Power Antenna Won't Go Down

[pwrsqr12]

Just noticed that antenna is stuck in up position - even when radio and power are turned off. Is this something I might be able to fix myself? If so, what part(s) do I need?

[dal]

Just noticed that antenna is stuck in up position - even when radio and power are turned off.  Is this something I might be able to fix myself?  If so, what part(s) do I need?

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I encounter this on occasion and it has been a build up of dirt and funk complicated by the mast bending back (probably by force of the wind). I usually eyeball the straightness and give it a few gentle bends (without crimping) - then clean it well with a rag to get the dirt out - pull it all the way out if not fully extended. I also put some synthetic spray lubricant (Triflow from a bike shop) on it to get it going again. Sometimes a few iterations of cleaning, pulling and extending to get the dirt out of the inside portions that have built up over time.

Hope it helps. Good luck.

[JDC]

Somewhere in the owners manual it mentions keeping the sections clean of grease and dirt. I noticed my antenna stuck on the segment closest to the body. A quick wipe with a cloth and voila, instant fix.

[wing0]

omg...

i just got this problem too...

When it goes up, it makes groaning sound.....and it's as if it doesn't want to go up.

When it goes down....it makes screeching sound...the antenna isn't straight for sure since I tried to turn it a little and feel the mash inside(correct?)...

still in warranty, will they take care of this problem?

for the past 3 months, i've brought my car in for like 4-5 problems.....

[pwrsqr12]

Just solved my own problem. Purchased a new antenna mast form AntennaMastsRus.com for $50 + shipping. Installation was a pain since I had to take the power antenna unit out, but all is well now.

[Hugo16]

Some silicone should help

[vickyg2003]

Must be the season. My antenna stopped going up and down too. We bought a new mast, but when we compared it to the one we took out we realized that the nylon part was not as long on the old one, meaning that the nylon cord was broken off inside the power antenna casing. We had to get open the case of the antenna and remove the remaining piece.

If the mast needs to be replaced you unscrew the cap that holds the mast to the motor, turn on the radio and the whole nylon cord will come right out.

If the new cord is longer than the old cord you need to get access to the motor which is not easy to get to.

You need to pry out about 7 of those black fasteners, the top of the wheel well, remove 2 of the cargo net hooks and take apart most of the back end.

Then you dismount the antenna assembly from the car with 2 10mm nuts,

Then open the assembly by removing 6 phillips screws, and remove the remaining cord. A big painfull job, but not really all that difficult.

Then you can feed the new cord into the assembly and install.

Vicky

[jgr7]

My antenna just stopped going down all the way or up all the way. Seemed to be bent. I pushed it back a little and I heard a crack and now the mast moves back and forth like it is broke. If I understand what has been posted the mast can be replaced with out removing the motor. If the mast isn't the only thing broken then I have to go in and extract the motor unit also. I hear the motor working but the mast just won't go to full up or down. My wife says that this happened after a trip to the car wash. But she always turns off the radio before she gets out of the car for the vacuuming they do and they run the car through the wash not running.

Thanks Jeff

[vickyg2003]

My antenna just stopped going down all the way or up all the way. Seemed to be bent. I pushed it back a little and I heard a crack and now the mast moves back and forth like it is broke. If I understand what has been posted the mast can be replaced with out removing the motor. If the mast isn't the only thing broken then I have to go in and extract the motor unit also. I hear the motor working but the mast just won't go to full up or down. My wife says that this happened after a trip to the car wash. But she always turns off the radio before she gets out of the car for the vacuuming they do and they run the car through the wash not running.

Thanks Jeff

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[vickyg2003]

The antenna mast has a long nylon cord on the end that feeds onto a reel. The replacement mast comes with the the new nylon cord. You can take the old mast out and put a new one in without much effort, the instructions that come with the mast are pretty clear.

If however when you remove the old one mast and find the old cord is not as long as the new one, you've got a problem. You need to remove the interior trim piece so you can gain access to the motor. Open the motor case and remove the remaining tail from the reel.

The most difficult part of the operation was removing the interior trim piece so that I could gain access to the antenna motor.

[jgr7]

Thanks, where did you purchase your mast?

[SKperformance]

Masts are about $30-$40 from a toyota /lexus dealer, i always prefer oem espeically with that stpuid nylon thread that breaks if the mast is damaged or dirty

[jgr7]

Got the new mast today, took about 10 min to fix. Old mast was broken/bent in the last section. The hardest part was getting the nylon piece to start. Once it started it went down just like magic.

Thanks for the info. Also the AntennaMastRus web site was very fast ordered on the 16th and got it today. Also they use pay-pal. And send detailed instructions.

Jeff

[lbintab]

Ok so i have a slightly different problem. my antenna doesnt go up or down. i was able to pull the antenna out so i could have some reception. The motor doesn't work at all though. Do you guys have any idea of what the problem could be? i was wondering if it could be the connections to the motor itself. from what i have read i'd have to take apart alot of things in order to get to the antenna.

[jgr7]

Your going to have to dig into it pretty deep to get to the motor for testing.

Jeff

[starfleet]

Thanks to all who have contributed to this topic, yesterday I was inspired to tackle the antenna on my wife's 02 RX300, as the antenna wouldn't go all the way up and made an awful groaning noise when retracting. I'm sharing as I believe my experience was somewhat unique from others.

First off, the nut came off rather easily. It took a while to unscrew it with a pair of needle nose pliers, but came off easily. Once off I had my wife turn on the radio and I made 2 attempts to pull the antenna out as it raised. No go. It was stuck in the metal tube atop the motor assembly.

At that point I proceeded to disassemble the right rear interior. That was pretty straight forward and shortly I was able to access the motor assembly with the antenna still inside. With the antenna collapsed I was able to remove the assembly and open the cover. Upon removing the drum I expected to see a broken nylon cable but such was not the case. The cable was in 1 piece but the teeth on the last several inches of the cable were worn off. So it appeared the gear was able to get enough of a bite to retract the antenna, with groaning, but not enough to raise it fully.

I removed the plastic retaining cover, pulled the big main gear and cut the old cable at the base of the metal tube just above the gear assembly. Then with the help of a pair of stout pliers and some twisting action I was able to remove the old antenna and promptly pitched it. I greased the big gear, replaced it and test ran the motor in both directions. No issues. I replaced the motor assembly and proceeded to feed in the new antenna. This is where I ran into a problem.

The new antenna wouldn't feed into the gears. The cable kept bottoming out in the tube short of the gear. Puzzled I removed the motor assembly and disassembled it again. I could see daylight at the bottom of the tube when looking in from the top but my attempts to feed the antenna cable continued to fail. So I got a wire clothes hanger and cutting a straight piece, probed the tube. It seemed that at the bottom where the ID narrows significantly there is a sharp shoulder that the cable was hitting. Not the best design perhaps, but with the disassembled motor outside the vehicle I experimented with different approaches to feeding the cable and found that with a back and forth twisting motion combined with up and down it eventually went through. Once I was able to get it through while still in a state of disassembly I stopped the cable just short of the gears and with a sharpie made a reference mark on the cable at the threaded top of the tube.

I reassembled the motor and installed it once again. Then from outside the vehicle, using the same back and forth, up and down motion I was able to get the cable past the shoulder. I stopped the feed at my reference mark and oriented the direction of the teeth toward the front of the car. Then I had my wife turn off the radio. When I heard the motor start I fed the cable in. It grabbed. As it fed I guided the base of the antenna into the tube and seated it. I replaced the nut and cycled the antenna up and down several times. Worked like new and very quiet!

I reassembled the interior and turned the car over to my wife. Success!