ohcamera Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 (edited) Do I have to remove fender to replace POWER antenna mast? My 1995 pathfinder has a power antenna. It can not come up completely, just half of normal height. I bought an OEM mast from ebay. I took the special nut out, and then took the plastic spacer out. I turned on the radio and tried to pull the antenna out but can not. Should I have to pull the right side wheel out and take the fender to replace the antenna master? Thanks for any reply. Edited March 3, 2010 by ohcamera Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhardison Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 Be sure the motor is getting power. If it is and it still won't come out then the nylon rope is probably broken and pieces have gotten jammed around the gear. You don't have to take it out to fix it but you will have to remove the inner fender to gain access to a side cover on the antennae gear assembly to remove the broken pieces. After you have the gear free just turn on the radio, thread the new antennae nylon into the hole while another person turns off the radio. As the gear turns to retract it will pull the new antennae down into the hole and you can reinstall the retaining washer and nut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orca4wd Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 (edited) Do I have to remove fender to replace POWER antenna mast? My 1995 pathfinder has a power antenna. It can not come up completely, just half of normal height. I bought an OEM mast from ebay. I took the special nut out, and then took the plastic spacer out. I turned on the radio and tried to pull the antenna out but can not. Should I have to pull the right side wheel out and take the fender to replace the antenna master? Thanks for any reply. My power antenna mast broke in the lower portion. All I did was remove the top nut and plastic spacer, power up the radio then pull out antenna along with the broken mast. The other broken piece was still in the housing. Basically, you'll need to remove the antenna housing from the fender. 1)Turn the wheel all the way to right so that you can access the plastic fender well. 2) Remove the screws around the plastic fender well, don't need to remove completely just half way so that you can access the antenna mounting bracket bolts. 3) Remove mounting bolts and unplug wiring harness then remove the assembly from fender. 4) There is a screw in the center of a round housing..unscrew it then separate housing to pull out the reminder broken mast. 5) Install assembly back in fender. 6) Have someone turn radio off to feed the new mast, you'll feel a pull and down goes the antenna. 7) Have a beer and reinstall all the left over pieces back onto vehicle. 8) Enjoy! Good luck! Edited March 3, 2010 by orca4wd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohcamera Posted March 3, 2010 Author Share Posted March 3, 2010 Be sure the motor is getting power. If it is and it still won't come out then the nylon rope is probably broken and pieces have gotten jammed around the gear. You don't have to take it out to fix it but you will have to remove the inner fender to gain access to a side cover on the antennae gear assembly to remove the broken pieces. After you have the gear free just turn on the radio, thread the new antennae nylon into the hole while another person turns off the radio. As the gear turns to retract it will pull the new antennae down into the hole and you can reinstall the retaining washer and nut. Thanks Dhardison. Can you go a little bit more detail about how to remove the inner fender for power antenna? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohcamera Posted March 3, 2010 Author Share Posted March 3, 2010 My power antenna mast broke in the lower portion. All I did was remove the top nut and plastic spacer, power up the radio then pull out antenna along with the broken mast. The other broken piece was still in the housing. Basically, you'll need to remove the antenna housing from the fender. 1)Turn the wheel all the way to right so that you can access the plastic fender well. 2) Remove the screws around the plastic fender well, don't need to remove completely just half way so that you can access the antenna mounting bracket bolts. 3) Remove mounting bolts and unplug wiring harness then remove the assembly from fender. 4) There is a screw in the center of a round housing..unscrew it then separate housing to pull out the reminder broken mast. 5) Install assembly back in fender. 6) Have someone turn radio off to feed the new mast, you'll feel a pull and down goes the antenna. 7) Have a beer and reinstall all the left over pieces back onto vehicle. 8) Enjoy! Good luck! Thanks orca4wd! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohcamera Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 Thanks orca4wd! I tried to pull the mast out but failed to do so by all means. So I had to open the right side inner fender. I managed to take half inner fender open up, looks like the antenna motor is pretty high. Any other suggestons? If I am wrong please reminder me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orca4wd Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 I tried to pull the mast out but failed to do so by all means. So I had to open the right side inner fender. I managed to take half inner fender open up, looks like the antenna motor is pretty high. Any other suggestons? If I am wrong please reminder me Well, have you try pushing the antenna back down into the motor? I am not sure your statement "looks like the antenna motor is pretty high". I guess once the inner fender is exposed, then you should be able to remove the mounting bolts and unplug the wiring harness of the antenna motor. Perhaps, if the can't pull the mast out then try cutting the antenna an/or mast so that you can remove from the fender well for repair or replace. Let us know how this turned out.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohcamera Posted March 14, 2010 Author Share Posted March 14, 2010 (edited) Well, have you try pushing the antenna back down into the motor? I am not sure your statement "looks like the antenna motor is pretty high". I guess once the inner fender is exposed, then you should be able to remove the mounting bolts and unplug the wiring harness of the antenna motor. Perhaps, if the can't pull the mast out then try cutting the antenna an/or mast so that you can remove from the fender well for repair or replace. Let us know how this turned out.. Yes, I did. The mast actually stuck due to nylon mast is broken. And eventually this morning I successfully replaced new antenna. Exactly as you said, after open the inner fender, I saw to bolt and one harness. After removed them, I was able to take the whole thing out. I open the motor by removing the nut. Then I could have a close look. It is the grounding sleeve stuck inside due to some broken metal pieces. I managed to pull the mast out with needle nose pliers. Then, clean the motor, put some general grease in, plug the harness to the motor, turned on radio, feed new mast into motor. Install motor with mast back to pathy. enjoy... By the way, the $18 ebay OEM antenna is a kind of longer than original one. Edited March 14, 2010 by ohcamera Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchet Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 http://www.crutchfield.com/p_12044NI24/Nissan-Antenna.html I bought that antenna instead of messing with the power antenna, for $13 i figured it was a great deal, the funny part is my antenna is stuck up, and i have just left it alone. When it gets warmer out i will replace it for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pav Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Power antennas are just a PITA...if you notice modern vehicles no longer use them. I would just replace it with a stubby and save yourself the hassle. If you are really worried about radio reception you can attach a whip antenna to your rear bumper. I find the antenna in the wind shield is enough to get good reception..you really don't need the power wand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trogdor636 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Not sure if its mentioned here, but my power antenna sits in a different place on the fender than the stock mast one which the Crutchfield piece above would replace. The power is on the corner of the fender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchet Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 I bought mine not thinking about other options, so my only option now is to make it work, and for $13 i felt i got a deal, When it gets nice out i will make it work, and it comes with hardware so you can convert it from power, other then that you could shove a wire coat hanger in the power antenna jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickyficky Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 I just did this to my 95. The problem is the housing on the fender that has a teardrop like shape. The hole is on the top and the side of the fender. I was trying to use an adapter similar to the one you posted above, but when you tighten it, it slides over (toward the engine) and leaves a small gap. I ended up just leaving the power motor installed (but unplugged) and rigging up a contraprion to install the non-power antenna using the original base parts that were on the outside of the fender and the power antenna motor esentially becomes a base that is inside the fender (this is hard to describe without pics). It worked. You don't need to remove the fender or the stereo either. I will write it up and post pics... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trogdor636 Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Power antennas are the teardrop on the side, that mast above will replace non power antenna. The non power are just a little rectangle hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickyficky Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 @Trogdor636 and @Hatchet - I thought you were saying that you wanted to replace the power mast with a non-power mast. That is what I did, its a PITA, but possible. I got to a point where the power mast was just annoying and I had gone through 4 of them that never really worked 100% anyway. If Hatchet is indeed trying to go from power to non-power, the 'teardrop' is an issue. I bought this one - http://www.discountautoantennas.com/CONVERSIONKITFORPOWERANTENNA.html, and then had to mesh the existing power mast that is inside the fender, the rubber terdrop that touches the outside of the fender, and the aftermarket antenna into one happily, semi-functional family. I did not use the supplied aftermarket antenna cable. It sounds better than my broken power mast sounded, but not perfect. I will try to post some pics when I have a second... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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