Power antenna fix with pic's
 

Ok here is a DIY on how to replace your power antenna on 2nd Gen 4Runners.

Mine got bent on a tree limb so it would not retract all the way down, sometimes the antenna breaks off and the plastic strip is still in the motor so if your antenna is missing assume the plastic strip is still in there and get to the motor and check before you try to stick a new one on.

1. first get a new antenna from Toyota, they had one in stock at my dealer cost $35

2. take the chrome cap off the top of your antenna there are 4 groves on it to use a flat head screwdriver and hammer and carefully tap it off( it screws on and off, remember counterclockwise=loosen clockwise=tighten) you could also use some visegrips but you would most likley scratch it up.

Re: Power antenna fix with pic's
 

2. you need to get to the motor through the passengerside wheel well it is a plastic liner that is held on with 7 10mm bolts there is no need to take all the bolts off just about 7 to get to the motor.

3. there is 1 10mm bolt that holds the motor to the fender of the truck and also you need to unplug the power to the motor(you can see the plug in the pic) then you can lay the motor on you tire to work on it. no need to try and remove the antenna cord that goes to your radio.

4. just carefully peel the plastic cover off the motor there are 5 philips head screws holding the motor together and 1 nut (in the center of the motor see pic) to remove. once open you can carefully remove the old plastic strip or antenna.

pic of the plastic strip in motor.

5. once you have the old antenna off and the plastic strip out put the motor back together and plug back in the power(plug),reattach to the fender, put the chrome ring back on.

6. Now get your new antenna and I put some silicone lube on the new strip of the antenna and this is where you need a helper.

7. Turn your car to the ACC in the ignition then have your helper turn the radio on in your truck, you will hear the antenna motor run.

When the motor stops running place your new antenna strip teeth towards the back of your truck in the antenna hole untill it stops( few inchs) then have your helper turn off the radio and you should feel the motor grab the strip( may take more then one try to get it to grab if this happens I started over again) in other words wait untill the motor stops have your helper turn on the radio again wait for it to stop put the antenna back in and have your helper turn the radio off again.

When you feel the motor grab the antenna strip just feed it down as straight as you can.

and your done have the helper turn the radio on again and the antenna will come up like new.

then go back and put your plastic fender well back on and you are done.

8. get a brew(or beverage of choice) turn on your radio consume and listen to some tunes.:D

GREAT....1 problem
 

First off, great pictures and great great instructions. Now i forget what year 4runner you did this on, but if it wasnt a '98 then forgive me. But everything you said works.....except the last step of feeding the antenna back into the motor. The teeth for my car face TOWARDS the front of the truck, not the rear like you said. just a heads up for people who are doing this same thing...thanks for the excellent instructions though...!!!!

Thank you for putting these instructions and pics up on the forum. It was very helpful.

I wish this was posted 2 weeks earlier. I didn't know that the top piece twisted off, until I hack-sawed it off. The cost to replace was too much, so i bought XM instead of fixing it. Now I have a custom hole in the side of my fender.

Hey moderators make this a sticky for the classic 4Runners, then people don't have to search for it.


BTW this was done on my 93 4Runner but the 3rd Gen is the same.

I also did a write up for the fuel filter replacement.




Mike

Yeah, I had to search the forum and stumbled upon it. Beware of putting the wheel well liner back in place. I cut the tip of my thumb pretty good. Had to wait for the bleeding to stop before I could finish the job.:arrow:

Also, on my 1990 I had to push a plastic square peg out from under the step board before peeling back the liner. If you break that peg you wont be able to use the screw that goes with it again. Unless you get another peg or use a nut and bolt rig. It is the very bottom screw.

Excellent instructions. A local Houston dealer wanted $200 to fix it,,, IF it was only stripped. I bought the new mast for $52 and in an hour and a half, it was fixed.

I have a 2002 SR5 with the fender flares and still had no problem accessing the antenna. I actually only had to remove 3 of the square snap-in retainers and could fold the liner back easily.

From researching different threads here, I figured out I should see if my ribbon was broken in two or just stripped. So, I first unscrewed the chrome collar and turned the radio on. It fed out only part of the ribbon with teeth so I knew I'd have to disassemble the motor to remove the broken off piece. Following the posted instructions, it was a breeze. It'd only be a 5 minute job if the ribbon was only stripped of some teeth and not separated in two parts.

Thanks for the help everyone, especially the photographer!

This probably goes without saying, but if your problem is the mast (bent, broken) you don't have to pull the antenna motor to fix. Just remember which way the teeth face when you feed it into the tube and ithat t might take more than one on/off cycle to feed the strip into the motor.

HMMM
 

You should be able to grab the plastic piece inside the old antannae tube with needle nose pliers or vise grips and pull it out. It isn't attached to anything. This way you don''t have to remove the powered motor portion of the anntenae. just unscrew the meatal cap ring, remove old parts of antenna, stick in new plastic piece and turn on radio, it will draw in the plastic piece, then set anntenna in there and reinstall the metal ring.