Anyone got a cut sheet or information for the replacement of the antenna on a 91 Coupe?

Jim

 

Loosen only the trim on the drivers side of the hatch. Remove the rear trim. Pull the carpeting away by the speaker so you can see the bulkhead. In between the foam pieces near the hatch latch is the antenna and electrical connections. Disconnect and tie a long string to those connections. Leaving the string inside the hatch, loosen the lugs on the drivers rear and jack it up. Remove the rear tire. Remove the dozen or so torex screws and bolts and drop the wheel liner out.

You'll have straight-forward access to it by leaning into the wheel well and looking back. Disconnect the ground wire, loosen the two bolts holding it in. Remove the old antenna and while doing so will pull the cables through the rear bulkhead. Don't let the string come all the way through. Untie the string and tie it to the new antenna wire and electrical connectors. Fit the antenna to the mount and loosely secure. Inside the hatch pull the string which will feed the two cables back through the bulkhead. Secure the antenna and attached the ground cable. Put the wheel liner back on and wheel. Connect the antenna wire and electrical connectors and reinstall the trim.

 

Thanks for the instructions. Would you happen to know if the gearing can be changed or will I have to do the whold unit. I can hear the motor running but the antenna is not moving.

Jim

 

Hey Jim

It sounds like the ribbon cable inside is striped or broke. This is common with electric antennas. Did it just go down and stop? Or up and stop working? Another common symptom is they go down almost but a couple inches. If the ribbon cable is broke about half way it makes it difficult to replace because unless you drill out the rivets on the case you can't get the remaining piece out so you can't feed in a new mast with cable. Others here have taken the case apart and repaired theirs so its not too difficult.

If its just the mast/cable its about 10-14. and the replacement comes with a little tool that loosens the nut that holds the mast in place. After you remove the nut, you just grasp and pull the mast out along with it comes the ribbon cable. Oh you should have the ign on and radio on so it extends as much as possible. And if I remember correctly you start to feed in the new ribbon cable with mast attached and then turn off the radio letting the motor feed it the rest of the way.

Or you can spend about 130. and just swap out the whole assembly as I described previously.

As far as changing gearing I doubt that is the issue its more likely the plastic ribbon cable. Just in case you haven't seen one before a quick description: you have the extendable mast which is hollow and the plastic ribbon cable is inserted inside. The ribbon cable has teeth on one side. Its important to note the direction the teeth face when removing the old so you feed the new cable in correctly. There is a toothed gear inside that captures the cable and winds and unwinds it. That in turn pushes the antenna up and likewise pulls it down.

Hope this helps and hope my description is fairly accurate. If not I'm sure others will correct me.

 

I used a long screwdriver to push the rubber grommet holding the wires through the body.

I'm too lazy to repair mine, so I'm doing the full replacement.

Getting mine from The Last Detail, they are the cheapest by far.

 

Thanks guys.

The antenna is down, I can lift it with no resistance. Sounds like the cable is broken since the motor is turning.

Jim

 

Just following this thread. My 94 antenae goes up and down fine but stops w/ about 1 1/2 inches above car. Which is correct fix for this particular situation. Thanks

 

Hang on there buddy - if the antenna mast just needs to be replaced and the antenna motor is still operational the procedure for mast replacement is much easier to fix. I just did mine last weekend and it takes about 30 minutes. However if your motor is gone the by all means follow the above recommendation. But 90% of your problem is the ribbon cable which breaks offs and therefor will not push or pull the mast down onto the take up reel. Remove the rubber gromet at the mast - if you bought the mast replacement, most come with the socket needed to remove the threaded retainer bolt. If the socket is cheap like mine was, you will need a pair of vice grips to hold is together so you can turn the retainer off. If the retainer is tight - hit it with some WD-40 and wait about 10 mins. Once the retainer is off - turn your radio on (helps if you do have a helper) if the antenna will move at all it will come up out of the motor - if not pull it up - next on the mast shaft itself is a tube spring with a flaired top - the flaired top is suppose to keep the spring from going down below the lip of the motor shaft but sometimes it finds it's way there anyhow. You may have to tug a bit to get this spring up and release the old mast if it's stuck. Retain this spring or look and see if a new one came with the mast. Next cycle the radio on and off - what should happen is all the ribbon cable should come up off the take up real and come out the antenna hole. If you have gotten this far, the reverse process is not to bad - feed your new antenna mast ribbon cable down into the hole until you fill it catch in the gear - the teeth by the way go towards the "Outside" body of the car. - have your helper hold the antenna in place as you "turn the radio off". This will start the process of pulling the antenna back down into the motor housing. - Insert the shaft spring with the flair towards the top of the antenna - screw the retainer bolt back onto the houseing and cycle the radio on and off - this process will reseat the antenna to it's full extension and retraction. If this worked for you - tighten the bolt a bit more, replace the rubber gromet and you are all set. Good Luck - mine works like a charm!

 

Most likely the last few inchees of the ribbon cable has broken. It really depends on how much broke off. If your handy and don't wish to spend a bunch of money consider removing the antenna take apart the housing, remove the old piece of ribbon cable. Install and then install a new mast.

 

Thanks....