I am totally frustrated!!! My power antenna, like most, has died--stayed up and motor ran continuously. I researched the issue here--bought a new mast off ebay $16 and decided to do the work myself. Tried to thread new nylon into old mast... would not feed. Concluded I had to remove entire unit and clear out old broken nylon chain. Jacked/removed rear tire, removed fender well cover, and disconnected entire unit. Removed rivets, opened, removed 12" of broken cable, thoroughly cleaned drive mechanism, and reassembled. I could not figure out how to rethread the new cable at this point and opted to wait until I put the unit back in place. I then reassembled the unit, thinking I had put the gears back into it correctly... thus the start of my nightmare. After another 2 hours trying to fit the unit back in place on the body, and thinking I reconnected the grounds correctly, I turned the radio on and tried to feed the new antenna cable into the unit... no go! The unit was apparently running just fine but was trying to expel the antenna cable, not receive it. Turning the radio off did nothing except turn off the unit. I could not get the unit to stop trying to expel the cable!! Hot, tired, and frustrated, I thought I probably misassembled the gearing somehow... so I quit for the evening. I put the fender skirt on and replaced the tire to move the car so I could close the garage... discouraged.

I then decided that I would try to find a used, but serviceable entire unit to replace it with. I found one... $50 out of a wrecked 92. So, I rejacked the car, removed the fender skirt again, and then removed the old antenna unit once more. I did not want to cut any power cables so I traced the cables from the antenna through the body grommet up into the channel by the rear window. It was at this time I discovered that the wiring harness on my replacement motor was larger and flatter than the narrow original one in the car. There were still only three wires on the new male connector, but different colors than the original. I noticed on the 94 female harness in the car that the wires were listed as "A" (orange), "B" (Green), and "C" (Black)... the male harness replacement was also listed as follows: "A" (Gray), "B" (Green), "C" (White). My dilemma was what to do... the two harnesses would not fit together, and other than the harness, the old and new units looked absolutely identical. So I risked it... I cut the male harness off the replacement antenna and attached the male harness of my old antenna as follows: "A" (Gray to Orange), "B" (Green to Green) and "C" (Black to White). I then electrical taped the connection to ensure it wouldn't short out to each other.

Then, I carefully installed the replacement unit in the fender well... however, by this time, I think I screwed it up somehow... I don't remember which grounds were attached to the top of the antenna mast... therein lies one problem, I am sure. I am also not sure what needed to be on what side at the top of the mast. I did the best I could and got it all together, hopeful that I did it right... so I tested it.

I turned the ignition on, turned the radio on, and watched the new antenna rise out of the rear fender.... success, I thought! It rose, and rose and rose... nylon chain and all to my horror! The antenna popped out and unceremoneously lay on the ground next to the car jack!!! If that wasn't bad enough, my bose radio was not making a sound, although the radio was clearly on and locked on a channel... !!! My poor wife heard my expletives all the way in the front yard as I just wanted to throw the antenna into the neighbors yard for their pit bull to eat!

Sorry for the length, but I need some advice... besides let a professional do it. Here is where I am at.

My radio is still not making a sound, although has power to it and it turns on. Could this be a ground I misconnected underneath on or near the unit?

Why did the antenna eject... it should have stopped when it extended? It appears the antenna and nylon chain did completely, and I mean 100% eject... it looks like the entire thing came out and left nothing in the unit itself.

The motor was still running until I disconnected the harness... Did I connect the male harness wires correctly or did they switch when the harness changed... (I know I must have gotten the power wire right as I did have power!)

Could all of this be due to some misconnection of the ground wires to the unit... if so, could someone walk me through which ground wires go where... a picture or drawing would be incredibly helpful...

Any other thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated! I have almost 12 hours into this project and have just decimated my self confidence that I can solve this... something that "appeared" to be so easy... yeah right!

In a word... Help...please... before I lose the rest of the hair on my head!

Last but not least... is there anyone in San Antonio, TX who might have a line on someone who can tackle this problem if I can't... need a good recommendation... both for the radio, and the antenna. Many thanks in advance guys... Randy

 

If you have a FSM you could check out the wiring to see how it goes.

 

Give me your old one, the new mast and a few bucks, you get one that should just bolt in, using your original harness.

The mast should not have come out if the nut was on to secure it.

PM me an address to ship to.

P.S. I did not have to remove the wheel or any skirts when I did mine. I just got a whole lot of dirt in my face! lol

 

Exactly...or you got the wrong mast off ebay.

 

Here are two antenna related links with pics that should spell it out:

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/body...1984-1996.html

http://www.vetteweb.com/tech/vemp_02...air/index.html

 

To all...

Many thanks for the help... it still isn't totally fixed yet, and "whitenow" actually offered the right solution which I am going to decline at the moment. My radio works (the 20AMP fuse blew when I connected the antenna) and I can manually raise and lower the antenna so car washes are no longer a problem... guess I am content. I will ultimately try this again sometime in the future, but not now. Twice is enough for the time being... again, thanks all for the advice and references...

 

Hello OldBoyztoy,

I like wise have recently purchased a 94 corvette. The radio had been replaced and they had failed to connect the wire that triggers the amp for the Bose Speakers. I was able to locate that relay and wire that to work. I have not been able to locate the relay for the antena. Where was this relay located on your 94? I have also been told that 94's have the relay built into the antenna. Can you confirm or deny?

Barry

 

The relays are at the back of the car near the hatch glass solenoid. You have to take the cargo area plastic off at the back, and pull off the handle for the top stowage latch, and it will be there in some foam.

 

That's why I'm not messing with my power antenna which is stuck in the up position. I'm patiently waiting for someone to make a stubby antenna like the C5's have for the C4!

 

I pulled the black plastic cover plate off in that area and all foam. I did not find a relay. I found lots of wires and plugs but no relay. The relay for the speakers amp was located in the compartment behind the passenger seat. If I can locate this relay, I plan to install a switch to control the antenna manually.

 

If there is a piece of the old antenna shaft in the motor, it will not work correctly and stay down. You will need to take it apart and clean the pieces out. The 94 antenna has no screws but plastic rivets. So you got to drill them out and put in screws. You got to do an GOOD NEAT job and not break any of the plastic, no slock work. Here is a post on my stuff.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-g...y-surgery.html