Power antenna issue

[wm69]

wife's 01 had the antenna cable break, so I got on ebay and ordered a $20 replacement. Followed the directions here and pulled the motor out, got the old cable bits out, put motor back in, fed new antenna into motor, everything works fine. That was in Feb.

About a week ago the antenna started making a very brief grinding noise when it fully extended, still goes down fine. Today it went all the way up, then started making a grinding noise and continued to do so until the motor run-time ended. Still goes down fine, and goes up fine, but it's like the motor isn't stopping when the mast reaches full height. I held my hand over the tip of the mast and stopped it just a little lower than full extention, and it stopped fine, but if I allow it to fully extend, the teeth start jumping.

I pulled the mast, and while the teeth aren't particularly deep, no part of the cable appears any more worn than the rest. I pulled the motor and the cog wheel in the motor looks fine.

Are ya'll using OEM Toyota masts or what? Did I just get a bad one? Anyone point to a specific place to buy one that they've had success with?

Thanks

 

[rjyhdc4]

So the antenna is ebay brand?

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

I had a broken antenna mast when I bought my 4Runner

I chose to go the OEM way to avoid anything like that, I've had issues with power antennae on other vehicles.

For example, my old 1987 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL's motor went out when the mast got jacked up.

I had to replace everything, I bought the motor used from a Pick-Your-Part and the antenna mast from eBay.

The mercedes had the exact same symptoms, I used to always leave my antenna switch on the auto up option but it was making the weird ass noise one it reached height and didn't stop...

I chose the OEM on the 4Runner and it works like new! I would recommend OEM all the way, its worth not replacing it repeatedly. The antenna was only about 45 bucks.

 

[wm69]

I chose the OEM on the 4Runner and it works like new! I would recommend OEM all the way, its worth not replacing it repeatedly. The antenna was only about 45 bucks.

The one I bought on ebay was in plain packaging with no markings, and it was $21 shipped.

It looked fine, and to be honest, still looks ok, but it isn't working ok. I wonder it the teeth are just a LITTLE bit to shallow......

Anyhow, I'll try OEM.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[KellyJ]

Power antennas get a lot of use in these vehicles, so replacing it with a quality OEM Toyota part can only help. They cost a bit more for a reason - they are backed by Toyota to work. Not to sound like a prick but if you shell out a few more greenbacks it's worth it in the long run. :bigok:

Mine used to get an extra workout now since aftermarket stereo only had one output for the antenna (antenna would go up regardless of using AM/FM, AUX, iPod or CD) so I installed my own bypass switch which gives me independent control over the antenna now so I only put it up when using the radio.

Knock on wood, my antenna in my 2002 still hasn't needed to be replaced. My 1996 had it replaced three times in five years.

 

[fjdele]

I just replaced the antennae mast this weekend with OEM part for $50 bucks, then saw a $20 generic at Autozone. Now I'm glad I didn't get the off brand, hopefully this will last another 10 years.

 

[wm69]

I just replaced the antennae mast this weekend with OEM part for $50 bucks, then saw a $20 generic at Autozone. Now I'm glad I didn't get the off brand, hopefully this will last another 10 years.

Wow, the difference in the plastic cable on the OEM part and the ebay part was HUGE.

The OEM cable was about twice as thick as the aftermarket part, and the teeth were deeper, larger, and spaced farther apart than the aftermarket part. Just a much heavier, better quality antenna mast.

It appears OEM is DEFINATELY the way to go here.

 

[DesertDune]

Couldn't agree with you more. The antenna on my 98 Limited stopped working about a year ago and I bought a replacement mast off ebay for $20. Followed the directions that came with it except that I was lazy and didn't take the broken piece of mast out of the motor. Instead I just shoved the new mast in there and it worked - done in 2 minutes! It made a little fart noise when fully retracted but nothing too annoying.

All was good for about 6 months when it started to make loud grinding noises when fully extended. It still worked fine when retracting. The "grind grind grind" lasted about 10 seconds. So I figured my laziness came back to bite me and the old piece of plastic in the motor was screwing things up. I bought another replacement mast from ebay-another $20. This time I went into the fender, took the motor out and cleaned out all the old pieces. I put the new mast in and to my great disappointment the same thing happened - grind grind grind when fully extended. I checked the old mast against the new mast and find that they are the same length, so nothing was actually broken. I put the old mast back in, but it did the same thing. WTF?

I read somewhere that taking the motor apart completely, cleaning, and relubing it helped - so I did that and all the components looked in good shape. It worked for about 2 up/down cycles then reverted to grinding. Tried the old mast, same thing. I began to suspect that the motor or relay was malfunctioning or that the spool may have been stripped just enough. To test the motor, I put my hand above the antenna to stop it before it fully extended and it stopped just fine. I was about to give up and just go with the Taco whip mod, but I finally decided to spend even more money ($45) and get a mast from my Toyota Dealer. I figured I can return it if it didn't work. Well it worked like a charm! It's only been about 2 months but so far so good. The OEM mast is so much better quality. I should have just bought this one from the start.

Sorry for rambling here, but I've learned so much from this forum that I thought I would give something back by sharing my story.

 

[steve-]

I agree with the posts above on using an OEM antenna mast.I just replaced my mast two weeks ago with OEM and works fine,I remember getting a mast for my Prelude off Ebay and even though the price was good the quality was not so good.
By the way it was a PITA taking the antenna motor out !

 

[WhiskeyCop]

Where did you guys get your eBay replacement from (what seller)? I saw someone called antenna mastsRus or something like that and they claim OEM quality... But I dunno. As hard as it was to get the dang motor out/in I plan on doing it once, and hopefully never have to go back in the fender. I have OEM on order at the stealer.

BTW, I have an '01 SR5 w/ Limited style fender flares and it was nearly impossible to get in there with the flares.