Photos of mounted OEM GPS antenna

[Augster]

Does anyone have pictures of the factory GPS antenna in its stock location that they can share?

I'm restoring the Navigation radio system into my 2004 because the previous owner ripped it out, along with the stock 6-CD changer from the center console, and in their place installed a cheap and hard to understand and use aftermarket single-DIN radio. This rendered the Rear Entertainment System completely inoperable; hence my need to reinstall an OEM Nav/Radio.

The original GPS antenna was also removed and I have no idea where and how to mount its replacement.

Replacement Nav/Radio is already installed and working perfectly.

 

[Flexpedition]

No photo, but I do know the GPS antenna is located within/beneath the dash, to the right of the head unit, so behind & above the glove box/passenger airbag area. Its a small rectangular box with a single wire feeding it. You are reading this correctly, it is not exterior mounted.

Frankly I'm skeptical the previous owner would have taken the time & fair amount of effort to physically remove it - for what gain? It simply unplugs from the back of the head unit. Look for a homeless wire dangling somewhere, believe the connector is rectangular and brightly colored either yellow or green.

The part number is 2L1Z-18A984-AA and it contains a small bracket or perch. Some websites suggest this part is discontinued.

Quirk Parts shows an image of it, I'll attach it here:


Hope this helps until somebody with a 2004 chimes in.

 

[Augster]

No photo, but I do know the GPS antenna is located within/beneath the dash, to the right of the head unit, so behind & above the glove box/passenger airbag area. Its a small rectangular box with a single wire feeding it. You are reading this correctly, it is not exterior mounted.

Frankly I'm skeptical the previous owner would have taken the time & fair amount of effort to physically remove it - for what gain? It simply unplugs from the back of the head unit. Look for a homeless wire dangling somewhere, believe the connector is rectangular and brightly colored either yellow or green.

The part number is 2L1Z-18A984-AA and it contains a small bracket or perch. Some websites suggest this part is discontinued.

Quirk Parts shows an image of it, I'll attach it here:


Hope this helps until somebody with a 2004 chimes in.

Yea, I figured it was mounted under the dash somewhere, and close to the head unit because photos of the antenna assembly show a relatively short cable, and the way it's designed it appears it was hidden from view.

I had searched inside the dash cavity for any obvious signs of a previous mounting position and another loose individual wire with small square connector but could not locate either of them, though I didn't really check towards the glove box area.

I can easily re-check that side because I don't have the dash bezel installed yet since I'm waiting for a used one I just bought off eBay: the owner that ripped the original stuff out also glued on a plastic double-DIN-to-single-DIN frame in order to put in a single-DIN radio. He used massive amounts of rock hard oozing globs of glue, so there was no way of prying or cutting that garbage off without destroying the bezel.

Although Ford's parts website officially indicates the part is discontinued, there appears to be New Old Stock (NOS) ones available on eBay for around $85. And yes, I came across that overly simplistic and basically useless illustration; hence my original request for photos of it installed.

I'm hoping the antenna is there but if not, my original suspicions would have been proven correct because I believe a previous owner pulled out all of these items (Nav radio, GPS antenna, and 6-CD changer from console) to resell them for money, not realizing that this would affect the Rear Entertainment System. If it was simply to replace the Nav unit for something "better" (the aftermarket radio that was installed when I bought it is absolute junk) or perhaps because the Nav unit died/broke and was too expensive to replace, then yes, the GPS antenna would have probably been left in place.

I definitely love the full color display of the Nav radio: it provides so much more features, functions, and a wealth of additional information of radio stations, genres, titles, and artists, that the OEM non-Nav LED units didn't or couldn't. An absolutely worthwhile $100 investment off eBay (but having to add another $60 for a replacement dash bezel).

 

[Augster]

Upon further examination, the antenna is still installed, and you're right, it's impossible to remove without at least taking out the passenger dash air bag, if not the entire dash itself.

Unfortunately, the knucklehead simply cut the wire a couple inches from the first cable mounting point.

The GPS antenna assembly incorporates the entire run of cable molded into the antenna housing itself, so there is no way of getting just a cable and splicing it in. I would either have to get a donor GPS antenna assembly (hard to find a used one by itself) and cut-off its cable, or somehow jury rig a similar coaxial cable to fit into the head unit female plug, hoping it is a standard FAKRA connector.

 

[Augster]

Photo of GPS Antenna Installed

So here it is, the GPS antenna installed, right above the glove compartment. No way to get to it without major dash disassembly. Or perhaps I could get my left hand in there with a 1/4" ratchet; I think it's only held in place by a single hex screw.

You can see the cut wire in the foreground. There was no reason to cut it if he wasn't going to use it; it wouldn't have gotten in the way of anything.

EDIT: Nope, the female plug is no where near like a standard FAKRA connector. I'm going to have to get an OEM donor GPS antenna.

 

[Augster]

This is just a follow-up on the GPS antenna:

After reviewing the Ford Service Workshop Manual DVD (thanks Bedrck47 for suggesting I get it), removing the antenna is actually very easy, which simply involves removing the glove box.

The glove box is held in place by plastic "stops" and several screws and then comes right out, thus exposing the GPS Antenna.

Since I have to get a donor antenna, I'd rather just swap the replacement unit in, instead of cutting an appropriate length of cable of the donor and splicing it into the existing antenna cable stub.