How to remove cord for antenna?

Hey all, looking for advice how to remove the cord from my antenna. (Please note, I don’t mean just unscrewing the antenna. I mean removing the cord which runs from the car to the antenna.)
I was going through a drive through car wash and tried to unscrew the antenna, but it was stuck in there good. I figured if I couldn’t unscrew it, the car wash couldn’t do much damage either (LOL incorrect.) Turns out the antennae mount sheared off from the bracket in the car- you can see on the picture.

Those two circular spots are where it was originally connected to the bracket. Since that broke, and I couldn’t unscrew the antennae anyway, I ordered a new bracket and antenna.
My issue is that I can’t figure out how to remove the cord (shown at the bottom in said picture.) It does rotate, but doesn’t seem to be unscrewing. I tried pulling it out but I’m not seeing it budge- had someone stronger than me try too, but he had no luck. It would be really unlucky if I have to replace that entire cord and route it up through the car to the front! (I’m pretty sure it eventually connects to the radio itself.) Hoping that’s not the case. Would post more pics but I’m limited to one for now as a new user.

The cable should unplug, this is what the base looks like;

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How about this?

2007-09 Pontiac G5 Replacement Antenna – Retro Manufacturing.

You can cut the wire, tape the new end on, pull it through, then plug into the end of the back of the radio,

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Put the bracket in a vice and use pliers or vice grips to pull the cable out.

Then go buy a new cable too, most likely :unamused:

No idea if it’s even possible to separate the two pieces; but if it is, maybe heating that area up with a hair dryer first would expand the parts enough to allow them to separate.

Yes, that looks like the part I purchased. Should work just fine if I can get the cable in there.

Sounds like it should, in theory, be possible to pull it out. I’ve yanked on it pretty hard but I’ll see what other ideas I can come up with to remove it.

This seems like a good idea to avoid having to reroute the cable! I wasn’t sure what kind of cable it was, as in, I wasn’t sure if you could just cut off the end like that. So sounds like plan 1 is to try by all means possible to pull the cord out, and this will be option 2.

Thank you all! (Even if I didn’t quote you here, I definitely appreciate the advice!)

If you are pulling on the wire and it is still plugged into the back of the
stereo, that is the reason it wont come out. you need to unplug it first. otherwise, you are pulling on the cord and the stereo. if you did disconnect it then there is something else stopping it from coming out. it might have a hold down clip of some sort that needs to be disconnected.

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Don’t pull the cord out, use the new cord taped to the old cord and then pull it through and follow the same route, no muss little fuss.

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Antenna cables are usually wrapped in with the wiring harness. If a new cable must be installed, the old cable should be left in the car.

I’m not trying to remove the cord from he radio unit, I’m trying to remove the cable from the antenna mount so that I don’t have to get a new cable and/or route it through the car again.

Ah, there’s a very good idea! Now I have several options, thanks guys!

I’m a little confused from the picture, and the hole in the panel, etc. and what broke off, but it looks to me like there are two set screws holding the wire connector in at the bottom. Might want to wait until you have the new part to see how it is put together first before you wreck something. On the upper part it looks like a nut unscrews. There are threads so obviously the nut unscrews.

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Those are actually the points that sheered off of the bracket, as shown in the picture posted by Nevada_545 Due to that piece steering off from the bracket, the antenna no longer stays in position (Usually at the point where the hole in the car is.)

You can see a little better in this pic, the metal just tore off from the bracket. The bracket mounts inside the trunk and keeps it in position.

This is the part I ordered, although it was from a different vendor:

Although there appears to be a hex shape, it looks like it doesn’t need to be removed on the original broken piece; but perhaps that will loosen a clamp on the cord or something? I’ll take a crack at it.

Just wanted to follow up on this in case anyone in the future has this issue. Turns out the cord does indeed just pull out from the bracket. I don’t have the new part yet but I would expect it just plugs in to the new part (I checked compatability with my vehicle before ordering.) It was NOT easy to remove- I had to have my husband do it and he put some good effort into it.

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Thanks. That makes sense.

Sometimes a drop or two of penetrating oil where the cable plugs in and then a good strong yank while wearing rubberized shop gloves can do wonders.

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good info. I would have cut it and made myself mad later. :rofl:

I really almost did. And then I saw that the cord was zip tied to the frame at various places along the way so it would have been a massive pain to replace it!

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Brought to mind a story. Wife sent me to the store to get a frozen pumpkin pie. After looking all over and finding the racks empty, in desperation asked a lady. She directed me to the bakery section where there were probably 50 of them. At the checkout I saw her and we laughed when I told her never to send a man to do a woman’s work. How do I know where the pies are?

Truer words were never spoken.

Are you two making the implication that the O.P. shouldn’t be trying to take care of her own car simply because her hands weren’t strong enough for one task? I can’t see what else you would be trying to compare with this story.