Replacing Antenna Mast In 92 Ls400

[Mike Gordon]

The antenna in my 92 LS400 will not raise or lower. I can hear the motor trying to do its thing, but it is obviously not engaging the mast. Other posts relate this same kind of problem. I have several questions :

1. Because the online parts dealers show a difference in parts for different mfr dates in 1992. Where would I find this info on my car?

2. At 185000 mi, I'm not interested in investing too much in the cosmetics, given the poor condition of the leather, some minor cracked plastic on the dash, etc., but I would like to play around with minor non-critical repairs myself. I've tried to find online resources that walk through the steps of removing and replacing the antenna mast, but can't find anything. Can anyone point me to an appropriate resource (even to the point of buying a comprehensive repair manual if they even exist)? My big problem is getting at and removing the antenna motor assembly; the interior panel is attached to the tool bay in the trunk and I can't seem to find a reasonable way to remove the panel to get at the motor and mast. I don't want to do something which damages this area and makes it impossible to reinstall.

Once I get the motor housing and the antenna out, I'm pretty sure I can disassemble and reinstall without help, but if anyone has any info directly related to this, I'd certainly appreciate that as well.

Thanks.

[1990LS400]

It is a good to learn how to use the advanced search function of this forum -- most common problems have been covered before. By doing a search on "antenna" in the LS section of this forum, I found this link: http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/audio/powerantenna.html

Welcome and good luck!

[Threadcutter]

The antenna in my 92 LS400 will not raise or lower. I can hear the motor trying to do its thing, but it is obviously not engaging the mast. Other posts relate this same kind of problem. I have several questions :

1. Because the online parts dealers show a difference in parts for different mfr dates in 1992. Where would I find this info on my car?

2. At 185000 mi, I'm not interested in investing too much in the cosmetics, given the poor condition of the leather, some minor cracked plastic on the dash, etc., but I would like to play around with minor non-critical repairs myself. I've tried to find online resources that walk through the steps of removing and replacing the antenna mast, but can't find anything. Can anyone point me to an appropriate resource (even to the point of buying a comprehensive repair manual if they even exist)? My big problem is getting at and removing the antenna motor assembly; the interior panel is attached to the tool bay in the trunk and I can't seem to find a reasonable way to remove the panel to get at the motor and mast. I don't want to do something which damages this area and makes it impossible to reinstall.

Once I get the motor housing and the antenna out, I'm pretty sure I can disassemble and reinstall without help, but if anyone has any info directly related to this, I'd certainly appreciate that as well.

Thanks.

Mike:

Do yourself a BIG favor and buy a completely new unit on eBay. They're about $30 to $35 and are worth every penny. I did my first one the hard way by getting a replacement mast ($15 to $20). It's do-able, it's just messy & time consuming. If you get the complete unit, remove the old one & bolt in the new one. It will probably take about a half an hour.......much better way to go.