Removing Silicone Sealant from Roof

[Sultan06]

I need to remove the silicone sealant around my King TV antenna on the roof of my 2013 Via in order to replace a broken coax cable. It will be necessary to remove the antenna base from the roof to be able to replace the cable. I have ordered the cable and ordered the sealant from Lichtsinn as specified in the sealant call out sheet for my vehicle.

I'm thinking that I would like to remove all the sealant, clean the area and reseal. Is there any trick to removing the old sealant or any cautions that I need to consider?

Thanks for any help.

[creativepart]

The standard method is to scrape off as much of the residue as possible with a razor blade, plastic scraper or flat head screwdriver without scratching the surface you are cleaning. Use mineral spirits, denatured alcohol, rubbing alcohol or even WD-40 to remove residual silicone.

[JoeSR]

I have had reasonable success with Goo Gone.

First I scrap all of the bulk caulk off with a razor blade scraper. I use a plastic blade if the base surface can be damaged.

Once all of the visible caulk is gone, I then coat the area with Goo Gone. Rub it in and then let it set. When I tire of waiting, I clean the Goo Gone off and do a tape test. When it fails the tape test, I repeat with more Goo Gone until it passes.

The tape test is nothing but painter’s tape applied across the old caulked area extending into an area that had not been caulked. Pull the tape off. The amount of force needed to remove the tape between the two areas tells you if the silicone has been removed.