rattler96

Like many of yours, my antenna didn’t work on my 96 ES that I bought about a month ago. To try to save $$$, I bought an aftermarket power assembly. Of course, it only has red, green and black wires. Anyone have any insight on getting this thing wired, or should I go and find a factory unit?

Thanks ,
Rattler96

Lexucan

In most cases, it's not the motor that has broken but the telescoping antenna mast. The toothed nylon cable at the bottom of it breaks and the mast will no longer extend or retract. At least, that was the case when I bought my car. Mast replacements can be found on ebay for a pretty cheap price.....a LOT cheaper than buying one from the stealership!

kphu

iTrader: (8)

That's exactly what happened to mine but I haven't been successful at fixing it. I bought 2 antenna mast and both of them broke after I installed it.

I missed an ebay item on an aftermarket antenna because I miscalculated the ending time but got lucky yesterday because someone was selling a used OEM unit in which I was the only bidder. $32.50 shipped.

Keep your eye on ebay, they come and go pretty fast.

paintrain

i just went to advance auto parts and bought a generic antenna that is 6" long and doesnt retract, its a rubber one so it flexes. i think it was only like 12 duckets

kphu

iTrader: (8)

They have those on ebay too. I perfer the telescoping one.

basketthis

The wires are as follows: One is constant 12v, one is ground, and the other is the trigger wire which 12v will tell it to rise or retract. The product instructions should tell you which is which. Then you will just have to test the wires that control your factory antenna. All of the right wires are there, you just need to figure out which is which. I haven't done an antenna replacement on mine yet so I couldn't tell you for sure which wire is which. But a simple $10 multimeter from Sears will reveal the identity of each wire. You will need to just turn the car on and cycle the radio on and off. One of the wires will always show 12v. One will turn 12v when the radio comes on and drop to 0 when the radio is turned off. The other is ground by process of elimination. Hope this helps! Let us know how it goes.

I plan on doing this soon enough. I prefer replacing with a completely aftermarket system as they tend to be more reliable. Can't wait!

kphu

iTrader: (8)

^^^ That's the same approach I'd take.

BadViper22

99.99999% of the time red will be constant power, in my observations. And black should be ground. I'd go with the multimeter approach before you start splicing though. Hope this helps.

rattler96

Thanks, I hope to get to it this week!