Antenna Removal and Replace
 

Im here going through the Body Part of the Service Manual and cant find how to remove the antenna, or at least the mast. My smart brother took it through a car wash with the radio one :rolleyes: so yea, I talked to Ray at Malloy a new mast is only 26$ so thats all I need, which I ordered, now I just need to figure out how to take off the mast. Thanks for the help

It's probably really similar to a 2nd gen -
http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/86-92ant.htm

You basically unscrew the top of the antenna, get the old one out, and feed the new one in. Easy as pie. It gets more complicated if you have to dig the old pieces out of the motor or remove the spoiler, though :).

Dale

Ok I wasnt sure how to get that ring off, Its just the mast so do I have to go about removing the interior? I dont have a spoiler so thats one thing less.

I think there are directions online somewhere with pics. The robinette site maybe?

You will need the spanner wrench if you don't want to scratch the metal cover. There's a screw or two inside the fender holding it up. You will need to remove some plastic panels and I think maybe bend the part where the speaker goes. There's a writeup somewhere and I think Max Cooper might have something on his web site to. After you open the antenna body to remove the broken parts, close it and feed the new reel by turning on the radio as you or someone guides it.

Instead of the spanner wrench I think I used needle nose plyers wrapped with duct tape.

You have to take off the bose sub system(if you have it) on the right side of the trunk. After take off the plastic surronding the trunk on that side. You will then see the antenna assembly there. There is a harness that you have to unplug. I believe its under the assembly. There are 2or3 bolts/screws holding it on (10mm). Make sure that you have unscrewed the "cap" holding the antenna on on the outside. Then just pull it out. Change out the antenna (good luck and remember how everything came apart).

R.K.

I urge you to use EXTREME caution when removing the ring from the top of the antenna. It is VERY easy to have the pliers or whatever you're using slip and scratch the hell out of your paint. If I were you, I'd put duct tape or thick towels securely all around the area to try to keep a scratch from occurring if you slip.

Other than that, it's easy... helps to have a buddy flip the radio on/off to help you feed in the new antenna. Make sure you take apart the unit enough to get any broken pieces outta there.

Ive heard the replacement for the whole antenna, including motor is only $50 from Crutchfield.
It might be worth it to replacing the whole thing.

I have just been through an antenna mast replacement on our '94 RX-7 due to a broken plastic rack, and since it was necessary for me to do the whole R & R TWICE, I thought I would post this reply. The Mazda-recommended antenna mast replacement technique (1994 Body Electrical Troubleshooting Manual, page J1-65) won't work, for the following reasons:

1) The manual says simply to pull out the mast, check the plastic rack for damage, and "if it is kinked or broken, replace the mast." - Unfortunately it doesn't say anything about the two feet of broken plastic mast still wrapped inside the power antenna's guts.

I did figure in advance that the broken stuff had to be removed (DUH!). So I (almost) removed the trunk's rear side plastic panel (couldn't get at the far front retainer, so just moved it up & out of the way after disconnecting the passenger-side of the strut bar), pulled the electrical and RF connectors, unscrewed the mounting nut using snap-ring pliers (per the manual), unscrewed the 10 mm mounting nut holding the main bracket, and (eventually) pulled out the drain tubing, and put the antenna assembly on a table. Took off the assembly cover, pulled off the rotating drum, peeled out the old plastic rack, cleaned out all the dirty grease & repacked it, reassembled EVERYTHING (including the car itself) and bought a new antenna mast.

2) The manual says to "feed the rack of the new mast into the motor with the toothed side facing the front of the vehicle." - HA! and HA! again. The end of the plastic rack is FAR, FAR too stiff to thread into the assembly, go through the gear, wrap around and go up through the interior guide into the rotating drum. NO WAY CAN THAT RACK EVEN GET PAST THE GEAR!

So I (almost) removed the trunk's rear side plastic panel (moved it up & out of the way after disconnecting the passenger-side of the strut bar), pulled the electrical and RF connectors, unscrewed the 10 mm mounting nut holding the main bracket, pulled out the drain tubing, and put the antenna assembly on a table again.

Took off the assembly cover, pulled off the rotating drum, pulled out the plastic gear, closed the new antenna mast, drew the new plastic rack down through the assembly tube, past the gear area, through the plastic guide, and up the ramp of the main housing into what would be the rotating drum area. Then I carefully replaced the plastic gear so that it engaged the rack.

Now came the fun. I had about 2 feet of rather stiff plastic rack, waving in the air, that had to be forcibly rolled into the interior of the rotating drum. Forcing the rack into the curvature of the inside of that drum required storing the "unwinding" energy of the rack (which wants to be straight). After a while I felt like Donald Duck trying to change a tire (remember the drum interior, rack, and assembly are full of grease). Eventually, however, I was able to wind the long rack into the drum correctly, and reinstall the drum onto the assembly.

After that it was back to the routine of reassembly. I only managed to separate two plastic brackets off the inside of the rear side panel, which had to be glued back on, somehow lose one metal retaining clip off the far rear panel, and discover that one of those weird little carpet-clip thingies was broken.

But the power antenna now works. Not surprising that the rack broke after 11 years, but I was quite disappointed in the manual's repair instructions.

---- Bill

I had to go through this too. One tip I have is first try unscrewing the metal ring by hand using a rubber glove in the event you don't have snap ring pliers (I didn't). Bill, I'm not sure what happened to you because i had no trouble simply feeding in the new plastic track in from the top. Its kind of scary though when it gets toward the end and you have to guide the metal antenna part in without it snagging. Unfortunately my mast broke inside the motor so I had to pull it and open it up, big pain in the butt. However, I don't recommend getting an entirely new motor if you don't have to, because the hardest part is actually getting the thing out (which you'll have to do either way), once its out, opening up the case and fishing out the broken plastic is a piece of cake. For the record, I HATE all those flimsy retaining clips used in car interiors, one of these days I'm going to snap an interior piece in half trying to get it out... (see guide)

http://www.rx7.org/Robinette/replace_antenna.htm

Nathan,

The stiffness of the new rack seemed to be much higher at its end than in the middle. That stiffness is what prevented the motor/gear from being able to turn it and wind it into the drum. There was also some sort of brown surface "rust" on the rack over about the first 2 inches at the tip. I didn't dare cut off the end for fear of making the rack too short. I did try filing the backside of the rack at the tip to make it thinner at the end, but that didn't help.

Maybe the "new" rack had stiffened up from years on the shelf.

Thanks for your reply!

The workshop manual for the FD antenna mast replacement (page J1-53) is wrong...feed the mast in with the teeth facing the rear of the car. A direct replacement OEM mast for the Miata-MX5 fits the FD perfectly, sells for $31 part#B05A-66-A30.

I have a working oem antenna I just pulled as Im shaving it. I would be willing to sell for $15 plus shipping

Thanks. And in any event, it should be apparent which way to feed in the new one once the cover is removed to get any broken/stripped parts out. lol, for whatever reason, seems like I struggled the most with what should have been easy...getting the damn drain tube back where it belonged.

I had the same struggle..."that darn drain plug!"

Started a thread about the Miata last year with pics https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...-mast-1074823/

I just completed this recently. The Miata part number fits just fine.

I gently removed all area plastics, nothing broke.
(Bose acoustic wave, center rear, right rear, divider, strut tower bar, right seatbelt/speaker/storage panel, right door sill)
Scissor jack and handle should be removed, but the wheel chock can stay.

After removing the leftover broken bits from inside the gear housing and reinstalling, the new antenna did not want to coil during feeding.

So... I had remove motor again to surgically place the new antenna feed into the gears and coil housing. This can be done on a table or in the hatch instead of thru the fender.
For the reinstall, timing is critical, as the motor is plugged in it will extend the antenna ruining all the surgery. Radio ON plug in the motor, then quickly time a power OFF for the Bose unit as soon as the motor is plugged back in. Get someone to help.

After a successful feed, its time to deep clean your plastics and repair any of the old saggy noise dampening material. Inspect your inner fender/hatch for any rust. Reinstall the plastic trim.

Total time for the job was about 5-6 hours. If I have to do this job again I will be shaving the fender by having the hole welded shut. FM Radio sucks. I just wanted to eat a sandwich and listen to the news while parked.

It’s been a while but I remember a fiddly thing for my old fat fingers was finding and feeding the drain tube thru the hole for it at the bottom of the well, Other than that, I want to say I coiled the new antenna feed into the motor assembly on the bench.

How to disconnect drain tubing?
 

How did you disconnect the drain tubing? Did you disconnect it from the antenna motor or from the car? I tried pulling on both ends but don't want to destroy anything in the process. Thanks in advance!

Pull it out from the bottom of the well. It’ll just make things harder for yourself trying to reconnect it to the assembly when reinstalling.

I've never done anything in particular with the drain, it just came out with the antenna motor when I pulled it. Shouldn't be anything too crazy.

Dale