85 coupe antenna problem - help please

[esterling]

Whenever I turn radio on, my antenna motor makes a noise like its trying to raise the antenna for about 7 seconds and then it stops for about 7 seconds. It then continues starting and stopping over and over about every 7 seconds. The antenna will not raise or retract at all. I have just owned the car for about 3 weeks and the antenna has never moved when you turn radio on or off. I decided to check underneath where the antenna motor was. It appears that someone had cut the white wire going to the motor. Why I don't know. I tried reconnecting the wires but the antenna still didn't work. I disconnected the wires again. I can raise the antenna manually about 4 inches and then it hits something and stops. I can then push it back down about that same 4 inches before it stops. It just feels like something is loose or maybe broken going into the motor. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[86PACER]

A common cause for failing antennas is a broken mast. That is the plastic cable that is driven by the motor to raise and lower the antenna. If it breaks, the motor will turn but the antenna will not go up.

 

[esterling]

Thanks for the help on the antenna problem. I have something to go on now.

 

[JonM]

Here is a little more help for you.

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/2002/february/antenna/ant1.asp

 

[tyrel]

Can I make a suggestion? When changing the antenna mast, don't pull out the rubber grommet, because it's almost impossible to get it back in again. For 1985, I believe your housing is riveted together, but the antenna housing will drop down far enough for you to drill out the rivets once you remove the grounding nuts at the top of the antenna.

 

[69MyWay]

I added several inches of wire to my stock harness the last time I had my antenna out for a mast repacement.

This way I can service it with room to spare.

Something you might want to consider.

My guess is that antenna has been repaired before and the white wire that appears to be cut is left over from the last guy that had to fix it.

Or...they cut the white wire to try to kill the antenna because it was running on and on and on with the car turned off until it was killing the battery.

 

[boblx2a]

I suppose this is a foolish question for a 20 year old car (1985) but is there any where that I can get an original antenna and motor? I tried all of the local dealers, Ebay, etc. Nothing!
I finally wound up with a universal antenna from Ecklers but it is far from acceptable. THe motor is about half the size of the original so I can imagine how long this is going to last. In addition it looks nothing like the orignal one. It does work but looks ugly and cannot last very long the way I run it up and down all the time.

Since this appears to be a high failure rate item I was wondring if there was anyone who could rebuild the old ones. I also have a '55 Chevy and there are a lot of those old parts like the speedometer, etc. that can be rebuilt.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks....................

 

[JonM]

corvettecentral.com Part # 164027

 

[WhalePirot]

If you check the article that Jon posted a link to, you will see that the antenna rebuild is both common and not too difficult. There are also, other posts on helpful hints to do it. I have done it twice. There really is no reason to buy a replacement.

 

[ProEMTPFF]

Oh my God! Is there a easy way to get to the large nut at the top of the antenna? I thought this job might be a "cake walk" but all that happened was me getting "pi$$ed off" and putting everything back together.

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[JonM]

Oh my God! Is there a easy way to get to the large nut at the top of the antenna? I thought this job might be a "cake walk" but all that happened was me getting "pi$$ed off" and putting everything back together.

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If you don't have long arms...remove the tire and take off the wheel well

 

[WhalePirot]

I dropped the muffler down (did not remove it) to get more room to work.

 

[boblx2a]

Oh my God! Is there a easy way to get to the large nut at the top of the antenna? I thought this job might be a "cake walk" but all that happened was me getting "pi$$ed off" and putting everything back together.

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I have taken the one off of my '86 and my '85 just be removing the wheel and the inner wheeel wheel which is a realatively easy task. Then lying on my back I just reached up there and unscrewed the nut. There is a lot of press about removing this nut but it was one of the easier jobs to do when replacing the antenna. The nut, in either case, was not tight enough to require a wrench or anything fortunately because I can't imagine how one would get a wrench up there. Removing the compartment cover (read window shade! ) to access the wiring and antenna cable was far more adventuresome then that large nut. Of course I guess you never got that far if you did not get the nut loose. The large grommet was another tough one but both are doable.

Good luck with it. Don't buy the "replacement" from Ecklers you will hate it!

....................

 

[boblx2a]

corvettecentral.com Part # 164027

Oh my God The exact replacement and cheaper then that Ecklers universal that I used!

I already got a used one off of Fleabay (because I just hate that universal one I got from Ecklers it totally destroys the originality of my '85) but I may order one of these just to be sure because I don't have a lot of faith in a used power antenna. I have had to replace them on both my '86 and now my '85 and this is getting tedius! I would rather start off with a new one if I am going to go through all it takes to replace one.

I wish I had read these replies more regularly and I would have saved the money I spent on Fleabay!


Thanks for the input it is much appreciated...............

 

[ProEMTPFF]

Removing the compartment cover (read window shade! ) to access the wiring and antenna cable was far more adventuresome then that large nut. Of course I guess you never got that far if you did not get the nut loose. The large grommet was another tough one but both are doable.

Well.....now that you mention it how do you get the rear window shade out?