HELP Please! Replacing - 2002 Toyota 4Runner Antenna Mast

[yoshm0]

I have a 2002 Toyota 4Runner. The power antenna started failing by not going all the way up / combined with loud grinding noises.

After much research and reading the excellent threads/posts here (http://www.toyota-4runner.org/classic-t4rs/8838-power-antenna-fix-pics.html) on this very subject, I was confident that I could change out the Antenna mast myself without too much trouble.

So, I went to my local Toyota Dealership and purchased the stock antenna mast (Part # 86337-35111 = $71). I’ve read some people have been successful with aftermarket antenna masts, while others experienced issues. I want to get this darn thing done with as little issues as possible, hence my decision to go OEM.

These are my EXACT steps I followed when changing out the antenna:

1) Removed the chrome cap / nut to remove antenna
2) Turned key to ACC and turned power on to the radio so antenna would extend
a. Antenna came up and I pulled out the antenna mast
b. Compared the length of both new and old antenna strips and they are identical (So my assumption is no broken pieces in the motor)
3) Lubed up the new antenna strip with white grease
4) Pushed the antenna strip down into the hole, teeth facing forward (Towards front of car)
5) Hit the power button on the radio and the motor begins to reel in the antenna and it reels it in perfectly (Thinking, it WORKS!)
6) Put the chrome cap / nut back on and tightened down

At this point I’m feeling pretty damn good that everything worked as expected. Then, I hit the power button and the antenna begins going up and then it gets stuck and I hear the loud grinding noise again. ARGH!!! I also read somewhere that you may have to turn it on and turn it off a couple times so that it corrects itself. Well, I tried multiple times and every time, the antenna would NOT extend fully without me helping it by pulling up on it. I reread the instructions in the threads to ensure I was following the directions correctly and removed and reinstalled at least 5-6 times with the same exact results. The antenna retracts just fine without issue. The issue is that the antenna does not extend all the way and gets stuck. Considering both antenna masts are identical in length, I can only assume nothing is broken off in the motor.

Has anybody experienced this before? Anybody have any insight into what I could possibly be doing wrong?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

 

[zwalker16]

Get u an after market antenna. Cheaper and it rubber which means it's flexible. So no up and down crap or breaking if it hits something.

 

[RedSled]

I have a 2002 Toyota 4Runner. The power antenna started failing by not going all the way up / combined with loud grinding noises.

After much research and reading the excellent threads/posts here (http://www.toyota-4runner.org/classic-t4rs/8838-power-antenna-fix-pics.html) on this very subject, I was confident that I could change out the Antenna mast myself without too much trouble.

So, I went to my local Toyota Dealership and purchased the stock antenna mast (Part # 86337-35111 = $71). I’ve read some people have been successful with aftermarket antenna masts, while others experienced issues. I want to get this darn thing done with as little issues as possible, hence my decision to go OEM.

These are my EXACT steps I followed when changing out the antenna:

1) Removed the chrome cap / nut to remove antenna
2) Turned key to ACC and turned power on to the radio so antenna would extend
a. Antenna came up and I pulled out the antenna mast
b. Compared the length of both new and old antenna strips and they are identical (So my assumption is no broken pieces in the motor)
3) Lubed up the new antenna strip with white grease
4) Pushed the antenna strip down into the hole, teeth facing forward (Towards front of car)
5) Hit the power button on the radio and the motor begins to reel in the antenna and it reels it in perfectly (Thinking, it WORKS!)
6) Put the chrome cap / nut back on and tightened down

At this point I’m feeling pretty damn good that everything worked as expected. Then, I hit the power button and the antenna begins going up and then it gets stuck and I hear the loud grinding noise again. ARGH!!! I also read somewhere that you may have to turn it on and turn it off a couple times so that it corrects itself. Well, I tried multiple times and every time, the antenna would NOT extend fully without me helping it by pulling up on it. I reread the instructions in the threads to ensure I was following the directions correctly and removed and reinstalled at least 5-6 times with the same exact results. The antenna retracts just fine without issue. The issue is that the antenna does not extend all the way and gets stuck. Considering both antenna masts are identical in length, I can only assume nothing is broken off in the motor.

Has anybody experienced this before? Anybody have any insight into what I could possibly be doing wrong?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

I am sure someone with some knowledge about this will be able to help you,Hang in there.

 

[Hepar]

I would yank out the motor (it's really not that hard) and look for a broken piece in there. You never know. It might be a tiny piece that is causing it. It could also mean that the mast is fine, but that the problem lies within the motor itself.

 

[01thunder]

i had a similar problem and it was the motor. i found an OE motor at a great price so i bought it and sold the OE mast i had bought. it is not that hard to replace, just took some time as you have to remove the glove box and some other items to fish the cable through to the radio.

 

[nor_cal51501]

[MENTION=108883]yoshm0[/MENTION], where in Cali are you? I have an extra motor i could part with for cheap if you are interested.

 

[TheDurk]

If I were doing this, I would just come to the conclusion that it is time for surgery. Open up the motor, clean it all out, and regrease. There is probably some junk in there, or you may find the drive gear has stripped somehow. In any case, nothing you do standing outside the truck is going to cure this.

I had to pull a few broken pieces from the inside of mine. It's not that bad a job. You'll break a few of the plastic fender pins. So stock up:

90189-06212 at the dealer or Balkamp 665-1378 at NAPA.

 

[yoshm0]

motor

[MENTION=108883]yoshm0[/MENTION], where in Cali are you? I have an extra motor i could part with for cheap if you are interested.

nor_cal51501, i'm in So Cal. Aliso Viejo area. Thanks for your response. I'm going to pull out the motor and clean it and see if that helps anything. If that doesn't work, I'll reach out to you for the motor. How much you looking to sell it for?

 

[yoshm0]

Motor removal

My 4Runner is a 2002 with the fender flares. Is it necessary to take off the fender flares, or will I be able to pull outside the wheel liner without taking the fender flare off?

Also, I spent almost an hour last night trying to carefully take off ONE grommet! From what i've read, these are just a PITA to take off and I should just buy some cause more than likely I'll break most of them when taking them off.

Is there a correct way of taking them off? I'm going to go buy maybe ten of them, just in case.

Thank you all for your responses!

 

[nor_cal51501]

My 4Runner is a 2002 with the fender flares. Is it necessary to take off the fender flares, or will I be able to pull outside the wheel liner without taking the fender flare off?

Also, I spent almost an hour last night trying to carefully take off ONE grommet! From what i've read, these are just a PITA to take off and I should just buy some cause more than likely I'll break most of them when taking them off.

Is there a correct way of taking them off? I'm going to go buy maybe ten of them, just in case.

Thank you all for your responses!

I actually don't have any idea what they sell for, but I will find out. Also, I had to pull my flare to pull the inner wheel well liner and naturally broke all but one flare clip in addition to one inner liner clip. You need to pull the flare in order to get the inner liner out.(big pain in the ass) if y

 

[nor_cal51501]

My 4Runner is a 2002 with the fender flares. Is it necessary to take off the fender flares, or will I be able to pull outside the wheel liner without taking the fender flare off?

Also, I spent almost an hour last night trying to carefully take off ONE grommet! From what i've read, these are just a PITA to take off and I should just buy some cause more than likely I'll break most of them when taking them off.

Is there a correct way of taking them off? I'm going to go buy maybe ten of them, just in case.

Thank you all for your responses!

I actually don't have any idea what they sell for, but I will find out. Also, I had to pull my flare to pull the inner wheel well liner and naturally broke all but one flare clip in addition to one inner liner clip. You need to pull the flare in order to get the inner liner out.(big pain in the ass) If you plan on doing the Taco whip mod in the future, now would be the ideal time to just fork over the $$ and do it so you don't have to remove your flare and inner liner again. There's pics at the end of my build thread showing some of my flares removed and the antenna location if you need to reference it.

 

[Hepar]

I didn't need to take my flare off when I yanked my motor out. But then again, it wasn't to remove it completely. Just out enough to where I could get inside of it and get the broken bits out.

 

[TheDurk]

I didn't need to take my flare off when I yanked my motor out. But then again, it wasn't to remove it completely. Just out enough to where I could get inside of it and get the broken bits out.

I would think that would take MORE room, not less. Once you get a hand on it, squeezing that motor out is pretty easy.

 

[nor_cal51501]

Agreed. You can probably get away with undoing the inner retaining clips for the fender liner, but it will without a doubt require more maneuvering and clearance issues to get in there, not to mention possibility of breaking some of the tabs as you pull it back. But hey, give it a try. If you can't get it then you can go to removing the flare at that point. Might as well try the easy route first and if all else fails, remove the flare if you just can't get in there.

 

[yoshm0]

If I were doing this, I would just come to the conclusion that it is time for surgery. Open up the motor, clean it all out, and regrease. There is probably some junk in there, or you may find the drive gear has stripped somehow. In any case, nothing you do standing outside the truck is going to cure this.

I had to pull a few broken pieces from the inside of mine. It's not that bad a job. You'll break a few of the plastic fender pins. So stock up:

90189-06212 at the dealer or Balkamp 665-1378 at NAPA.

TheDurk, I came to the inevitable conclusion that my only option was to take off the motor to investigate, because standing outside the truck wasn't going to cure it. That was funny, thank you I needed that!

So, I did... I was able to pull off the fender liner without having to pull off the fender flares. Before I began the surgery, I stopped off at Toyota to buy 8 grommets as I knew these would be a mother trying to take off. Didn't jack around with trying to be careful to save them. Used pliers and wire cutters and pried them off. If they broke, they broke and most of them did. It's a lot less stressful when you know you’ve got replacements. I destroyed about 6 grommets and was able to bend the wheel well liner back, with enough room to expose the antenna motor. Unbolted the motor, unwrapped the electrical tape that held the motor in the protective sleeve, unplugged the motor, and then had enough room to set it down to open it up.

Opened the motor up and carefully pulled it apart. I didn't see broken pieces of teeth or anything else broken for that matter. Pulled out all the gearing and carefully searched for something that looked broken or stuck. Nada! There was a lot of gunk/grease on the plastic gear that reels in the antenna. Took that apart and cleaned it thinking maybe there was too much gunk on there and that could possibly be making the gearing slip. Also cleaned up the gunk on the antenna gear teeth. After I was done cleaning, I put the gearing all back together. Slipped the motor back in the sleeve, taped it back up, bolted it back in.

Now the moment truth. Obviously, really hoping all the work I’ve done will pay off with the non-existent sound of that loud grounding noise and the smooth extension and retraction of the antenna.

Not so much.

Turned on the power and the #$@#@! antenna still had the same issue in that it could not extend fully and the grinding noise was back. Argh!

So frustrated! Through the process of elimination, I presume the motor is no Bueno. I left the antenna extended and pulled the power plug on the motor so it would stay up. So, the obvious risk is breaking the antenna. Oh well. Just need to be careful.

Anyways, I’m glad I discovered these boards. You have all be very generous with your knowledge. Thank you for taking the time to read my plea and more importantly offer me advice to assist in fixing my antenna problem!

Much :thanks:!!!

 

[TheDurk]

TheDurk, I came to the inevitable conclusion that my only option was to take off the motor to investigate, because standing outside the truck wasn't going to cure it. That was funny, thank you I needed that!

So, I did... I was able to pull off the fender liner without having to pull off the fender flares. Before I began the surgery, I stopped off at Toyota to buy 8 grommets as I knew these would be a mother trying to take off. Didn't jack around with trying to be careful to save them. Used pliers and wire cutters and pried them off. If they broke, they broke and most of them did. It's a lot less stressful when you know you’ve got replacements. I destroyed about 6 grommets and was able to bend the wheel well liner back, with enough room to expose the antenna motor. Unbolted the motor, unwrapped the electrical tape that held the motor in the protective sleeve, unplugged the motor, and then had enough room to set it down to open it up.

Opened the motor up and carefully pulled it apart. I didn't see broken pieces of teeth or anything else broken for that matter. Pulled out all the gearing and carefully searched for something that looked broken or stuck. Nada! There was a lot of gunk/grease on the plastic gear that reels in the antenna. Took that apart and cleaned it thinking maybe there was too much gunk on there and that could possibly be making the gearing slip. Also cleaned up the gunk on the antenna gear teeth. After I was done cleaning, I put the gearing all back together. Slipped the motor back in the sleeve, taped it back up, bolted it back in.

Now the moment truth. Obviously, really hoping all the work I’ve done will pay off with the non-existent sound of that loud grounding noise and the smooth extension and retraction of the antenna.

Not so much.

Turned on the power and the #$@#@! antenna still had the same issue in that it could not extend fully and the grinding noise was back. Argh!

So frustrated! Through the process of elimination, I presume the motor is no Bueno. I left the antenna extended and pulled the power plug on the motor so it would stay up. So, the obvious risk is breaking the antenna. Oh well. Just need to be careful.

Anyways, I’m glad I discovered these boards. You have all be very generous with your knowledge. Thank you for taking the time to read my plea and more importantly offer me advice to assist in fixing my antenna problem!

Much :thanks:!!!

Sorry that didn't work. Did the drive gear look good? Is there any possibility the dealer sold you a non-OEM mast? Because what you have is what I had when I tried to use a cheapo e-Bay mast. When I used the mast sold by seller Raderra it went back to working perfectly. You said dealer so I assumed you had a good mast. Now I wonder. Do you have a micrometer? Look at the measurements I made in the thread below and compare to your old and new masts. I'd be interested to see what you come up with. If your new mast is not at least 4.0mm thick on the tail from back to top of teeth you got sold a junk mast.

Other than a worn drive gear, I can't think of why/how a motor would fail in this way with a new good mast.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/110684-power-antenna-fixed-but-new-issue.html#post1026689