2003 Radio Antenna

[GuitarKidd]

Hey all..

I bought a 2003 caravan a few months ago. So far it's been a pretty good van. It had in it an aftermarket kenwood radio. I had a local mechanic at our church put knew sway bar links in it and he mentioned that the liked the radio. I don't really car for it that much as it really looks out of place, the controls are really small, and it's not very user friendly. Anyway this guy that was working on my van said that he has a factory head unit that may fit. And sure enough it was a head unit that fit my 2003.

However, it is not picking up radio stations at all. FM stations are filled with static and AM are non existent. I pulled the radio out thinking maybe he forgot to plug in the antenna. But it was in there. I pulled it out (and man is it hard to pull out) and got to looking at it. There is a small thin needle like wire that has to go into the antenna, and that is bent. I am going to try and see if I can bend back straight with some very thin pliers, but if that doesn't work can that part of the radio be replaced?

[RIP]

If this "thin wire" you're talking about is down inside a cylindrical protrusion the antenna lead connects to then yes, any electronics repair shop should be able to replace it for you. It is a fairly common coaxial connector. Beyond that, I'm not sure what you are describing.

If the above is the case, I would use some kind of probe to straighten it. Something like a heavy sewing needle. Using pliers in that tight space, you stand a good chance of making it worse.