Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Antenna range sucks...help

Alright here is the deal I installed a remote keyless entry and starter system on my G/F's Ford Contour. It works great with one exception the reange on the antenna sucks ass. I believe it is the bulldog brand and antenna that is included is a little yellow wire about 18" long coming out of the computer unit. This i ran up the door jamb under the rubber trim. The range was a whopping 5'. Then i proceded to solder and additional 6 feet of thicker gauge wire on to the existing antenna and run the wire all the way up the window column thing and half way across the windshield. It is tucked up a little under the ceiling fabric. but the range still sucks it dosent work for more than 20 feet away. Any tips on how to "properly" extend an antenna. or suggestions on what the hell could be the problem. The unit i put on my car (grand am... Hell yeah!!!) has a seperate anteanna kinda box unit that is remotely stationed and works great through concrete walls. please help!!!!!

Wait, the range on the antenna for the remote starter?
Are the batteries in the key fob new?
Where are you trying to start it? Sometimes interference from nearby sources can cause the range to be considerably less. Try starting somewhere else and see if range increases. It it does, then the problem is your area.
Good luck.

Well the location shouldnt be a problem becasue the keyless entry and [censored] work just fine on my own car but not on hers. so i was thinking about buying a new kit same model and everyhting and putting that in because an auto place told me that it may defective, it is bull dog brand and i guess they arent the greatest. any other advice?

The antenna must not be shielded by being too close to, or behind, the sheet metal. Sometimes stretching the wire under the dash pad works. I hooked an AM antenna up(wire coiled around a plastic oval like on a home stereo)on my Crown Vic and stuck it up under the dash. Some people make something to sit on the dash to hook it to. It's like the radio antenna, if it was inside the car, it wouldn't work very well. Of course the more expensive ones work better but they all have this problem to some degree.

Oh, and make sure all of the grounds on the unit are grounded (shorter is better).