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Antenna problems


Kevin M

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Yesterday my antenna wouldn’t go down. I know this was replaced before I bought the car in July. From what I’ve researched I think this is a cheap brand. I replaced the fuse and that didn’t do anything. All the wiring looks good. But the motor doesn’t activate when I press the power button on the radio. Anything I missed before I go buy a new one. 

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That antenna looks so new that I doubt the antenna is the problem. There should be a relay on (or near)  the antenna that controls the motor. It might be bad or you could have a bad connection. The electrical connector going to the relay is a good place to check to see if the antenna is getting constant power as Phil suggested and a signal from the radio to make the antenna go up.

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As noted by others, you have a non-original replacement antenna.

The first place to start is with the wires coming from the front of the car.  

Black wire is ground

Pink wire is hot (12V) when the radio is on

Orange is hot (12v) at all times

These wires go to the relay......when you turn on the radio, that picks the relay and the antenna goes up.

When you turn off the radio or turn off the key, the orange wire give the antenna power to go down.

The attached schematic is from the Reatta manual

ant relay.jpg

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  • 4 months later...

When the radio is turned on the pink wire gets power,  so yes a defective radio could result in no power to the pink wire,  however I do not know how power gets to the pink wire inside the radio.  

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I did order a new one from Marck last week so maybe that will fix my problem. I do here a clicking noise from the antenna area when I hit the power on the radio. But nothing else. I’ll see what happens when I play with it more

 

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My long distance thought is the antenna is bad....that type of antenna has a flat band that looks like a ladder,  if any of the cross pieces break it will ratchet....try pulling it up a little and see if it catches.

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Barney I believe you are right about it being bad. I was able to pull it up a hair and also push it down about 1/2 inch. No dice. I’m just going to buy a new one and hope that works. Is the installation and removal of the antenna an easy job? Doesn’t look that bad to me but I never really know with cars

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  • 2 weeks later...

Today was a very radio heavy day for me. Installed a refurbished radio and a new antenna. The antenna doesn’t go up at all now. Before I took out the old one out I pushed the antenna down about half way. It would move about a quarter inch either way when powering on and off. New one doesn’t do anything.

I also have a very constant thumping sound while the radio is on. And it’s all three modes. Radio CD and cassette. It’s better in some spots than others driving around could this due to the antenna being down?

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