Satellite antenna leaking over sun visor!

POWERQUEST290 · January 7, 2017

Just bought truck new in September, I have been through car washes, rainy weather and never had a leak. The first wet snow we got about a two weeks ago and got in truck and saw this, it was leaking so bad leaking it was running all the way down pillar and onto emergency break pedal! I made an appointment at dealer, they said it was the satellite antenna leaking, and that a lot of new trucks are doing it. Had to order a new antenna for it as its all one piece, had it installed yesterday, will see if it fixed the problem! I also told them i wanted i new head liner and they said was on back order at GM since they are replacing so many of them! Just thought i would give a heads up (literally) to watch for this problem!

Colossus · January 7, 2017

aww crap here we go again. I remember when the GMT-800s and early 900s had this issue and all the posts on here about those issues. What a shame GM can't learn from it's past mistakes.

pgamboa · January 7, 2017

Ugggggh. This sucks! My wife's traverse has terrible XM Radio and wonder if it has to do with the antenna.

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qwank · January 7, 2017

we do a few of those a week. I sealed mine up before I even took delivery of the truck. I use seam sealer around the hole since just replacing the antenna doesn't always seem to fix it

15_silverado · January 7, 2017

So do you need to pull the headliner down to do your seam sealer trick or is there a way to do this from the outside only?

TheGovernment · January 7, 2017

To do it right, ya you need to pull the liner. You also could use clear silicone on the outside on the roof for a quick fix if needed.

Pacfanweb · January 8, 2017

So do you need to pull the headliner down to do your seam sealer trick or is there a way to do this from the outside only?

Inside only.

It's easy. Pull the visor, the visor hook, and the grab handle. Pull the headliner down and disconnect the antenna wires. 10mm bolt holding antenna on. Remove antenna. Remove the seal on the antenna. Make sure it's clean (I wipe both surfaces down with solvent) and apply sealant.

Seam sealer is okay, but I find adhesive silicone works best. One bead around where the stock seal goes...there's a little channel there. Reverse installation and never worry about it again.

15_silverado · January 8, 2017

Inside only.

It's easy. Pull the visor, the visor hook, and the grab handle. Pull the headliner down and disconnect the antenna wires. 10mm bolt holding antenna on. Remove antenna. Remove the seal on the antenna. Make sure it's clean (I wipe both surfaces down with solvent) and apply sealant.

Seam sealer is okay, but I find adhesive silicone works best. One bead around where the stock seal goes...there's a little channel there. Reverse installation and never worry about it again.

So you don't have to pull down the center dome light, sunglasse holder, center console thing? Just the visor and grab handle is enough?

tbarn · January 8, 2017

Interesting. I've only replaced 1. Tahoe/Suburban is the worst from my experience. The "paint to match" version . GM calls it the "high frequency antenna.

amxguy1970 · January 8, 2017

aww crap here we go again. I remember when the GMT-800s and early 900s had this issue and all the posts on here about those issues. What a shame GM can't learn from it's past mistakes.

Oh yeah, what a shame, heaven forbid some type of small manufacturing defect like a seal makes it across a small percentage of vehicles that never happens on any other brand You must not be happy with any product as every manufacturer can have repeat issues from cell phones to car makers and so on...

Tyler

Edited January 8, 2017 by amxguy1970

Pacfanweb · January 8, 2017

So you don't have to pull down the center dome light, sunglasse holder, center console thing? Just the visor and grab handle is enough?

Correct, just bend remove the visor, visor hook and the grab handle. Oh, and the A pillar, gotta remove that because the headliner fits inside it a bit.

Then bend the headliner down enough to unplug the wiring and get to the 10mm bolt. It won't hurt it. I've done dozens that way. You can't even tell I was there when I'm done, other than it doesn't leak water anymore.

Oh yeah, what a shame, heaven forbid some type of small manufacturing defect like a seal makes it across a small percentage of vehicles that never happens on any other brand You must not be happy with any product as every manufacturer can have repeat issues from cell phones to car makers and so on...

Tyler

Honest, sat antennas leak on everything. I do a lot on F-150's as well.

Do a ton of broken sunroof tracks on the F-150's, too. Be glad GM doesn't use the same vendor. (apparently they don't, anyway)

Edited January 8, 2017 by Pacfanweb

Thomcat · January 8, 2017

Ugggggh. This sucks! My wife's traverse has terrible XM Radio and wonder if it has to do with the antenna.

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Worked great on my '15 Traverse during the XM trial period.

Thomcat · January 8, 2017

Just bought truck new in September, I have been through car washes, rainy weather and never had a leak. The first wet snow we got about a two weeks ago and got in truck and saw this, it was leaking so bad leaking it was running all the way down pillar and onto emergency break pedal! I made an appointment at dealer, they said it was the satellite antenna leaking, and that a lot of new trucks are doing it. Had to order a new antenna for it as its all one piece, had it installed yesterday, will see if it fixed the problem! I also told them i wanted i new head liner and they said was on back order at GM since they are replacing so many of them! Just thought i would give a heads up (literally) to watch for this problem!

.02 Any hole in a roof is a leak waiting to happen - no need to help it along.

1. I never use carwashes which over time will flex/pull at or high air pressure fatigue the fin and eventually compress the gasket enough to cause a leak.

2. I'm damn careful using a snow brush/snow broom when clearing the roofs of vehicles with sharkfin antennae - one good knock or pull will mess up the gasket enough to cause a leak.

3. Been through many hand washes, heavy thunderstorms and 3 snowfalls with zero leaks in any of roof mounted antennae vehicles..

Colossus · January 9, 2017

Oh yeah, what a shame, heaven forbid some type of small manufacturing defect like a seal makes it across a small percentage of vehicles that never happens on any other brand You must not be happy with any product as every manufacturer can have repeat issues from cell phones to car makers and so on...

Tyler

Naah I just have higher expectations then you do, son. I like to think that some manufacturers out there learn from past mistakes, take corrective action, adjust quality control standards and what not to not repeat failures from yesterday over and over again. But hey. When everything is said and done, they are just in the business to manufacture a product and sell as many of them as they can, and oh well if stupidity leads them. Something you can probably relate to, I'd imagine!

Havvkeye · January 9, 2017

.02 Any hole in a roof is a leak waiting to happen - no need to help it along.

1. I never use carwashes which over time will flex/pull at or high air pressure fatigue the fin and eventually compress the gasket enough to cause a leak.

2. I'm damn careful using a snow brush/snow broom when clearing the roofs of vehicles with sharkfin antennae - one good knock or pull will mess up the gasket enough to cause a leak.

3. Been through many hand washes, heavy thunderstorms and 3 snowfalls with zero leaks in any of roof mounted antennae vehicles..

I've been through weekly high pressure car washes as well as several snow storms with no leaks.

I'm way too lazy/busy to hand wash my truck. I can justify my car but the truck is just soooo big!