Happy 2018 to all.

Last week my radio blew a fuse. The antenna was up at the time. I changed the fuse and the radio works fine now, but the antenna is still up and will not retract. I have tried to turn radio on/off with car running and just with ignition on accessory but antenna doesn't come down. I do NOT hear any sounds from the antenna motor or gear. Is there another fuse or relay somewhere I can check? Any music I listen to will be through the tape adapter so I would prefer the antenna be retracted. I'd also like to put a car cover on the car and not cut an antenna hole in it.

If worst comes to worst, is there a way to hook up an external battery source to the antenna somehow just to force it to retract? If so, how do I access the antenna?

I did order the Haynes book for the car as my last act of 2017

P.S. - I hate power antennas. Unneeded weight, complication, and costs. But I'd hate this one much less if it retracted. Thanks in advance!

 

Check to ensure there is voltage at the antenna when cycling the radio on/off.

You can hook up a source from the battery. Just reverse the +/- to make it go down.

Get the wiring diagram here: Foxed.ca - Mazda RX-7 Manuals

 

Why did the radio blow a fuse? Could the antenna have caused it? I think you need to understand why it blew. If it blew once it will again probably. You must have an FB because SAs have a button that operates the antenna.

You may be able to trace the wiring and jump it to force the antenna to operate. I would start there to see if its working or not and then back track to the stereo to determine whats breaking the circuit. The electrical diagrams in the hayes manual should help with this. Just make sure to look at the right one for your model. The ones in the main section are for SAs and the later FB diagrams are usually in the appendix. You can also try this site for online wiring diagrams: Foxed.ca.

 

Thanks everyone for the links and assistance. I am not home to see the car now so will take a look at the diagrams and see what I can learn. There was a 15A fuse in the radio slot when it blew. I replaced it with the proper 20A fuse and it has not caused issue since. I rarely use the radio in the car while taking a ride but if this is an easy issue to resolve I'd like to do so. I need to find the process of panel removal/access as well. Since it is an older car maybe it will be self-evident when I am looking right again.

 

I don't like power antennas also. Just use some wire connected to a battery to get it to go down, if the motor is still good, and replace with a stubby. Sometimes the issue can be a bad ground. My hunch is that the antenna motor is bad and that caused the fuse to blow.

 

My experience, once you get the antenna down, you'll definitely need to remove the taillight to get the antenna assembly out.

 

My power antenna gave out ages ago but still recall the incident when it occurred. While turning on the radio the antenna kept going and going and going until it totally fell out of the housing and was just dangling on the side of the car. Very embarrassing. I was able to fit it back in then examined the whole unit when at home. Found not only the clips that hold the mast together were worn but the motor had an issue too. An internal part had failed preventing the expansion and retraction of the antenna and the only solution other than attempting to fabricate the part was a complete replacement. I opted for an inexpensive stubby rubber one which looks and operates just fine.

 

Oh that's for sure, I don't think you could dig it out unless you had tiny hands or cut a hole in the side of the car. But it's been years since I've had a power antenna in or out of an FB...

 

I'll bet the plastic toothed cable that makes the antenna go up and down broke. Common, and a new antenna isn't expensive.
I ended up just putting one of those rubber whip type ones on. It doesn't go down and disappear, but it doesn't look as bad when the radio's on either.