Vehicle Antenna

[matthewaqui]

Did a search a couple times on Electric Attenna but didn't find anything....

My power attenna has not gone down for the past 2 months.... not a big deal... It began to slip in the beginning when retracting..... and now it doesn't even budge.

Anyone here have a similar problem with the attenna?

I'm thinking it's a gear problem... don't know if GM made it with the same plastic gear as the headlights or not.

Either I refurbish it, replaced, or replaced it with your standard non retractable one.

Any comment on this issue would be grateful,
Matttttttttttttt

[98BlackTA]

Ehhh mine wouldn't go down. Well would start to go down and stop half way. i just bought a new antenna from a dealer for about 60-70 dollars not sure how much exactly. But they are very east to replace. Unless its a convert. Then its still each just a tight fit to get to.

[matthewaqui]

Thank you for the suggestion................

Matttttttt

[6-Speeder]

Well its most definatly going to be the cord inside the antenna is stripped at the bottom, there are people that have taken weed whacker wire to replace it with, requires some more effort to properly attach but it works.

I have simply taken it apart as far as you can go and just pushed the antenna down all the way and put it back in the car with the power unplugged to it but the radio still connected. It still works great, although some channels that are weak signals don't come in as well or at all sometimes. But im cool with it for now, its been like this for several months. Ill probably try the weed whacker idea in the spring. Or you can do what Camaro owners have just get a bendy non retractable one.

[matthewaqui]

That sounds like very good advice man.. thanks.... Yah.....some stations may not come in as well but what the heck. I'm not sure what the internal mechanism looks like... but don't want to make the effort if it's not even going to work.

Those small bendy attennas are awful looking...... the attenna only suck when it's up and in the way when washing or waxing..... other than that, it's no big deal.

If anyone have any internal images of the retractable mechanism, please post...

Thanks,
Mattttttt

Well its most definatly going to be the cord inside the antenna is stripped at the bottom, there are people that have taken weed whacker wire to replace it with, requires some more effort to properly attach but it works.

I have simply taken it apart as far as you can go and just pushed the antenna down all the way and put it back in the car with the power unplugged to it but the radio still connected. It still works great, although some channels that are weak signals don't come in as well or at all sometimes. But im cool with it for now, its been like this for several months. Ill probably try the weed whacker idea in the spring. Or you can do what Camaro owners have just get a bendy non retractable one.

[6-Speeder]

Well i can tell you exactly what i saw, basiclly the large gold cylinder is the top part of the mechanism, once that comes off you will see a large gear, i think it was metal but theres lots of grease. You cannot take apart the larger black section housing that year, there is no way unless u pretty much break it apart even then your own ur own since i never went that far.

The part you just took off houses a smaller gear and the weed whacker like cord goes through these two gears.

There will be obvious wear on the weed whacker line, or in my case the very bottom bit broke off making it just not long enough to be retracted but enough to push it up.

I made many back and forth attempts to get it into the gears and pull up and down and it appeared to work, it even retracted and pushed it up once, but then it failed the next time.

You may hear a horrible grinding noise or the usual noise it makes but no movement. Its a pretty simple operation if you do what i said in my last post.
Glad I could help

[matthewaqui]

Thanks for the description...

you mentioned the Weed Wacker cord hahahaha.... it couldn't be that thin could it? I'm thinking if you could replace it witha heavy Gauge steel line..... you think that can be done from what you have seen?

I'm planning on selling the vehicle in two years... thus, I will probably open it up to make the repair this Saturday.

Matt

[98BlackTA]

the Cord has teeth on it that grab the gear. if you buy just a Mast for it, agai from a dealership it is much cheaer. Then take the antenna out. Take the cover off of the motot (3 or 4 screws) and see if the teeth are facing the front of rear of the car. Take the cord out unwind it all. Put it all back together and hook it all up. Cut the radio on and let the motor wind all the way out. Feed the new cord down into it as far as it can go (Make sure it goes down into the motor there is a small lip tha it can catch on so if you have to shine a light down in it to see) then have someone cut the radio off and the motor should pull the new cord tight retract the antenna and thats all there is too it.

[matthewaqui]

Thanks... .I'll give it a shot and see what gives... I'll let you know..

Matthew

[transAMchubby]

my power antenna went out and was stuck up, not so easy to put a cover on for the winter.
ive done some researching here and on that other ls1 forum...
so this is what i did. took out the power antenna but left the rubber grommet and put a rubber "hood bumper" in that grommet with some vaseline to try and keep moisture out for the winter. in the spring i will get an antenna base for a non-power antenna and chop that down a bit, attach a shorty antenna to that and mount it inside the rear quarter panel.

if it gets warm enough i may do this in the next couple weeks. ill post how it works and what reception it gets after i do it.

[matthewaqui]

The second Gen Firebirds did not have retractable attennas.....it just had a based with a screw on..... and they worked fine.....

Hey, I'm thinking you can purchase one of those attenna with a manual retraction to handle the situation.... pull it up or push it all the way down when necessary.... it's cheap enough..

Mattttttttttttt

By the way, even my driver side window motor some time doesn't even go up..... all these motorize featured are dying out on my vehicle this year at the same time. Guess nothing last forever!!!! Time to Trade up to a New Camaro and make the payments.

[98BlackTA]

Windows are notorious for going out in these cars lol but yu gotta look at how big the glass is, and the camaros and firebirds scream windows down in the summer so they get used alot.

[vannatte]

These threads should answer all your questions:
http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread...=power+antenna

http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65218

stevensmith2000 and myself are pretty experienced at this repair. The trickiest part of the repair is getting the cover off of the motor. I used a utility knife to shave off the plastic rivots that hold it on. Then it just pops right off and you have access to the broken cord. Let me know if you have any questions.

[matthewaqui]

Hell ya! Cargo the T top with the windows partly down when the weather is right! The glass is really heavy I know! When it went down and didn't go up.... it was tough grabbing the glass with 2 fingers pulling it up.... and those doors are so long as well.

Hey man........ I hate seeing people trying to act cool with their Convertible tops down, especially when it's damn chilly outside...... I see shit heads down topping in the morning as well...

I don't discriminate, but it drives me nutz to see people over 60 cruising around in convertibles as well. I'm just thinking they are trying to act out of age and may catch a cold

Mattttttttttttttt

Windows are notorious for going out in these cars lol but yu gotta look at how big the glass is, and the camaros and firebirds scream windows down in the summer so they get used alot.

[matthewaqui]

Thanks for finding the info man....... I searched so many times and didn't come across it...

Matte

These threads should answer all your questions:
http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread...=power+antenna

http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65218

stevensmith2000 and myself are pretty experienced at this repair. Let me know if you have any questions.

[matthewaqui]

Hey... thanks for the info....... I being lead to a different thread.... I actually see what you are referring to when it comes to the Nylon teeth that feeds into the gear motor .........

If you don't buy that Nylon... there is no way you can fix it...

Thanks for the replacement tutorial!

I found the part at Autozone which no one mentioned about:


Part Number: AW-PWR22 or 44-PWR6

Only problem is that the attenna is not black, it's chrome hahahahah though it's only $19.99 bucks.

Matthew

[matthewaqui]

Hey buddy.... you think I can purchase that one from Autozone and feed it into our black attenna? since you done yours.... do you remember how that Nylon teeth line is retained inside of the mast?

Matthew

[vannatte]

DO NOT buy the one from AutoZone. It will not fit. I know this because I purchased it and tried it myself. The antenna is smaller than ours. It's worth the extra $30 to get the replacement mast from Ebay.

[matthewaqui]

Damn.. thanks for the info... I just called them and they said they had it in stock hahahahahaa ... thanks for saving me the trouble!!!! I'll follow your lead and make the replacement.

Good day,
Matthew

DO NOT buy the one from AutoZone. It will not fit. I know this because I purchased it and tried it myself. The antenna is smaller than ours. It's worth the extra $30 to get the replacement mast from Ebay.

[vannatte]

Just order this one (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CAMAR...spagenameZWDVW) and the install isn't too bad with some assistance. I ran into a few snags and stevensmith2000 walked me through it, so now I feel like an expert on the subject.