Antenna Trouble

[Blue92]

My power antennia is acting up. Turn on the radio and it goes up just fine. Turn off the radio and sometimes it goes down and sometimes it goes halfway down. Should I buy a totaly new unit or can I get away with just the mast replacement?

 

[JRMaroon]

I don't know about replacing the entire unit or just parts but......have you attempted any maintenance on it? I know you should not oil these, they will then collect dirt and debris. When mine doesn't go all the way down I wipe it with a clean cloth. That usually gets it working correctly again but it has never stopped at half way. Usually just a few inches from retracting all the way when it's not working 100%.

Jeff

 

[oldvet]

mine doesn't go up or down. I can hear the motor turning, but thats it.

 

[John Robinson]

Antenna Problems

Blue92 and Oldvet your mast cable is broken. It is made from plastic with teeth on it that are driven by a gear in the antenna. I had the same problem on my 93. It is easy to fix if you are willing to try. Jack the car up and put it on jack stands. Remove the left rear wheel and the inner fender. Now you can look in and see the antenna motor. It is held in place by acouple of bolts or screws. (I can't remember which) Remove them and the nut and screw holding the wires on top of the antenna motor. Pay particular attention to the location of the wires and there exact position. If you can take a picture with a digital camera you should do it. Now wiggle the antenna motor down as far as you can and you will see a cover that may be held on by four small screws or pop rivets. You may have to drill out the pop rivets but be careful to leave enough material to use some small sheet metal screws in the holes you drilled. remove the cover and clean out the broken peices of the mast cable. Lubricate the gears with a light grease. When you put the Antenna motor back in just reverse the process to remove. Now comes the tricky part putting the mast into the antenna motor. You will need someone to help with that. The mast instructions will tell you how to do that. If you decide to replace the whole unit and not repair it you will have to remove the speaker panel and carpeting on the inside of the car to access the antenna lead and disconnect it and fish the new one in. Belive me if you can repair the mast do so it is a lot easier than replaceing the whole antenna motor. I have been told that you can remove the tailight and reach in to get to the wires on the top of the antenna motor but I was able to do it from the wheel well. When you take the inner fender out you will find a thin black wire that runs towards the front of the car from the back. It is held on by a clip. This is the ground plane wire. I had to do this job about 4 times before I learned all the tricks but it is doable. If you need help doing this send me an PM

 

[oldvet]

Thanks John. Will attempt that next week. Got other sticks in the fire at the moment.

 

[Robertwav1]

FYI...an easy way which I believe is posted somewhere here is to remove tail lights....one closests to the plate first , then the other.....you can then see the antenna motor and you can remove it this way. I replaced mine some time ago and I think with some web searches came up with a price around 70-$80.00. From what I can remember. The plastic toothed mast part is available from Madvet.com but that'll run you around $40.00 and it may not solve your problem...good luck!