I messed up my antenna years ago and I finally want to replace it. It still exteneds most of the way when the radio goes on, but does not go all the way back in (about 8 inches left)

On the car body there is a rubberish looking grommet and a silver ring with two small holes in the ring.

I looked inside near the jack, and couldnt see anything because of some metal plate blocking the view, but I could get my hand up there and feel the assembly.

What is my best approach on getting a new antenna in? The motor works fine, but is it easier to replace the whole thing? I can't even begin to figure out how to take the old one off.

Thanks!

 

buy a new antennae on ebay for $8ish

Take a needle nose pliers and unscrew the silver cap (it has the two indents).
Pull the black piece of plastic out
From inside the trunk, undo the 10mm bolts.
Pull whole motor and antennae assembly out
Unconnect harness and rubber tube
To replace antennae you will have to take the motor apart.

 

hey thanks for the write-up, my antenna seems screwy..it won't go back in. I just picked up the car today, didn't have a chance to look at it.

 

How do I undo the bolts from inside the trunk? I can't even FEEL any bolts much less see them. Is there someone to gain better access to the antenna?

 

uhhh....peel back the liner...

 

liner pops off easily, does anyone know if someone has one for sale or should i go straight to ebay to find a new one?

 

Yeah, the liner pops off, but what about this black frame blocking the way. Even if I remove the jack I still can't see anything.

 

you see those two 10mm screws in that picture above..thats what hods the antenna down below...just remove those as well as the top accent screw which holds the top and remove it after you unplug the connections..its actually very easy and you should be able to remove it in less than 10 minutes.

 

Are those the 2 at the bottom and horizontal, or the 2 that are diagnol from each other?

Is the accent screw what I need to use needle nose pliers on?

 

yes and yes

 

if you don't want to buy a new antenna u can do what i did if service is decent in your area. just push your antenna all the way down, reach into the trunk and disconnect the plug that provides power to your antenna. you'll have a functioning antenna but it won't come out/retract at all.

 

i began to take apart my antenna today when i noticed something that kinda scared me, the piece attached to the bottom of the motor for the antenna was rusted to $h1t. i took a pic to show you guys, is this something i should worry about? http://i34.tinypic.com/dy3txe.jpg

 

mine is like that too. i asked about it a while ago and nobody ever told me anytn.

 

that is merely a drain tube . when your antenna is up and say its raining or whatever, water can and will follow the antenna mast down to the base of it..rather than the water pooling in the fender it has a drain for it to exit the fender well.

 

cool, thanks! would you suggest since im taking this out again after i find a replacement to cut that rusted spot out? since it almost looks like water can't pass through it anyway..

 

definately!!

 

okay, so now i will order the 8$ replacement antenna since the motor to it seems perfectly fine.

 

yup and it wont take any time at all to swap it out either..10 mintues or less and youll be done..all you will need is one person to turn the radio off when your feeding the new mast and gear assy in and the motor will suck it in..

 

Ummm..

A) The bottom 2
B) The upper/diagnol 2

Which one please

 

remember i said (screws), that would mean im talking about the bottome ones..if i said (nuts) that would mean im talking about the others..lol

 

Sorry, someone else in this thread said bolts, so I got confused. I'll take a look this morning and see if I can find the screws you are talking about.

 

see where you have your jack? take that out.. then remove the bolts of the metal piece that surround it. after you take those (3) out then take the (2) screws off as well. you can use a 10mm socket for all of this. but don't forget to use needle nose pliers to take off the silver cap. it should pop right out after that. be careful not to loose the rubber gasket on the antenna base.

 

It toom me about 30 mins start to finish, but I got it replaced. A good chunk of that time was waiting for someone to walk by to hit the on/off button on the radio.

BTW: How far down is the antenna supposed to retract? My new one goes all the way down about an inch or so below the silver mounting ring. It's been "up" and busted for so long I forgot what it supposed to be like.

If anyone reads this thread trying to replace theirs, DO NOT open the motor case unless you have too. It is a greasy mess. You should be able to gently, but firmly pull the antenna and plastic thread out of the box and then feed the new thread in.

 

Thanks for advice...about to do same although my motor is not workinng at all. Thought i blew a fuse as I was messing w/ corner lights...all good but antenna doesnt budge. Time to just replace whole unit?