Mine has been maing the grinding noise untill today when it finally got stuck up. then I pushed it back down... either way it is now broke and in need of being fixed... I was told that it can be pulled from the pass. side utility bin (floor-jack) also I have tried to remove the pannel surrounding it but it is nutted down behind one of the tan plastic panels that usually hold the rear speaker in an R1 model. PLEASE HELP!!!
Thanks,
Ryker

 

in order to get to that nut that is holding the "nut" that u describe u have to remove the plastic piece that surrounds the top of the rear bins. the nut that u describe is actually just another plastic clip holding the two pieces of plastic together.

 

damn thanks!

 

You should be able to access it without fully removing the plastic molding. Once you get all the tabs disconnected, you should be able to snake your arm underneath and get to the antenna assembly. There's only one or two bolts securing the assembly, so it's pretty easy to remove. DON'T DROP IT. It's a bitch to fish out of the empty cavity down there ....

 

If you only listen to FM, you do not need it. The FM antenna is also the rear window defroster. The mechanical retractable one is for AM only. Why waste
the money.

 

no it's not for am only, it uses both. not to say it won't work with only one but I for one get terrible reception if my antenna is down since mine is broke also. I know there is an antenna in the hatch glass, they use signal processing to grab the difference between the signals of both antennas or something like that.
Maybe since I have an aftermarket stereo it's only hooked up to the power one?

 

My FM reception is **** without my power antenna going up at all. My antenna stopped working last year and I just unplugged the connector that attaches to it in order to stop that grinding sound, and havent gotten around to trying to find a replacement. My head unit is a Kenwood but I did notice what appears to be another antenna plug that isn't connected to anything hanging out under the head unit area. That plug doens't fit onto the kenwood unit but maybe if there's a way to tie that in with the other there might be decent reception if in fact that does end up going to the glass hatch.

 

The mast is $30, you just take the old one out and feed the new one in, do a search on it. I'll do mine as soon as I have $30 to spare on non performance mods :-D

 

cewrx7r1,
You're actually quite wrong. The rear windshield antenna is used to cancel reflected noise when using the stock head unit. Basically it takes a measurement of the same signal as the power antenna and cancels the difference (interpreted as noise) to make the signal clearer. It is unused with most aftermarket receivers. AM and FM is received with the power antenna.
~Tom

 

Hyperite,
Thanx that's what I was trying to say but I'm sick and the cough syrup affects my brain :-)
Since I don't have the stock system that's a moot point though right? Can I hook up my aftermarket head unit to the hatch glass antenna?

 

had the same problem, tried to fix it myself but then i went to an audio shop and they replaced it with a universal one for 80 bucks. labor included. they replaced the antenna and the motor. works great now and looks exactly like stock. hope this helps.

 

The two antennae work together, it is my understanding. They call it a "diversity antenna system", right?

 

i just replaced mine with a crutchfield aftermarket heavy duty electric with black mast...very nice model. I have bose snake back there but here is what I did. remove snake. remove carpet. remove inside center section at the rear of the hatch where the latch is. this will allow you to remove most of the panel that covers the antenna area. you'll need remove the jack and associated items as well. some people have said they can snake their hand in there and remove the antenna but I dont see how. next remove the area directly behind the passenger seat, where the seat belt threads through...and spin this out of the way...this will allow you to get to the other side of the bin covering the antenna and jack. what a pain!!!! now you have full access to the antenna and mounting points. unscrew the nut holding the motor to the frame and the nut on the outside of car holding the motor the fender. I reused the parts on the outside of car with my new antenna but I had to use a crutchfield supplied spacer as the factory motor housing shaft was fatter than the crutchfield. they sent a lot of sizes to sort out. the bracket that holds the factory antenna motor mounts directly to the crutchfiled antenna motor. but the mounting bolt will no longer line up directly to the holes in the car's frame so I made a brace that would allow me to retain the factory bracket on the new antenna. the crutchfiled only has 3 wires and the factory unit has 6 so I cut the ones crutchfiled said I didnt need and now the car wont start.....just kidding. all is fine and I have bose head unit. swear a lot and begin to put it back together. I have heard that you can thread a new mast in from the top but I dont see how. the mast breaks leaving the lower plastic track inside of the antenna motor. this need to be removed before a new mast can be run in. you must take the motor apart to do this. I didnt want to risk all the work for a motor that is 10 years old. I have my old motor and will probably sell it on ebay as it still runs. hope that helps. its a little tough to follow until you are actually looking at all the pieces.

 

While you CAN use the glass antenna as your primary (provided you can wire the connectors correctly), you'll get better clarity with a *real* FM antenna, since the length of it is such that it catches the FM wavelengths with the entire mast. The small and weak receiver in the hatch glass will not give you what you want. You're better off fixing the problem with the power antenna.


They would in a stock system, but it's not quite a diversity antenna setup. Diversity antennas are when you have two (nearly) equal antennas and the source switches between them to choose the stronger signal. What the stock head unit actually does is use the added noise in the second (less efficient) antenna to cancel the noise from the better antenna. It's very ingenious, actually....too bad very few aftermarket units utilize this feature.

~Tom

 

MY jaw dropped for a second... reminissing of the time that my car wouldn't start or work correctly... or two...wait a sec I can't count that high damnit!!!

thanks for the writeup... I will do that along with my 4pt harness install on my seats woohoo!
is there any screws on that pannel that are hard to get off... the one next to the bins?
Thanks!
Ryker

 

I'm stuck! What else is holding the antenna motor in place? I got as far as this but where the heck is this one? Do you have to blindly feel for it? Aha, found the info "here" but what the heckle & jeckle is a "spanner" wrench, where do ya get one and how much? Did anyone just use some kind of plyers and a rag or something else to take the ring off the mast on the outside of the fender?

 

You can probably get the nut off with long nosed pliers and a little patience

 

a spanner wrench is designed to fit into two small holes on the face of whatever is being unscrewed. usually you are grabbing the face of something.....normal wrenches grab the edges.

http://www.newport.com/store/xq/ASP/...qx/product.htm

the tips of needle nose pliers will work like spurvo said. I didnt need a spanner wrench...it unscrewed pretty easily. gl

 

I broke my pwr antenna mast about a month ago. (Car wash, Doh!) I hooked up the Rear window antenna with a special adaptor.

I was surprised, the window antenna actually seems to work BETTER with my Aftermarket AIWA head unit.

I am saying this because I work downtown. Every morning, when I get about 3/4 of a mile from my exit, the radio would get a lot of static and I would just shut it off. With the rear window antenna, it is clearer, it's not perfect, but it's not so bad that I have to turn it off. Even my new Ford Sport Trac's radio gets a lot of static at the same point.

I still have the stock power antenna motor if someone wants to buy it cheap. The motor works just fine, no noises, etc...

I'm having the car repainted this week, they are removing the pwr antenna completely and filling in the hole before painting it. It should make for a nice clean look, especially when they remove the rear wiper and washer nozzle as well!!!

Of course the Base and R models don't have them anyway, but I assume I'll probably be the only one without a hole in the car for an antenna?

I can't wait to pick it up Saturday!

 

^ I like the shaved antenna hole idea if it works but why would you (devalue the car and) remove the rear wiper? Wouldn't you be better off trading your rear hatch with someone instead (less cost and someone else gains).

Anyhow, I wasn't able to use needle nose in the two pin holes but I did get off with my robo-grip plyers but woth ways did scratch it and I only ended up with one extra washer "lol".

There is a foam that sticks on to the suare side for noise supression. Mine had fell off but I restuck it. After turning the bezal thing, then remove the one nut holding it and have your g/f do a techno dance arm thing to remove the unit. Unscrew the one side (not the square one) to remove the old plastic broken peice. I cleaned mine out and put a little antenna greas after.

Put it back to gether, techno dance it back in the fender and hold it with the nut screwd in. The replacement shaft has a new sleve but you will reuse the plastic cover and ruber grommet.

 

Ok i've been through this entire process and its not too bad but it takes some patience. First, you might be able to get the locking ring off with out snap-ring pliers (this is the term used in the shop manual). I didn't have any and what i did was took a rubber glove and wrapped it around the ring and just removed it by hand. This is the only special tool you will need. I'd try to do this first. Then follow the shop manual procedures to remove the motor unit. You'll need to remove the bose hose, flip up the carpet, remove the center trim piece and then partially remove the right side trim piece. Once you do this you should be able to bend it out of the way. This will expose a small hole that is just big enough to reach in and remove the motor. Before you can remove it you need to remove the bolt holding it in. Once that is done, it takes a lot of patience to slowly angle the motor in such a way that it will fit through. The hole is exactly big enough to get it through, and it has to be oriented correctly, making it a bit of a pain. Once you get it partially out of the hole, disconnect the wires and you are good to go. Once the unit is out, you will need to open it up, where you will find the plastic mast has broken somewhere inside the motor, possibly jamming it or whatever. Remove all the broken pieces and then put it back together. Now reverse everything. Installing the new mast is done from the outside. You get everything reconnected, then turn on the radio and listen to the motor unspool. Then have someone turn off the radio while you feed the mast plastic back into the motor (keep the antenna contracted). It will eat the plastic and suck the mast itself back into place. Be ready cause it goes kind of fast. The mast teeth need to be oriented facing forward. It will only go in one way and you shouldn't need to force it at all.

 

Ok i've been through this entire process and its not too bad but it takes some patience. First, you might be able to get the locking ring off with out snap-ring pliers (this is the term used in the shop manual). I didn't have any and what i did was took a rubber glove and wrapped it around the ring and just removed it by hand. This is the only special tool you will need. I'd try to do this first. Then follow the shop manual procedures to remove the motor unit. You'll need to remove the bose hose, flip up the carpet, remove the center trim piece and then partially remove the right side trim piece. Once you do this you should be able to bend it out of the way. This will expose a small hole that is just big enough to reach in and remove the motor. Before you can remove it you need to remove the bolt holding it in. Once that is done, it takes a lot of patience to slowly angle the motor in such a way that it will fit through. The hole is exactly big enough to get it through, and it has to be oriented correctly, making it a bit of a pain. Once you get it partially out of the hole, disconnect the wires and you are good to go. Once the unit is out, you will need to open it up, where you will find the plastic mast has broken somewhere inside the motor, possibly jamming it or whatever. Remove all the broken pieces and then put it back together. Now reverse everything. Installing the new mast is done from the outside. You get everything reconnected, then turn on the radio and listen to the motor unspool. Then have someone turn off the radio while you feed the mast plastic back into the motor (keep the antenna contracted). It will eat the plastic and suck the mast itself back into place. Be ready cause it goes kind of fast. The mast teeth need to be oriented facing forward. It will only go in one way and you shouldn't need to force it at all.

 

The clearcoat was peeling badly on the hatch so it would need to be repainted anyway. The rear wiper motor died probably 2 years ago, I use RainX and don't need it anyway.

The removal of the wiper gives a cleaner look, less weight, and less wind resistance. I really don't see it devaluing the car, like I said I'm pretty sure the Base and R models never had a rear wiper to begin with. As far as swapping with someone, with the paint problem and wiper motor shot, it wouldn't be much of a gain for them.

The antenna hole is actually being filled IN, not shaved, so you will not even be able to tell there was an antenna.

I also removed the Round Mazda Logos and the MAZDA from the rear end. I left Only the RX7 on the back. I wanted a nice clean/smooth look.

To each his own.

 

My experience (on the second gen) is that if I have replaced the mast only because the mast track(plastic/flexible rod inside the mast) has broken, I never get the antena to work properly again. It never retracts completely on a hot day.

I have even removed the entire motor, opened it for cleaning, and re-lubed it without great results.

I eventually get a new unit.

 

Don't buy the entire Antenna unit. Just buy the antenna with the nylon chord and replace it.
Remove the antenna unit (I used a 10mm ratchet for the lower bolt) and then pop the thing open. Remove all the broken chord and regrease the inside. Then feed just enough of the new chord to get through the funny guide area and then seal it up. Now just push the chord in, and it will feed around the sprocket. You could try to manually feed the sprocket with the cover off, but it's a pain in the ***.