C5 power antenna motor remove and replace
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 32
Likes: 6
From: Roswell GA
I don't know if you are still on here Jerry E but I want to thanks a bunch for your antenna removal directions. My power antenna took a crap so I just replaced it with stubby antenna. I ordered the manual antenna set up from CorvetteRecycling.com. I changed the power one out for the manual one and screwed in the stubby. I just finished and it was easy to do thanks to you. The stubby seems to work ok. I seldom listen to the radio anyway. I prefer the sound of dual exhaust.
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
From: Melbourne FL
C5 New Power Antenna Install
I just completed the removal and installation of a new power antenna in my 01 Convertible, and thanks to the info I found here it was a piece of cake. Took less than 45 minutes. However, I thought I might add a few things to help out folks in the future.
TOOLS NEEDED:
- 10mm open end/ratcheting wrench or (preferably) 10mm deep well socket. A stubby ratchet helps if you have it, as room to move is at a premium.
- 8mm wrench of your choice
- T15 Torx (To remove taillight)
- Jewelers (or very small flat blade) screwdriver to separate connectors
- WD40
PROCEDURE:
NOTE: Before proceeding, it always helps to review the new unit wiring and compare it to the existing so you can associate the two.
1) Remove right taillight using T15 torx and disconnect taillight housing from wiring and set aside. Disconnect antenna power from taillight wiring harness. Inside you will see the bracket attaching the antenna to the rear of the cargo area, with (2) 10mm nuts on captured studs. Lower, at bumper level, the long ground wire from the antenna is secured to a stud by a 10mm nut, and on the upper right of the quarter panel is another stud and 10mm nut. Hit all 4 with a little WD40, at move to step 2. (My car is 16 years old, thought I’d let the WD40 work a bit)
2) As indicated in other posts, pull back carpeting in rear cargo area and right quarter panel.
3) Locate wiring harness and antenna cable protruding thru grommet in right quarter panel, follow wires and antenna approximately 10 inches to connections and disconnect. (The tiny screwdriver comes in handy to pry the retaining clip up on the connector to disconnect). Hit the grommet with some WD40 and let sit. This helps pull the grommet out later.
4) Return to rear and remove the nuts. I found that starting at the top right, moving to the bottom ground, then the bracket itself worked well. If you remove the bracket from the car first, the antenna will be dangling. Be advised that there is an additional wiring harness that attaches to the top right stud which apparently carries the ground thru.
5) Set the antenna down in the cavity and pull grommet/wiring harness/antenna from rear quarter. Then remove entire unit from the car.
6) Using 8mm wrench, remove bracket from antenna.
7) Attach bracket to new antenna unit and install by reversing the process. NOTE It helps to lubricate the new antenna mast and grommet when installing.
Really pretty simple, and anyone with some mechanical ability could accomplish it in less than an hour and probably save some bucks. As I said, I did it in less than 45 minutes. In fact, it took me longer to input this info than to do the “project”. Hope this helps folks in the future.
TOOLS NEEDED:
- 10mm open end/ratcheting wrench or (preferably) 10mm deep well socket. A stubby ratchet helps if you have it, as room to move is at a premium.
- 8mm wrench of your choice
- T15 Torx (To remove taillight)
- Jewelers (or very small flat blade) screwdriver to separate connectors
- WD40
PROCEDURE:
NOTE: Before proceeding, it always helps to review the new unit wiring and compare it to the existing so you can associate the two.
1) Remove right taillight using T15 torx and disconnect taillight housing from wiring and set aside. Disconnect antenna power from taillight wiring harness. Inside you will see the bracket attaching the antenna to the rear of the cargo area, with (2) 10mm nuts on captured studs. Lower, at bumper level, the long ground wire from the antenna is secured to a stud by a 10mm nut, and on the upper right of the quarter panel is another stud and 10mm nut. Hit all 4 with a little WD40, at move to step 2. (My car is 16 years old, thought I’d let the WD40 work a bit)
2) As indicated in other posts, pull back carpeting in rear cargo area and right quarter panel.
3) Locate wiring harness and antenna cable protruding thru grommet in right quarter panel, follow wires and antenna approximately 10 inches to connections and disconnect. (The tiny screwdriver comes in handy to pry the retaining clip up on the connector to disconnect). Hit the grommet with some WD40 and let sit. This helps pull the grommet out later.
4) Return to rear and remove the nuts. I found that starting at the top right, moving to the bottom ground, then the bracket itself worked well. If you remove the bracket from the car first, the antenna will be dangling. Be advised that there is an additional wiring harness that attaches to the top right stud which apparently carries the ground thru.
5) Set the antenna down in the cavity and pull grommet/wiring harness/antenna from rear quarter. Then remove entire unit from the car.
6) Using 8mm wrench, remove bracket from antenna.
7) Attach bracket to new antenna unit and install by reversing the process. NOTE It helps to lubricate the new antenna mast and grommet when installing.
Really pretty simple, and anyone with some mechanical ability could accomplish it in less than an hour and probably save some bucks. As I said, I did it in less than 45 minutes. In fact, it took me longer to input this info than to do the “project”. Hope this helps folks in the future.
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,725
Likes: 237
From: marietta, GA
I just completed the removal and installation of a new power antenna in my 01 Convertible, and thanks to the info I found here it was a piece of cake. Took less than 45 minutes. However, I thought I might add a few things to help out folks in the future.
TOOLS NEEDED:
- 10mm open end/ratcheting wrench or (preferably) 10mm deep well socket. A stubby ratchet helps if you have it, as room to move is at a premium.
- 8mm wrench of your choice
- T15 Torx (To remove taillight)
- Jewelers (or very small flat blade) screwdriver to separate connectors
- WD40
PROCEDURE:
NOTE: Before proceeding, it always helps to review the new unit wiring and compare it to the existing so you can associate the two.
1) Remove right taillight using T15 torx and disconnect taillight housing from wiring and set aside. Disconnect antenna power from taillight wiring harness. Inside you will see the bracket attaching the antenna to the rear of the cargo area, with (2) 10mm nuts on captured studs. Lower, at bumper level, the long ground wire from the antenna is secured to a stud by a 10mm nut, and on the upper right of the quarter panel is another stud and 10mm nut. Hit all 4 with a little WD40, at move to step 2. (My car is 16 years old, thought I’d let the WD40 work a bit)
2) As indicated in other posts, pull back carpeting in rear cargo area and right quarter panel.
3) Locate wiring harness and antenna cable protruding thru grommet in right quarter panel, follow wires and antenna approximately 10 inches to connections and disconnect. (The tiny screwdriver comes in handy to pry the retaining clip up on the connector to disconnect). Hit the grommet with some WD40 and let sit. This helps pull the grommet out later.
4) Return to rear and remove the nuts. I found that starting at the top right, moving to the bottom ground, then the bracket itself worked well. If you remove the bracket from the car first, the antenna will be dangling. Be advised that there is an additional wiring harness that attaches to the top right stud which apparently carries the ground thru.
5) Set the antenna down in the cavity and pull grommet/wiring harness/antenna from rear quarter. Then remove entire unit from the car.
6) Using 8mm wrench, remove bracket from antenna.
7) Attach bracket to new antenna unit and install by reversing the process. NOTE It helps to lubricate the new antenna mast and grommet when installing.
Really pretty simple, and anyone with some mechanical ability could accomplish it in less than an hour and probably save some bucks. As I said, I did it in less than 45 minutes. In fact, it took me longer to input this info than to do the “project”. Hope this helps folks in the future.
TOOLS NEEDED:
- 10mm open end/ratcheting wrench or (preferably) 10mm deep well socket. A stubby ratchet helps if you have it, as room to move is at a premium.
- 8mm wrench of your choice
- T15 Torx (To remove taillight)
- Jewelers (or very small flat blade) screwdriver to separate connectors
- WD40
PROCEDURE:
NOTE: Before proceeding, it always helps to review the new unit wiring and compare it to the existing so you can associate the two.
1) Remove right taillight using T15 torx and disconnect taillight housing from wiring and set aside. Disconnect antenna power from taillight wiring harness. Inside you will see the bracket attaching the antenna to the rear of the cargo area, with (2) 10mm nuts on captured studs. Lower, at bumper level, the long ground wire from the antenna is secured to a stud by a 10mm nut, and on the upper right of the quarter panel is another stud and 10mm nut. Hit all 4 with a little WD40, at move to step 2. (My car is 16 years old, thought I’d let the WD40 work a bit)
2) As indicated in other posts, pull back carpeting in rear cargo area and right quarter panel.
3) Locate wiring harness and antenna cable protruding thru grommet in right quarter panel, follow wires and antenna approximately 10 inches to connections and disconnect. (The tiny screwdriver comes in handy to pry the retaining clip up on the connector to disconnect). Hit the grommet with some WD40 and let sit. This helps pull the grommet out later.
4) Return to rear and remove the nuts. I found that starting at the top right, moving to the bottom ground, then the bracket itself worked well. If you remove the bracket from the car first, the antenna will be dangling. Be advised that there is an additional wiring harness that attaches to the top right stud which apparently carries the ground thru.
5) Set the antenna down in the cavity and pull grommet/wiring harness/antenna from rear quarter. Then remove entire unit from the car.
6) Using 8mm wrench, remove bracket from antenna.
7) Attach bracket to new antenna unit and install by reversing the process. NOTE It helps to lubricate the new antenna mast and grommet when installing.
Really pretty simple, and anyone with some mechanical ability could accomplish it in less than an hour and probably save some bucks. As I said, I did it in less than 45 minutes. In fact, it took me longer to input this info than to do the “project”. Hope this helps folks in the future.
Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 39
Likes: 18
I took mine apart, removed the broken piece inside the motor and re-installed with the new mast. My problem is that the antenna does not retract all the way? Is there a solution to this.... can you trim the cable?
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Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 23
Likes: 3
From: Palm Beach Gardens FL
How do I open the antenna motor?
similar issue with my 2000 convertible. I have the motor and mast out and a new mast ready to install. However, I need to open the motor to remove parts of the broken strap. The motor is held together with plastic rivets. How do I get them out? Which side of the motor do I open? and what do I replace the plastic rivets?
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 23
Likes: 3
From: Palm Beach Gardens FL
how do I take the motor cover off?
The good news, bad news department:
I replaced my power antenna mast and it's connected nylon cable today. Never had done one before on a C5 and I didn't have the manuals. I discovered that I couldn't just do the simpler mast replacement thing that the instructions said "by feeding the nylon cable into the hole in fender to the antenna and cutting the radio off and on until the new cable caught", because, a part of the old cable was broken off and still in there, blocking it. The motor HAD to come out.
I searched all the Internet and every Vette forum I knew of but couldn't find even one comment (except for a wrong comment, where somebody said that it was hard) on how to do it when part of the cable was busted off in the motor and the motor had to be R&R'ed - so I just winged it.
The good news is that I DID successfully fix it and I DIDN'T break or scratch anything else in the process. The bad news is that I spent probably about 3-4 times longer working on it than was necessary! I took stuff apart that I never should have had to touch. I guess because I read that one little comment, that "it was hard" I assumed it would in-fact be hard, so I went at it the hard way. I'm too embarrassed to admit the stuff I dug into. Needless to say, I know the big butt of my C5 (Vert) now better than most!
;<
The point here is that I want to help prevent someone else from going through what I did today. Though it won't help me, this will now be in the forum archives for the next person. There IS a simple trick to this, had I only known:
"Remove the right tail lamp lens". That is the trick. I had never removed the tail lamp lenses either so I didn't know that the two screws that hold the lens in, also holds the whole lamp assembly and when that's removed, it is completely open, large, and allows easy access to the whole Damn antenna motor area with no trouble at all! NOT a difficult task, when done this way. In hindsight, I feel pretty stupid for not looking there first.
Also, pull the carpeted trim cover in the trunk off for access (only the two big black finger tight wing nuts hold it in) and you have access to the antenna signal cable and electric supply lines. It has a joint right there at the wheel well so's it can be unplugged. The antenna's power wires come apart here too. Pop out the one big rubber body grommet, remove a couple of screws and small bolts that hold the motor and ground wires and the whole motor is out. I then unloosed the one screw that holds the tube where the mast and cable go in and shazam, the broken piece of nylon cable could be easily pulled out with needle nose pliers. That's all there was (supposed to be) to it. Of course, as usual, I made an easy job difficult. Hope this make someone else's job a little easier,
Anybody out there got a reasonably priced set of 1999 manuals for sale?
THX!
Jerry
Jerry Erbesfield
C-5 Black Beauty Vette roadster
E-mail: Jerry@Erbesfield.com
Website: www.erbesfield.com
I replaced my power antenna mast and it's connected nylon cable today. Never had done one before on a C5 and I didn't have the manuals. I discovered that I couldn't just do the simpler mast replacement thing that the instructions said "by feeding the nylon cable into the hole in fender to the antenna and cutting the radio off and on until the new cable caught", because, a part of the old cable was broken off and still in there, blocking it. The motor HAD to come out.
I searched all the Internet and every Vette forum I knew of but couldn't find even one comment (except for a wrong comment, where somebody said that it was hard) on how to do it when part of the cable was busted off in the motor and the motor had to be R&R'ed - so I just winged it.
The good news is that I DID successfully fix it and I DIDN'T break or scratch anything else in the process. The bad news is that I spent probably about 3-4 times longer working on it than was necessary! I took stuff apart that I never should have had to touch. I guess because I read that one little comment, that "it was hard" I assumed it would in-fact be hard, so I went at it the hard way. I'm too embarrassed to admit the stuff I dug into. Needless to say, I know the big butt of my C5 (Vert) now better than most!
;<
The point here is that I want to help prevent someone else from going through what I did today. Though it won't help me, this will now be in the forum archives for the next person. There IS a simple trick to this, had I only known:
"Remove the right tail lamp lens". That is the trick. I had never removed the tail lamp lenses either so I didn't know that the two screws that hold the lens in, also holds the whole lamp assembly and when that's removed, it is completely open, large, and allows easy access to the whole Damn antenna motor area with no trouble at all! NOT a difficult task, when done this way. In hindsight, I feel pretty stupid for not looking there first.
Also, pull the carpeted trim cover in the trunk off for access (only the two big black finger tight wing nuts hold it in) and you have access to the antenna signal cable and electric supply lines. It has a joint right there at the wheel well so's it can be unplugged. The antenna's power wires come apart here too. Pop out the one big rubber body grommet, remove a couple of screws and small bolts that hold the motor and ground wires and the whole motor is out. I then unloosed the one screw that holds the tube where the mast and cable go in and shazam, the broken piece of nylon cable could be easily pulled out with needle nose pliers. That's all there was (supposed to be) to it. Of course, as usual, I made an easy job difficult. Hope this make someone else's job a little easier,
Anybody out there got a reasonably priced set of 1999 manuals for sale?
THX!
Jerry
Jerry Erbesfield
C-5 Black Beauty Vette roadster
E-mail: Jerry@Erbesfield.com
Website: www.erbesfield.com
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 23
Likes: 3
From: Palm Beach Gardens FL
c5 power antenna
Good Job Bro.. I too had to figure this out on my own and refused to buy a new one..
Was disgusted that I found out by other forum members that the power antenna is un-repairable.. Well it is.
My antenna would go up but it would not go down.. Thinking the ribbon on the mast was broken I yanked it out to take a look.. Well the ribbon was not broken. Something else was keeping it from going down..
So I tried to open the spool housing.. NOT... seems the damn factory decided to melt these little plastic rivets holding the cover on.. Ensuring they get $150 forcing you to buy a replacement unit.
Well a Dremel solved that problem... A few minutes later the rivets were gone and I popped the cover..
I did not take a picture of what I found to be the problem but I will describe it. Very simple fix
Once you remove the Spool cover and the spool you can see where the ribbon gets fed into it. You will then see a little hole right in the middle of the ribbon path. There is a little Pin in there and the pin is used for an axle for the rolling ribbon guide under the spool.
Well the pin was up high and blocking the the path of the ribbon thus not allowing it go down. I used a pair of needle nose pliers and pushed the PIN Axle all the way back in and out the the path of the Ribbon..
Problem solved..
Now I had to re-fasten the Spool cover back on. I simply drilled each opening and installed 4 little screws to hold it on. I have attached the picture to show that.
Attachment 48177320
Was disgusted that I found out by other forum members that the power antenna is un-repairable.. Well it is.
My antenna would go up but it would not go down.. Thinking the ribbon on the mast was broken I yanked it out to take a look.. Well the ribbon was not broken. Something else was keeping it from going down..
So I tried to open the spool housing.. NOT... seems the damn factory decided to melt these little plastic rivets holding the cover on.. Ensuring they get $150 forcing you to buy a replacement unit.
Well a Dremel solved that problem... A few minutes later the rivets were gone and I popped the cover..
I did not take a picture of what I found to be the problem but I will describe it. Very simple fix
Once you remove the Spool cover and the spool you can see where the ribbon gets fed into it. You will then see a little hole right in the middle of the ribbon path. There is a little Pin in there and the pin is used for an axle for the rolling ribbon guide under the spool.
Well the pin was up high and blocking the the path of the ribbon thus not allowing it go down. I used a pair of needle nose pliers and pushed the PIN Axle all the way back in and out the the path of the Ribbon..
Problem solved..
Now I had to re-fasten the Spool cover back on. I simply drilled each opening and installed 4 little screws to hold it on. I have attached the picture to show that.
Attachment 48177320
