Hey guys... looking for some advice.. and help on installing a new power antenna in my 85. Have you done it? Can I do it all from inside the rear of the car? How long should it take? Any help would be very appreciated.

Happy New Year.
jp

 

Best done with wheel and inner fender removed. Power connection is under trim beside hatch latch and coaxial connection is behind carpet and trim of shade track. You will need to undo these and follow the wires to the rubber grommet. Push grommet and wires throught the hole. Remove the large plastic nut at the top of mast where it meets rear deck. A little tough getting your arm up there but it is doable. Remove the nuts and bolts holding motor to body and your home free.

 

you wouldn't have any pics of the procedure would you?

jp

 

Sorry, no pics of process. Maybe someone will post a link

 

Exactly

 

In addition to the above I've also removed the tailights to get to the big nut and it also makes re-installing the wiring grommet easier. I know it's more time but it seemed to make the job a little easier. I don't know if you've had to remove the tailights before but it's been detailed on the forum quite a few times.

Art

 

There's a couple of ways to do this.

One way is to disconnect the battery, jack the rear of the car up on stands, remove the tire, inner fenderwell, reach up to top of the antenna to reach the big nut and remove it, unbolt the antenna assembly from the bracket, drop the antenna assembly down, cut only the thinner 3 wire leads, not the coax cable, unscrew the 2 screws that holds the coax cable plate to the antenna, then pry the plate off the antenna because there is sealant holding it on. This method eliminates having to go inside the car and do anything. Only thing with this method is you'll have to cut the 3-wire connector off your new antenna assembly re-splice the 3 wires, and reseal the coax cable plate to the new antenna to keep water out. You won't be using the new antenna's coax cable and some of the new harness and connector. If you can't reach up and unscrew the big nut then you'll get better leverage on it by removing the tailights. If you havent' removed the tailights, see below.

Then there's the longer way. this way eliminates cutting the wires, but may cause additional grief when trying to unplug the coax cable inside the car. Attempts to unplug the coax cable have led to broken connections, cables, or connectors which may require an aftermarket coax splice available from Rado Shack. Some guys have had luck unplugging the male/female connector, others haven't so take you pick as to which method to use.

The longer way:
Open the hatch, disconnect the battery, remove the LH/RH inner window trim screws, remove the rear package tray, swing LH trim around to remove LH securty shade slider hook and inner trim screws, remove slider trim, reach hand in toward end of security shade and feel where the shade end fits into the retaining bracket, insert a large screwdriver or gasket scraper between the bracket and the security shade and twist/pry/push the end of the shade toward the center of the car, be careful (the bracket is not metal). At the same time you're prying the end of the shade pull the shade end toward the front of the car to remove it from the bracket, pull it further to disengage from the opposite end, remove the 2 plastic carpet retaing plugs and pull the LH interior carpet inward to expose the antenna relay, wiring and connector and the coax antenna connection. If you follow the coax cable you'll find the connection. Unplug the wires from the relay, uplug the coax cable connection (good luck). Follow the wires and coax cable to the rear bulkhead and push the grommet toward the rear of the car. It's a good idea to tie a string to the wires so you can pull the new one back through. Once you've got the wiring through you can replace the antenna using steps in the shortcut method above except you don't have to cut/re-splice or disconnect coax cable from the antenna. Also, grease the wiring grommet to help snap it back in the hole, a helper to push from the outside while lightly tugging on the wiring inside helps.

If you're having trouble unscrewing the big nut then you'll have to remove the LH tailight to reach in through the hole to access the big nut with your hand, channel locks, or vise grips.

To remove the LH tailight:

Remove the license plate, unscrew the 7mm screws holding both backup lights in place, remove the backup lights, unplug the connectors and set the backup light aside. Remove the 2 10mm screws holding the bumper cover to the impact bar. Reach through the license plate opening and feel for the 2 10mm screws holding the inner LH tailight to the bumper (they are in the 11 o'clock and 5 o'clock positions if viewing from the back of the car), remove the 2 screws with 1/4 ratchet and 10mm socket or a 10mm ratchet wrench. Be careful not to drop your tools. There is a void on top of the bumper support that if you drop your tool in there you might never get it out. So try hard not to drop the tools. Once the inner tailight is removed, pull it out, disconnect the connector and set the lamp aside. Reach into the inner tailight hole toward the outer tailight and feel for the other 2 10mm screws holding the tailight to the bumper, remove these 2 screws, remove the tailight and set aside. You should be able to easily reach the antenna nut now. BTW, this is a good time to replace all of your taillight bulbs with new ones including the right side.

As you can see there is a lot of work to do but if you take your time it can be done. Other's may post other methods or opinions so take you pick.

Art