Antenae Replacement Tips

[ejs]

M antenae busted off. Had to turn the key on and off in order to stuff the white retract cord back. Did a search on replacement. Any other tips, best place to buy replacement?

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You can replace the antenna yourself very easily, but it is really easy if you have a helper. First, you unscrew the bezel surrounding the base of the antenna. This has 4 slots coming out radially from the center. You can use a pair of pliers around the outside rim, but put a rag or piece of leather between the pliers and the bezel to keep from scratching it.

Second, turn on the ignition and turn on the radio. This is where a helper comes in so they can turn on this stuff and you can be by the antenna when it starts coming out. The motor will just keep extending it until the antenna and the white nylon rack gear come out in your hand. As it is coming out, keep track of the direction the gear teeth on the nylon section are pointing so you can insert the new one in the same orientation. The fact that yours is bent and still operating probably means the whole nylon section is intact, but compare lengths of the old and new one and look at the end of the old one just to be sure some of it is not left in the motor.

Third, place the new nylon mast in the antenna tube with the gear teeth pointing in the same direction as the old teeth came out. Press it in gently and turn off the radio. As the motor retracts the new antenna, feed it in as straight and as gentle as possible. I have been told not to put grease on the new mast, even though the old one comes out with a lot of grease on it. Opinions may vary on this. Replace the bezel and you are done.

If the new mast does not go in just right the first time, you can turn off the radio, let the mast entend back out, and try again. You need to handle the mast without forcing it.

The utility of a helper is that all this happens faster than you would expect. You can do it by yourself, but you have to be quick, and there is a risk of the mast scratching paint.

My old plastic antenna end busted inside the antenna. I had to remove the motor and take it apart and put in the new part. It worked perfect and it took about one hour. If your old antenna is not broken you can change it about 15 minutesy I saw it at Pep Boys for a Toyota.

Yes, the mast is the metal part that moves up and down when you turn on and off the radio. It is attached to a plastic shaft with teeth that coils into the motor housing in the fender. The plastic shaft pushes and pulls the antenna.

If you can hear your antenna motor running when you turn the radio on or off, then you can just replace the mast and that should fix it. Eventually, the plastic shaft breaks or the teeth wear and the antenna makes noise or stops working.

Lexus will charge you around $200 for a motor/mast unit. I got the mast replacement for $24 shipped on ebay and it works great. It comes with the white plastic toothed shaft attached. My old mast did not come out very easily. I had to take channel locks and pull and twist (and destroy) it to get it out. I also took the motor housing apart to remove the broken pieces of plastic shaft. Then just feed the new mast's shaft in and turn off the radio and it gets sucked in. Put the trim ring on and you're done.

If you dont hear the motor when you turn on and off the radio, then you might need a new motor/mast unit or could have an electrical issue. There is a $30 replacement for this on ebay too, but I have not heard any reviews of it.

It's an easy and cheap fix.

I had the same problem. Bought an antenna mast from Ebay for $15.00. Opened the antenna motor, got broken pieces of the cable that controls up/down direction, lubed it, put everything back together and inserted cable as instructed. Works like new!