P5. without a picture its difficult to say whether its genuine or not though few would notice the difference

[dorsetflyer]

What I advised in my previous post happened to me yesterday.
I decided to tighten the nut on my saloon. With the trim off, the nut was well and truly rusted on the thread, so with help from my other half only managed to tighten it small amount. Then the bottom half of the grommet fell in bits and disappeared under the seat somewhere. The plastic had dried out over time and was brittle. Lo and behold there was quite a bit of rust around, so the neutraliser was liberally painted over the whole area. Next job was to get the screen sealer out and try to put a bead round where the missing parts of the grommet were. While I had the sealer out I re-sealed all the way along the top of the screen rubber to roof-line.
It's now all back with fingers crossed for not getting wet in the rain.
Now I have got to get another aerial and start all over again.
A simple job always goes wrong somewhere.