Reposted from the ZR-1 section as no one there can answer what type of antenna cable connection I have, maybe someone on here can answer me.

I have a '90 ZR-1, #545. It's been really cold (lows of 20s last few nights), and I went for a ride yesterday with the temp about 36-38, turned on the radio, and when I got out of the car I noticed the antenna didn't retract when the power was shut off. Turning it on and off again on the ride home, it still would not retract with the power off. I can push it down in about 4". then it stops, can push either the top or bottom section in that far. It pulls back up real easy, like the shaft isn't connected to anything. I wonder if the cold made the 32 year old cable brittle and it cracked or broke when it tried to go down.
I have read somewhere that there were 2 types of cables that were used before the design changed during the early Zs. One is a straight nylon cable with a sort of hooked end that goes into the spool, the other a cog-toothed cable that engages teeth on the spool. Can anyone tell me which one I may have for my car so I don't look for and purchase the wrong one to try and repair this?
I first have to get my SO to turn on and off the radio and try and listen if the antenna motor is running, then I know for sure if the problem is with the cable. I'm really hoping I can replace this from above without having to remove the rear wheel, fender liner, disconnect the wiring and antenna cable, and remove the whole mechanism and take it apart to fix this, as all that is a real PIA and time consuming. If it's the cog-toothed cable I should be able to do this, and hopefully pull all of the broken cable out, but if I have the smooth hooked-end cable, I guess I will have to bite the bullet and remove the whole thing. And it's still cold here in the panhandle of Florida.

I posted this on the ZR-1 forum too to see if I can reach others who might know this also. Thanks.

Addendum - the motor runs when the radio is turned on, it does not run when the radio is turned off.

 

This should/might help:

This is pretty straight forward .......

I've NOT done it in better than 15 years but it's doable.......

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...r-antenna.html

The TSB I mentioned is 88-8-145 or 88-191-9 March of '88 I believe.

***** ZR-1 Bezel is different than the base C4.

 

I have a 90 L98, sequence # 3289. Build date 10/89. Had to replace antenna and cable/ribbon. Plastic cable/ribbon was broken. I don't know about the 2 different types of cables but mine is the cog tooth type engaging a cog wheel. I bought my repair kit form Zip Corvette, (Item # A-331). You cannot access it from above and you cannot repair it without disassembling the unit. I did the remove the wheel and inner fender well procedure. Wasn't that bad although I did snap off a bolt head. If you can get the car up high enough on jack stands you can probably remove it from underneath behind the rear wheel but it's gonna be tight.

 

I just read your addendum. Sounds like it's the antenna relay that's bad. There's a way to check it. The procedure is in the FSM if you have one.

 

I pulled out my antenna and cable and it looks like my cable has snapped about a foot from the end. The motor runs both up and down for about 3 sec. each way so it's not the relay, it's the cable.
See my similar thread in the ZR-1 section on here.

 

Ok, I found a pretty informative article on how to remove and replace a broken antenna cable. However, it doesn't indicate there are 2 different kinds nylon cables.
1984-1996 Corvette Antenna Mast Repair | Corvette Magazine | Corvette How To's & Technical Articles

 

I would first check the relais. Put 12V on + and trigger directly to check if your Antenna is working. If it is the cable, you should still hear the motor.
You dont have to remove the wheel and the fender for removing the Antenna. You can lay under the car and work down.

 

K - see post #5

 

i have same deal on an 89. im about to pull it and feed the new ribbon in on the bench.

 

If you can't get all the old cable out of the top then you have to remove the whole assembly and clean it out and put in the new cable and antenna. If there's a significant length of retained cable in there you can't feed in the new one, to get it to catch on the toothed wheel.