The Power antenna on my 97' 4runner went bad and would not go up or down. Mine has a broken ridged nylon cord that runs through a gear attached to the electric motor to raise and lower the antenna. Since the motor was not bound by the broken cord I could hear the gear running for a few seconds once I turned the radio on and off. That being said you too should be able to hear the motor for a brief time after you first turn on or off the radio. Might want to put your ear to the fender and have someone else turn the radio on and off to determine if the motor is running at all. If that doesn't appeal to you you can jack the front right wheel up remove the tire, pull the wheel well rain guard off and see the motor connected to the antenna.
If you determine the motor is good then you can oder a new nylon cord from the dealer, take the motor out, unscrew the top off the motor, remove any of the nylon cord left in the center of the motor housing, seal the housing back,put the motor back in the fender well, attach the nylon cord to the end of the antenna, feed it through the hole in the top of the fender well, turn the radio on, get ready to insert the new cord in the to of the motor housing, turn the radio off (causes the motor to attempt to retract the cord), then feed the cord down until it catches the gear and it will feed itself back into the motor housing... whew...at least it worked for me......
