Could a steering repair to a Civic damage an XM antenna?
October 28, 2011 5:38 PM Subscribe
I gave my '07 Honda Civic to a mechanic who said it needed a replacement of the steering rack and/or pump, which he did. Problem: aftermarket XM radio was working perfectly before it went in, antenna had intermittent short which prevented radio from getting signal at least 50% of the time when I got it back.
I discussed this with him after I discovered the problem, and he claims he could not possibly have disturbed the antenna, which is mounted on the trunk lid and runs under the left door trim and travels under the dash to the center console (the install was done by Best Buy). I think it's possible that the repair job affected the transmission/gear shift/ center console and/or the steering wheel and the wires could easily have been pinched. Attempting to search on repair procedures for this kind of repair are inconclusive, but at least some of the instructions I've read seemed to imply that the steering wheel and/or transmission and/or shifter is disconnected from something and moved aside during the install. Hive mind, what say you?
Advice on handling the mechanic is not so much the thing as trying to be satisfied in my own mind as to whether this repair plausibly COULD have caused the problem. Otherwise, it's a hell of a coincidence, as the car's had the system for about a year and it's always done fine. Mainly, I'm trying to see if the guy's misinformed/blowing smoke when he asserts the repair wouldn't possibly affect the dashboard/ center console area inside the car.
I discussed this with him after I discovered the problem, and he claims he could not possibly have disturbed the antenna, which is mounted on the trunk lid and runs under the left door trim and travels under the dash to the center console (the install was done by Best Buy). I think it's possible that the repair job affected the transmission/gear shift/ center console and/or the steering wheel and the wires could easily have been pinched. Attempting to search on repair procedures for this kind of repair are inconclusive, but at least some of the instructions I've read seemed to imply that the steering wheel and/or transmission and/or shifter is disconnected from something and moved aside during the install. Hive mind, what say you?
Advice on handling the mechanic is not so much the thing as trying to be satisfied in my own mind as to whether this repair plausibly COULD have caused the problem. Otherwise, it's a hell of a coincidence, as the car's had the system for about a year and it's always done fine. Mainly, I'm trying to see if the guy's misinformed/blowing smoke when he asserts the repair wouldn't possibly affect the dashboard/ center console area inside the car.
Best answer: Sounds like coincidence to me - the rack & pump are both in the engine bay (the rack mounted low on the firewall, the pump on the engine & up fairly high on most Civics - e.g. see this pic). Can't see why he'd touch the dash, console, or lower door frame trim.
If Best Buy installers are anything like my local variety store mechanics it's much more likely they did a shit job to start with, that's degraded over time, and it may have eventually failed purely because of slightly different handling. I've seen power leads for aftermarket stereos cable-tied to the (under-dash) handbrake lever - that worked OK until a friend got in the car & pulled the handbrake on slightly harder than the owner normally did. I've also seen speaker leads run under the door trim that wore due to the trim being stepped on while getting in/out of the car - that finally shorted when the car was put on a hoist, purely due to the slightly different flexing.
posted by Pinback at 6:09 PM on October 28, 2011
If Best Buy installers are anything like my local variety store mechanics it's much more likely they did a shit job to start with, that's degraded over time, and it may have eventually failed purely because of slightly different handling. I've seen power leads for aftermarket stereos cable-tied to the (under-dash) handbrake lever - that worked OK until a friend got in the car & pulled the handbrake on slightly harder than the owner normally did. I've also seen speaker leads run under the door trim that wore due to the trim being stepped on while getting in/out of the car - that finally shorted when the car was put on a hoist, purely due to the slightly different flexing.
posted by Pinback at 6:09 PM on October 28, 2011
There is no need to go inside the car beyond starting it and driving it in and out of the shop to do that repair. None at all.
This is coincidence and your mechanic is replying honestly.
posted by Brockles at 8:05 AM on October 29, 2011
This is coincidence and your mechanic is replying honestly.
posted by Brockles at 8:05 AM on October 29, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks everyone for their reassuring, if inconvenient, answers. :-)
posted by randomkeystrike at 8:27 AM on October 29, 2011
posted by randomkeystrike at 8:27 AM on October 29, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by maxwelton at 6:01 PM on October 28, 2011