Anyone replaced their power antenna? i need to and i got one, but im not sure how to do it...any help? Thanks

~T.J.

 

I haven't done it myself but I'd say you have to remove the tail light to gain access.

 

I agree with REVHED... I tried doing it without removing the RR taillight, just by removing the inside panels in the RR trunk area and working the antenna out - BUT it was damn tight trying to get it out.. and putting the other one back in!

I'd advise removing the RR taillight so you have a little more room to operate, and so more light can get in and you can see what's going on. Also, if you drop the nut down in the bodywork (like I did), you'll have to remove the taillight to reach down in there and get it out anyway.

So hold on to that nut, eh.

I think there's 3 nuts - one on the mast, and two holding the motor in place.. shouldn't be too hard to loosen 'em.

 

I have a power ant, can anyone give hints on how to test it when it's not in the car.

 

I almost got my arm stuck when I tried to work from the inside... I still don't know how i managed that!

Also... my power antenna does not go up and down very nicely (stock). Plus I do not know (and have not spend enuf time figuring it out) how to wire my new deck to the antenna--so that it goes up when on and down when off... Any wiring info to do this?

 

My antenna didn't work in my 80', it would hardly go up - if at all, usually it would just click, I had to remove the taillights which was easy, there were 3 bolts, im pretty sure, you take them off and there is a harness for the 3 wires, one is ground the other 2 are positie, depending on which you hook directly to the battery it will raise and lower, what I did was took the assembly apart and there was a small rubber/plastic ring that would guide the plastic raising piece up and make sure no dirt got in, well I ripped that out with a drill and lubed it up nice and stuck it back together. Havent had a problem since

 

There should be an antenna power output on the head unit. Just wire that up to the positive of the antenna.

 

Yea, that much I know
I just can't find the antenna wire... It seems that the power passes through relays, etc so I can't pick it up with my multimeter (or maybe i was searching in the wrong place...)

 

I never took my lights out, I just fit it thru the hole with a bit of wiggling.
I use a semi automatic one tho so its just power wire and earth wire, connect it up anywhere with a power source to test it...with an Automatic one one of the wires needs to be connected to the CD player I guess...You should ask this Q in the stereo section.

 

Assuming you have three wires on the antenna: If you have a Red wire, apply fused battery power to it and one of the other two at a time. If it doesn't work, reverse the polarity and try again. When it does extend, connect the battery to the Red and the remaining wire, but reverse the polarity and it should retract.

If you don't have a red, just try all combinations two wires at a time: it won't short anything, it will either work or not. If it tries but does not move at some point, reverse the wires.

Fullsmoke: The antenna output of the radio would go to a Blue/Green wire. That is the one which activates the relay. (On my '84, at least. Hopefully the same for all 1st gens.)

If an antenna has three wires, it is not automatic. Connecting the antenna out of the head unit to the "positive" of the antenna will not work: the relay is necessary to reverse the polarity on the motor.


-John.

 

Thanx john... I knew it had something to do with a relay

 

Well, even after all my searching, I never found the wire at the CD player that im supposed to hook up to my CD players power antenna lead. I figure it was removed before i bought the car when all the stereo equipment was installed. Plus, the three wires at the back that plugged into the old antenna had no power going to any of them...Soooo I said screw it, and ran all new wires. I took the lead off the CD player and ran it back to the Blue, grounded the Black wire, and put (fused) constant to the Red...Now the antenna will go down even after the key is removed :o) Alright so im happy with it, and it works AND I have no more static! Even untill now, I still dont know why I have no power in the stock harness (probably never will know why)...Oh well, I really dont care anymore, my antenna works :o) Oh, and I still dont know what color the stock wire is that I was supposed to hook up to the power antenna lead off the CD player, but like I said, I dont care, my antenna works :o)

~T.J.

 

Well, I have a pioneer deck... it has a blue/white wire (if i remember correctly) that functions as the remote turn on switch... that's what i'm gonna connect to the relay...

 

I _just_ today removed my old 1980 antenna, there are 2 bolts that hold it on, plus the top nut that holds the mast to the surface of the car. There were 2 wires, reverse polarity and it goes up / down. The third wire is just the antenna wire. I am putting an automatic one in my car and it's allmost done. Plus tomorrow I am getting my newly purchased RB exhaust on, just came in today !

 

forgot, I also HAD to remove it through the tail light, it would not come out anywhere else.

 

If you noticed i said i knew what wire that was on my deck...i just dont know what color the wire the actual car has...Just so you know

 

anyone know where i can get a power antenna? im in the jy every week and have yet to see one. i have an 85 gsl and it doesnt have one. just replaced the head unit and gettin ready to replace the speakers, i would just like a better antenna now. thanks
gamble

 

From above:
"The antenna output of the radio would go to a Blue/Green wire. That is the one which activates the relay. (On my '84, at least. Hopefully the same for all 1st gens.) "

...Just so you know.

-John.

 

I got am automatic power ant. from autozone for $44, only negative is I had to buy another relay from radioshack for about 4 bucks because my cd player's power antenna wire didnt supply enough voltage to kick in the relay on the antenna. I have 2 power antenna wires (not sure why) one is yellow and the other is purple.

 

the power ant. came from schuchs very cheep. I have old motor from org. ant. good motor from ant but mast broke off . replacement went easy thru tail light. no relays. power on it go's up power off it go's down. hence the constant power. and one switched wire. very easy. go's down with c.d playing also very nice. thanks to my installer. T.J. RotorMotorDriver
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