I followed the process for fixing the broken plastic rod that moves the power antenna. I lubed the drum spool, hub and bottom of drum as recommend by the manual and reassembled the antenna. It was fully extended and I hooked it up to the relay in the back of the car. The motor immediately kicked on and retracted the antenna. It sounded a little labored. I then turned the ignition key on and then the radio and the antenna does not raise up. I loosened the bolts that replaced the drilled out eyelets to see if it was assembled too tight and that didn't do anything. I don't hear the motor running at all when I turn on radio. I took the antenna apart again and re-extended the antenna and then reassembled just to see if the motor et al was still working. Now I don't get anything when I plug the connector back in to the relay. nothing... The radio works but no antenna.

Any ideas? I can't find any info on which fuse the antenna motor is run through so I checked all the fuses and see no evidence of a blown fuse. Does anyone know how the fuse with the antenna is labled? The manual says to Check Fuse but doesn't say which one is it. I have a nice Radio Shack multimeter but never figured out how to use it. Can I use it to check the relay? Anyone have an easy 1-2-3 on using the MM to check the relay? All help is welcome. I would rather fix it than just leaving the antenna down all the time. TIA.

TAC

 

What year is your vette, it sounds like a problem with the relay, at least that is what it was on my 86. I just cleaned the contacts inside the relay and all was fixed. on my 86 conv, the relay was located at the back above the left hand speaker, under the carpet. Water had gotten in and corroded it

 

It's an '87 convertible. What did you use to clean the contacts?

 

ttt Any other help?

 

Just a spray tin of contact cleaner and some sand paper

 

I've had good luck in the past cleaning electrical contacts with brake cleaner. May sound funny but it works.

 

On my 92, the antenna works off the same fuse that supplies power to the interior lights. Also, the pink wire from the radio to the antenna is the power wire. You might check for voltage on that wire with the radio on and and a known good fuse in the fuse panel. Again, all the above is based on a 92 model. good luck.

 

Test (not visually) your clk/ctsy 15 amp fuse. It powers the coil in relay.

 

Hey Steve, guess what just broke in my Vette................you got it, the antenna cable. I looked up the price to replace the mast and cable from the catalogs ($39 plus Corvette tax-handling and shiping- $20). My son got the entire antenna motor, mast and everything for $100 from the Chevy dealer. I figure the motor is nearly 13 years old so I'm replacing everything. You have to remove the motor anyway to ensure you get all the pieces of cable out, so why not replace the whole thing? I plan on installing the switch to keep the antenna down during CD/cassette playing.

 

That fuse is fine...I figured out the motor has broken somehow. I'm getting juice to it and can get it to wiggle a bit and move a little but it won't turn the screw anymore. I guess I'll just try to find a replacement motor out there somewhere. Thanks much for the help everyone.

 

I'd take the motor out and look inside. You might find part of the cable/ribbon that pushes the antenna up and down has broken off and jammed the gears inside the motor assembly.

 

Do you mean the power is getting to the motor or getting to the unit. There are 2 limit switches inside that determine if the motor will recieve the power. Maybe one more trip inside is in order.

 

OK guys, I'm almost there. I braved the unknown and finally was able to remove the motor from the case--it's held on with a blob of sealant. The limit switch appeared to be a problem. As you probably know, the two switches are like points that open when the spool quits moving forcing the switch to be tripped. That shuts off the power to the motor. The down limit switch appeared to be bent so I tweaked it so it behaved just like the up switch. When pushed, it now "clicks" like the other one and the contact opens. I assume that means the circuit is then broken and power is cut.

I tried the antenna with no spool or mast attached and was rewarded by a hearty motor. Yippee, problem solved. I reassembled with the mast and sure enough as soon as I plugged into the relay (ignition off) the antenna retracted completely and the motor shut off. The problem is that it won't raise up when I turn the radio on. I can feel the relay clicking when I turn on the radio but don't feel anything on the antenna body. Nada. So, I tried an experiment. I field stripped the antenna (something I can now do in my sleep) and reassembled it and plugged it in. It immediately starts to retract. Half way down I unplug it, turn the ignition key on and the radio on and then plug the antenna in. Sure enough, it fully extends and the motor stops when it gets to the top. However, turning the radio off now does not retract the antenna.

I have no idea how the radio sends its signal to the antenna to override the limit switch. If the limit switch does indeed work, what happens to reverse the process and let the antenna go the other way. Any insight is really appreciated. Keep the ideas coming. We're almost there....

TAC

 

Gettin closer..

I still need to dig mine antenna apart again. Gotta be a mechanical problem. I wonder how mine ever trips the limit switch with a broken ribbon.

 

To bench test/verify the proper operation of the antenna internal switches using an ohm meter.

At the plug from the antenna you should have 3 wires. Green, White, and Gray.

When the antenna mast is fully down, you
should have close to zero ohms from the Green wire
to the Gray wire. If not, the Up switch inside the antenna assembly is not closed and needs to be adjusted or it could be bad.

Manually extend the mast to the fully extended position. When the mast is fully extended, the Up switch will open and you should no longer have continuity from the Green to the Gray wire.

If you still have continuity, you need to determine
why the Up switch did not open.


To verify the down operation. With the Mast fully extended. Place one lead of your ohm meter lead on the White wire and the other lead on the Green wire. When the mast is fully extended you should read close to zero ohms. If not, you need to adjust the Down switch so that it is closed or determine why the switch isn't closed.

Manually close the mast. When the mast is fully down, the Down switch should be open and you should have an open between the White and Green wire. If not, you need to determine why the Down switch did not open.

The antenna mast goes up or down depending on the voltage polarity applied to the motor which is determined by the Up and Down switches internal to the antenna assembly.