Problem with Power Antenna

peter78

peter78

Super Moderator
Well, it had to happen. I got my first problem with the 4Runner. The power antenna does not seem to engage right. There is this terrible noise and the antenna does not move when you turn on the radio. I pushed it a little and it gets engaged and when it is fully retracted the motor works for another 5 seconds. Right now I am listening to CD's, but I need to get it fixed.

It sounds like I need a new motor for the antenna. It looks like it is not easy to get to. Anyone know how to get to the motor for the antenna? Anyone have a simular problem?
 
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all you have to really do is pull out the antenna its self then put a new one in or just unplug it like i did ...look around over at yotatech.com theres a few threads
 
I'm experiencing the same problem right now..my antenna went up one time and won't go back down..the motor is trying to catch it but wont' go back down..I went to toyota and the problem is there is a white strip at the bottom of the antenna that has teeth on it which is pushed up and down by the motor. My white piece is broken off at the end so the motor can't reach to pull it back down..toyota said it would cost around $240 bucks..(bout $180 for labor). and i said hell no..so i have i bought a replacement antenna..but haven't done anything with it..The broken antennna i have now is fine except the noise of the motor.
 
It takes about 30 minutes to totally remove the motor and disassemble it to replace the antenna. I did it last Christmas on my 2001 4Runner. The only issue is you need to get the "plugs" for the fender well. Toyota did not use bolts or screws on my 2001 and The removal of the push pins that hold the fender skirt requires replacement. You then pull the motor assembly out and open it up to get the pieces of the old stuff out and then put it back. It was not difficult at all.

Here is a link for 2nd generations but it sure looks almost the same for 3rd generation.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?threadid=8838&highlight=antenna
 
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Own a 4runner long enough and you will have this trouble, even if you clean and lube the mast on a regular basis. I had it on both my 4runners and just recently on my daughter's Camry-(exact same motor as on the runner). Just get one of those 12 dollar masts from Ebay, pop out the little black cups/studs on the plastic inner fender, disconect everything on the motor and take off that crome slotted nut on top of the fender. The motor comes out out, you take it apart-(maybe 4-6 screws), clean out the old pieces of plastic, regrease and put it back in the truck except the crome nut. Put the nut on the mast, feed the long plastic gear into the motor, turn the radio on, then off-as it turns off you simple push the long plastic gear into the motor until it catches and it will go down-(make sure the gear is faceing the right direction to engage the gear in the motor). Tighten up the crome nut-(I used bent needle nose), grease up the mast and you are good to go. As has been mentioned, you will need replacements for those plastic studs that hold on the inner fender. I like the power antena, it's great to have when I'm off road in the trees and also for car washes...

Doug
 
Thanks for the replys. The write ups on Yotatech were good. I will try and see if I can see if I can get to the little motor this weekend by turning the wheel.

I am wondering if I disconnect the motor and leave the atenna up or for that matter leave it down and hopefully let the secondary atenna on the side back window do all the work. I will probably try and replace the antenna with a new one though.

It sounds like this happens quite a bit. I'll let you know what I decide to do. :confused:
 
you know what would be pretty cool is if you had a dual band cb radio and already had one in the rear if you bought something like a 18" firestik and mounted it in the power antenna's place. then, like you said, devote the signal to the back window antenna
 
peter78 said:
Thanks for the replys. The write ups on Yotatech were good. I'll let you know what I decide to do. :confused:
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I finally got around to fixing the antenna. I bought a replacement at the local Toyota dealer. It was $48. The peson at the dealer told me what to do.

1.) Unscrew the retaining nut at the top of the antenna, I used a big screw driver to do this.

2.) Then with some help, turn on the radio and grab the loose antenna and pull it out, be sure to notice which way the teeth are that grab the motor.

3.) Grease the new nylon strand of teeth.

4.) Install the new antenna, first put in the nylon strand of teeth till it hits the motor, be sure to align the teeth the way they were.

5.) Have your friend turn off the radio, the nylon strand should engage, guide the antenna in the hole when the strand retracts. (Note: The new atenna was installed retracted.)

6.) Install and screw the retaining bolt.

7.) Turn on the radio, to see if it works. I had to turn it on and off a few times for it to fully retract and extent.

The is what the parts person told me what to do. I did not remove the motor, heck I basically did very little. Took less than 5 minutes. I will let you know how it holds up.

Basically, the teeth in the old antenna just strip off. I have a picture of the new antenna, retaining bolt and a screw driver that I used. Thanks for the help.
 

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Glad it worked. The reason I advocate taking the motor apart is that those stripped teeth are still in the motor/drive gearing. The thing is full of grease and they just stay in the gears, I like to clean them out so they don't casuse trouble down the road.

Doug
 
Doug S said:
Glad it worked. The reason I advocate taking the motor apart is that those stripped teeth are still in the motor/drive gearing. The thing is full of grease and they just stay in the gears, I like to clean them out so they don't casuse trouble down the road.

Doug
Click to expand...
Yes, that would make sense. Since the parts person told me what to do, I took the simple way of fixing it. He told me, quite a few people come in with different models getting this fixed, he mentioned the Camry has the same type of antennna. He mentioned nothing about going into the motor. I figured if it does mess up, I will order another antenna on-line at a cheaper price and take the time to fix it properly. Hopefully this will work, if it does mess up, I will post here again.
 
my antenna acted up maybe a year ago and i still have not fixed it. :( the dealer said it would be $140 just for parts and the local junk yard said they dont have any. im not willing to pay that price and im not a huge fan of the stubbie or whip antennas. so...like most guys that are too lazy to fix the problem, i simply just stopped listening to the radio and listen to cds. however, when i play cds, it skips a lot. sometimes to the point where it skips to the next song because it cant read what song is currently playing.....for burned cds and even legit cds. sometimes even changing lanes will cause the cd to skip. any clue to if this relates to the busted antenna? would i have to eventually replace the head unit?
 
i am in the same boat as for my antenna started acting funny tonight. (i was so pissed) my radio still works but when i turn the radio on the motor will grind for several seconds before stopping. i have read about replacing the antenna and doesn't seem like a very big job ( this is taking off the motor and cleaning out the broken pieces.) of course you can simply replace the antenna by just unscrewing the bolt and inserting a new antenna then turning on the radio should catch the antenna and pull it down. Now as for the CD skipping mine does the same thing but not as bad as you are saying, before you go spend the money on a new head unit try buying a cd cleaner kit from ( maybe best buy or radio shack) and insert the cleaning cd. this should help clean any dust/ particles that have built up over time. hope that helps i am going to try the same very soon.
 
Thanks...
I have seen a few good write ups about this.. since my motor is good I op'd for just replacing the mast and have the good motor "suck it in". I am on the other hand worrying about bits of broken teeth being stuck in the motor then I would have to take it apart and clean it out and re grease it.

I also saw the Taco mod... which is simply removing the motorized antenna assembly and just having a black rod- done deal..

I only listen to AM-FM for LOCAL traffic/news anyhow.. other than that it's the IPod or Sirius
 
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My powered antenna broke off and the motor kept running on it whenever i'd start or shut off the car. drove me insane. finally just broke down one day and took the old antenna mount off and replaced it with non-powered one (OEM $60) and put a stubby antenna on it. i don't even listen to the radio, just satellite or blue tooth off my phone, but that day i listened to the radio to and from work. worth the effort to fix that.
 
That's exactly what I am going through... I ordered the replacemt part from the dealer and we will see what happens.

I'll wait until the new part gets here and compare the length if mine is shorter it means that I has broken pieces and will have to take the motor apart and clean it out. I'm lucky the motor wasn't broken other wise I would have going the Taco route.

Thanks for the reply.
 
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