Hey SL,
A while ago, some jerk tried to steal my short antenna...instead he broke it!

The screw on my antenna was loctite'd in with blue loctite.

When the idiot broke my antenna, it left only the screw in the hole.

Now that I have time to get to this, how in the heck doI extract this thing?! I know there's a tool designed to extract broken screws...but it's loctite'd. Suggestions?!?!

Please post some relevant suggestions. I can't replace my antenna until I get this screw out!!!

Thanks.

 

omgsh that freakin sucks :/

i have no idea how to get that out..

i'm sure someone on here will know ..

 

Try pliers?

 

use the tool to extract it anyways... doesnt matter if u used blue lock tite...

 

You may want to get a screw extraction kit from the hardware store. It involves drilling a hole in the broken screw, then backing the screw out with a special "reversed" bit. You may need to flatten the top of the screw and make a dimple in the center of it for the drill bit to do it's job.

The final option I can think of is to completely drill out the screw, then rethread the resulting hole.

 

put glue on a stick then twist it?

 

Keep suggestions coming.

I'm going to try the extraction tools first, then I'll post.

BTW, the top of the screw is already flat...plyers couldn't grip anything.

 

Mine snapped off a while back too.

Bring the oem mast to a hardware store and figure out the size and thread pitch. Grab a simple tap and die kit while you're there. Match a drill bit for metal to the width of the oem threaded mast end (the core minus the threads) and carefully drill out the piece left in the base. Then match a tap to the thread pitch on the oem mast and use the tap to chase (clear) the base threads.

Tapping and chasing mine took less than a minute.

You only need to go as deep as the threaded end of the oem mast, any deeper and you could ruin the base.

A new base is like $300 because its amplified and Toyota considers it one part from the mast all the way to the hu.


Buy a couple extra shorties to keep in the glove box and don't use locktite.

 

Sounds like an opportunity to mod... Just shave it off !!! Then get a really thin wire antenna that sticks to the glass...

 

You could probably use acetone or some other solvent (ethyl acetate, NaOH, etc) to dissolve the locktite, but you need to be really careful not to get it on anything else. Also, you would probably need a stronger acetone % than what's in nail polish remover (maybe superglue remover has higher %??), but it might be worth a try. Just don't get it on your paint!!!

 

That's the idea!!

I saw the 5A 2011 tC...they shaved the antenna off of it and it looked so balanced and clean.

I've got a temporary idea to relocate the antenna once I get this screw out.

I'll try to post pics once I get this done.

 

Wifey,
I didn't think of that! If the extractor doesn't work then I'll try that.

I just want this thing out, makes my car look nasty!!

 

Tap and chase. Less than a min and you're done.

 

My only concern is the locktite...I'm trying this today after work.

 

Same thing happened to me. had about 6 inches of snow and an inch of ice on top of that. while cleaning off the car, a big sheet of ice slid off the back windshield and snapped the antenna off at the base. tried the extractor bits but didn't work. I ended up getting a small metal saw and cut a groove in the antenna base (just the metal part where the antenna screws into the base) and the broken screw, just deep enough for a small flathead screwdriver to grip. then used a flathead to take it out. The new antenna covers up the saw line so no problems there.

 

Drill it, tap it, turn it out.

That sounds dirty, but it works. I broke a subframe bolt once and had to do it.

 

So I should extract by hand? Or power tool?

 

If you buy a tap out, use a drill and SLOWLY unscrew the tap, or use a wrench and SLOWLY unscrew the tap. Once you buy the tap out, you'll see how it works.

 

OK cool.

3 hours and counting!! I'm excited! lol

 

It's super simple, just be careful as to not screw things up even more for you. Take your time with it.