Antenna Damaged; now Stereo Dead

[JargonXJ]

I took my 1998 XJ through the car wash, which I never do, but was feeling lazy. Of course, the one time I do, the machine rips off my antenna.

As soon as I saw the antenna get damaged while in the wash, my stereo died. The antenna feedthru broke and the antenna fell down into the front quarter panel.

http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/y474/JargonXJ/Jeep%20Forum%20Stuff/94ac3374-b380-4d07-9ffe-6b4010826690_zps7wqqsgkf.jpg

http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/y474/JargonXJ/Jeep%20Forum%20Stuff/90431719-1143-41aa-96b8-4f3fdb060ece_zpsu3y27w7k.jpg

For the stereo, I suspect that the water flooding the quarter panel when the antenna broke may have killed the stereo. My question is, is this possible? The stereo doesn't come on at all. I checked that it is indeed getting the constant 12V (for memory) as well as the switched 12V when the ignition is switched on. This is why I suspect the entire unit is dead. I didn't see any water down by the fuse box under the glove box, so I'm not sure what could have shorted due to the water.

http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/y474/JargonXJ/Jeep%20Forum%20Stuff/013bc22e-a420-4981-9bb0-46958bb81c68_zps7dutybjm.jpg

http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/y474/JargonXJ/Jeep%20Forum%20Stuff/wire_colors_2_zps0pwspvk7.jpg

I suspect I could just install another stereo and see what happens, but I don't have one at the moment, so was hoping for some insight/thoughts.

1. Do I need to remove the front panel to access/fix the antenna?

2. Could water flooding the feedthru killed my stereo?

Thanks in advance!

[JargonXJ]

In case there my be confusions, the diagram and image of the connectors above are applicable to XJ as well. My stereo only has those two connectors and then one for the antenna.

[MattybPDX]

My radio wouldn't do anything despite getting 12v constant and acc at the harness. Replaced the unit and all was ok. I suspect that it somehow fried your head. Luckily radios are ridiculously cheap now. I would just tried out with a like model so you don't have rewire a new harness.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[prerunner1982]

You can get to the antenna by pulling open the inner fender from the underside of the wheel well.

The fact that the radio died confuses me. Even if water got into the inner fender it is still sealed off from the interior of the vehicle. The coax for the antenna even has a grommet. So other than the damage to the antenna causing a short that fried the radio I don't have any idea what could have triggered that. And since the radio isn't a transmitter it's not sending out a signal that would have damaged the radio if the antenna had shorted out so even a short at the antenna doesn't seem logical to have damaged the radio.

[nickyg]

Is it possible that the radio is grounded through the antenna?

[JargonXJ]

Is it possible that the radio is grounded through the antenna?

Yes, actually it looks like this was the root cause! When I pull the antenna up so that the base of the antenna makes contact with the body of the Jeep, the stereo turns on!

I need to put in a proper ground and get the antenna fixed, then I should be good to go! So glad I don't need to replace the unit! Thanks everyone!

[bluedragon436]

Glad to hear that it seems to be a fairly easy fix to get it all working again... Yeah I will never take a XJ through a drive through car wash... I had my 98 XJ, which @ the time was still stock... and I went through a brand new drive through car wash... and it bent the hell out of my antenna, and license plate on the back, and busted up 1 cross bar for the factory roof rack... I was pretty pissed about it... But luckily for me I was able to get all the necessary parts from the JY fairly easily, and was able to bend the plate back flat.. I did still drive it through the car wash (not that one ever again, won't drive any vehicle through that one)....

[Mudderoy]

Is it possible that the radio is grounded through the antenna?

Could be, but shouldn't be.