Bad power antenna?
 

When I first bought my car the power antenna worked, but now for some reason it dosn't. When i turn the sterio on, it will make a noise like it wants to go up, but only lets about an inch or 2 of it go up...noise continues until it thinks it's fully extended. Anyway to fix this?

thanks,
Marshall

Often the antenna mast breaks and the motor for it is fine. This can usually be fixed by replacing just the mast. If you search around the forum for it you can find the specific brand for it. I need to fix mine as well, but since the radio still plays I have been putting it off.

This is a very comman part to break on FC's.
Why fix/replace it when you can just remove it!
It's not helping your car go any faster is it?!?! :D

http://www.mazdatrix.com/n-4.htm be sure to read the FAQ that is included on that page, also.

The antenna is made by harada, and you may use a Harada replacement mast as well as an OEM mast to fix your antenna

What do you mean by an OEM replacement? At the local parts stores they have generic masts that say they fit most cars with powered antennas. Will something like that work?

not sure if your's is making a horrible whirring grinding noise like mine was, but it turned out that the clutch type component inside was worn and slipping. If you take it all to bits you can have a good look at it, stiffer springs fixed up the 'mechanism' in mine. Hard to explain. Sorry ;)

You can purchase replacement masts at almost any car stereo shop that has harada antennas (as Harada builds the power antenna for mazda), or order up an OEM mazda one from your local mazda dealer or Mazdatrix.

Mine does also not work at all, but seeing as how I do not have a stereo at all it does not really make a difference, and the fact that I removed the fuse for it probably contributes too. :) I just leave it down, am gonna put in a nice CD player soon anyways, then just listen to CD's. Mine used to do the same thing though with the fuse still in it, would just come up about half way and then stop and sorta grind, would not come down whatsoever though but would try to come down when turning car off. Sorry but I cannot help you for fixing it, I got no clue.

Ok I installed a new mast for my antenna, but I have a NEW PROBLEM!!!....when the radio is OFF, the antenna goes UP. When I turn the radio ON, the antenna goes DOWN. I don't understand how this is possible since there are no wires for me to cross anywhere. I put the connector back into the same place, and hooked up the antenna wire from the radio the same way it was before. Any ideas on what would cause that?

I left the spoiler half connected and all the stuff isn't quite put back so I could change something if need be, hopefully I will get a quick response and can fix this tomorrow morning.

thanks,
scott

is an aftermarket radio or antenna???

All factory setup. It has the original radio in it with an original power antenna. I just replaced the mast since it was broken.

My antenna was broken off... the main unit unit seems to be intact (the mast is of course gone), but since the previous owner put in his own deck (and did a $#@#$ idiot job of it) I do not know if the motor for it still works. I guess the best thing would be to try a replacement mast and if that does'nt work then buy a new unit all together.

Is there a cord that is suppose to hook into the deck that when power is feeding to it, it signals the attenta to go up, if so, does this connection only work on stock radio systems that came with the vehicle originaly?



Another quick question... is there a feed from the antenna to the stero that is located in behind the console somewhere... I could'nt seem to find it (I was trying to hook up the Deck I have so I could listen to radio..)

Thanks,

Chris

The blue/yellow trigger lead must be backwards, or something must be wired wrong.

I suppose you could have loaded the mast in wrong as well, but you would be the first person that I have ever heard of that happening.

I would pull the motor out and open up the mast retractor section and double check if you are sure the wiring has not been modified, and the radio is mounted in its factory basket screwed into the dash.

You would need to wire up a relay to the factory Blue/yellow antenna activation lead behind the radio to make a stock antenna go up. There is a nother antenna thread going on in the last day as well as countless old threads on this.

As far as the signal feed the antenna RCA cable comes out also behind the stereo. On up market models with windsheild antenna's there is a second RCA lead but it is the opposite of the main lead and will not plug into an aftermarket deck (although it will allow the main cable to plug into it, if you had an installer that didn't know what he/she was doing).

well I'm fairly certain there is no way that I modified the wiring inside the motor when I replaced the mast. As for the radio, I know its been pulled since a previous owner put in aftermarket speakers. What could have been changed about the radio to affect that, anything? If I don't find anything is there a way to invert the signal to the antenna?

Icemark,

is there a way I could do something like swap the +/- to fix my problem?

well if you ground the blue/yellow at the back of the radio, does the antenna go up or down???

if it goes up, then double check that the radio is sending ground ot that wire.

If it goes down, then I suppose you could use a relay at the back of the radio to invert the signal.

wow stupid me...Ok so when I took apart the motor part of the antenna to get out the broken mast cord, there was crud all over inside, like the previous owner had tried to oil the mast before to get it to work, and there were like 6 pieces of broken cord in there too. Anyway, I took off the actual electric motor housing to see if there was any junk in there and put it back on. Hehehe, yesterday I was thinking about that and remembering how an electric motor needs a North and South pole magnet around its coils on opposite sides to spin and that got me wondering if I put the housing on backwards. I did. I turned it around and everything works fine now. Thanks quick responses Icemark.