INFO ON POWER ANTENNA

[FIRSTRIV]

THE POWER ANTENNA MOTOR ON MY 98 RIV RUNS BUT DOES NOT ACTUATE THE ANTENNA ITSELF. IS IT WORTH TRYING TO FIX? IS THERE A KIT FOR THIS? IS IT A COMMON PROBLEM? ANY SUGGESTIONS? THANX.

[NTX5467]

GM power antennas of that era had basically two pieces--the motor and the "mast". When your car was new, you could buy the pieces to fix anything on the antenna, but now those part numbers have been superceded to an antenna assembly for replacement.

The somewhat common problem is that there is a nylon tube inside of the mast that "runs" the antenna up and down. On the end of that tube that indexes with a drum on the motor itself, is a metal/aluminum hook that attaches the tube to the drum. With time and age and temperture changes, the hook can become detached from the nylon tube. Therefore, when the motor is commanded to run (up or down), the motor runs in the appropriate direction. If it does not see any load (going up or going down), then it usually will keep running until somebody unplugs the electicity to it or similar.

As for the cost of repairing or replacing . . . it used to be that the complete antenna assembly (replacement, which perfectly matched the orig) was about $125.00, with probably 30minutes labor to r&r it. When you could order the mast assembly from GM, it was about $45.00, but more labor to install it on the existing motor. You could also order just the upper section of the antenna mast,where the tube attaches on that end, but you had to have somebody that knew how to repair them and somebody that even knew where it might be. End result, by the time you bought the mast and paid labor to install it, the antenna assembly cost comes very close to what it would cost for the less expensive part and more labor to get it installed. These were the prices I remember from several years ago, so they are now "reference points" rather than accurate pricing. Might also be that GM has discontinued them at this time, or substituted another "accessory" part for a "genuine" part.

I'd say to give your favorite local dealer a shot at getting the antenna fixed. While there, you might get the parts operatives to run you a picture of the antenna itself (parts and numbers) and check for price/availabity.

[FIRSTRIV]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE INFO. IT LOOKS LIKE I WILL BE TRYING TO FIND AN ENTIRE UNIT TO INSTALL. I WILL CALL THE DEALER AND DO AS YOU ADVISE. HOPEFULLY IT WILL NOT BE AS BAD AS IT SEEMS. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR TAKING THE TIME TO RESPOND. PATRICK

[harry yarnell]

This is an easy repair for someone mechanically inclined. The nylon drive cable is broken; common problem. The nylon drive (commonly called the fish line) is available from GM for about $17 part #22038195.

Remove the clips and rivets from the gearcase. Unscrew the ferrel from the end of the mast Spread the holdown ears and remove the mast assy. Split the case and be carefull the motor assy says with one side of the case. Replace the nylon line. Feed the end up thru the mast assy and reassemble. Don't try to wind (well you can if you want to)the string around the drum; once assembled, and the string is hanging out the mast, energize the motor, and let the motor wind the string back into the case.

Barney, I think, rebuilds these if you wish to just swap units.

[FIRSTRIV]

THE AFTER MARKET PARTS HOUSE HAS A NEW UNIVERSAL UNIT FOR $48 THAT THEY SAY I WOULD HAVE TO MAKE FIT. I THINK THAT MEANS MAKING BRACKETS AND SPLICING WIRES. I ALSO CALLED THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THEY DON'T SELL PARTS TO REPAIR THESE ANYMORE. THEY WANT $205 FOR A NEW UNIT. I WILL CALL BACK AND ASK ABOUT THE PART NUMBER YOU HAVE GIVEN ME THOUGH. WHO IS BARNEY? IF HE IS RELIABLE AND REASONABLE I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN CONTACTING HIM ABOUT A REBUILD OR SWAP. THANK YOU FOR ANY MORE HELP OR INFO YOU CAN GIVE

[NTX5467]

Over the past 8+ years, every part number that was a prior repair part for the GM power antennas has been superceded into the "unit" item (i.e., the whole power antenna assembly). At this time, I highly suspect that all residual dealer stocks have been depleted . . . long ago.

There used to be a separate ACDelco parts book on GM power antennas. It listed all of those repair items plus all of what it took to put them in various vehicles. At that time, there were two GM supply networks, ACDelco and GM Service Part Operations, but those two entities have been merged together in more recent history. It could be possible that somebody has something in an aftermarket part, but you'd need to have deep connections to get that deep into the supply network to get them.

In the GM power antennas, there was the "top mounting" and the "lower support", typically, whether fender-mounted or quarter panel mounted. The upper mount would basically locate the unit into the fender or rear quarter panel. The upper section of the antenna housing would be threaded and seat on the underside of the sheet metal, then an appropriate "bezel" (usually black plastic) would seat against the outer (painted) sheet metal to allow the final "nut" (usually chrome with some notches for a spanner wrench-type socket to tighten it down with) would tighten and secure the upper mounting to the sheet metal.

Near the lower section of your antenna mast housing, there could be a metal bracket that wraps around the outer housing with a slot in the free end. This interfaces with a matching slot/bracket mounted to the inner fender. This stabilizes the antenna itself. The GM bracket that was added to the replacement masts was the same bracket, with a circular section to match the outer diamater of the mast housing, but attached to the new housing with small screws (supplied in the kit with the bracket) rather than being soldered/brazed onto the housing as the original was. If it was a quarter panel mount, there would be a "strap" bracket that would attach to the lower section of the motor part of the antenna assembly.

In the realm of aftermarket/universal power antennas, the upper mount is a "ball mount" to allow for different slopes on the outer sheet metal, but it might not always match as the factory "bezel" would as it's generally designed for a flat mouting outer surface rather than a possibly curved one. From there, the lower stabilizing brackets would be fabricated as necessary by the installer. The antenna kit might have some universal brackets and attaching hardware, but the straps might need bending to do what they need to do.

Rather than an auto supply, you might be better to contact an automotive radio repair shop that knows about power antennas and might have some in stock. That way, if you decide to not use the factory-style unit or can't get the one you have repaired somewhere, they can handle the installation/adaptation issues AND provide something of a warranty should something not work as it should.

A good place to start might be with the Delco Radio Repair Station (where the GM dealers send their radios for warranty repair/exchange) in your (hopefully) area, or someplace the dealership parts people might recommend you try (at your own judgment, of course). It might be that they could have some stock on the antenna parts you might need, too, as they might be able to get into the (mentioned) supply network other than the normal one which a GM dealer would have access to.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467