roskinc

not sure if i somehow broke this, or if it was already broken, but as i was messing around the shark fin antenna i see this is broken off.. it doesnt snap in, i guess it actually broke off its circuit. im curious what is it for? my radio works which is my main concern, i dont have navigation so cant be for that (although it is ccc ready) nor do i have bluetooth.


any ideas? i plan to just glue it back if its possible. ive been getting a SOS call malfunction error for the last 2 months, i wonder if this is why.

Nyulak

It looks kind of like the bottom of a surface mount SMB connector (could also be SMA, SMC, or even MCX). The center pin, which is broken, is the signal and the four corners are your connections to ground. Regardless of the connector type, it is designed to carry RF signals and are widely used for low-power antenna interconnects. I wouldn't be surprised if this was connected to the car's cell antenna, but now that it is broken, there will be no signal strength for correct operation. You won't be able to simply glue that back into place. It needs to be soldered into place.

I guess you could place it directly into contact with plenty of pressure and epoxy the connection while force is applied throughout the curing process. It would need to be placed such that it would be in the exact position it was in before breaking to ensure the cracks aligned perfectly - sort of like a fractured connecting rod. Like a fractured connecting rod, you will need to ensure it is "bolted" together reliably.

It might be possible to replace that cable if available by itself and purchase a single connector from a vendor like Newark or Digi-key to replace the broken connector on what I believe is a PCB.

You could also ignore the error and sweep the problem under the rug!

545felix

assuming that is the one on the passenger side of the car, that is for the GPS antenna that sends your location to the SOS module. you can plug a regular GPS antenna in and stick it somewhere under the parcel shelf if you don't want to go to all the hassle of soldering. module is on the left side of the trunk.

Note, you may not be able to get rid of the SOS error without clearing your codes, but yes, it is possible that's what caused it.

roskinc

yeah 545 you are correct, that plug is the one farthest on the right (passenger side) this is connected to the antenna. very odd that it was broken, i wasnt pulling on it or anything, when i went from inside the headliner to remove i barley touched it and it snapped off.

so if i where to ever add GPS, i can just plug in another antenna...does it plug from that wire?

545felix

that wire runs down to the ULF unit (which contains the SOS module) so your GPS location can be transmitted when you press the emergency call button. I used that existing GPS antenna when I retrofitted the nav, but realistically it's unnecessary to do so, a regular GPS antenna placed anywhere else in the car will do just fine, and cost less than the jumper cable I had to run to use it.

Seeing as how you snapped off the connector, I wouldn't try to reuse the factory one.

Those connectors break easily. I broke one, but luckily it was one of the cellphone connections (i think it's the middle one I broke, don't remember) and I still had the GPS one intact.

longncelle

Do you have to remove the headliner to remove the antenna under the shark fin?

roskinc

to remove the shark fin cover, no. but to remove the antenna it would make it easier. but the cover on the headliner pops right off and you have access to the high mount stop light and antenna

or_550i

THIS.

I can re-flow the SMA component if the module/board is removed OP.