Power Antenna is broken

[QuismO]

I asked before whether or not someone knew the link to nissan's online service manuals (the pdf files) that was on another thread as i can't find that thread anymore. and i was asking because my power antenna doesn't work anymore...i hear the motor running when i turn on the radio, but the antenna doesn't go up. is this hard to replace? can i buy these parts at a local auto shop such as kragen or autozone?

 

thanks again all,

ian

[max_stryker]

here is the link for the fsm

 

http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=9239

 

2nd post down

Edited May 30, 2006 by max_stryker

[vengeful]

It sounds like the little plastic ropey jobber that pushes the antenna up and pulls it down has broken. You can get a replacement mast with the cable on eBay for about $13.

[mws]

I think the Venge hit the nail on the proverbial head. The "rope" in my 240SX used to break every 8 years or so. I attributed it to the hot, dry climate here. Plastic gets baked and brittle pretty quickly.

 

The rope is like a very long "rack" gear. It is wound into a pretty tight coil (spiral) inside the motor unit when the antenna retracts, and then is pushed up into the antenna mast when the antenna extends. Flexing from straight to spiral and back several times a day leads to eventual failure. Thankfully it is quite easy to repair!

[mws]

Oh, does the antenna motor seem to run quite a bit longer than normal before it shuts off? If so, that confirms it.

 

The motor normally shuts off when the antenna reaches either end of its travel. But if the rope is broken and does not reach an end, it eventually "times out" and shuts itself off.

Edited May 30, 2006 by mws

[5523Pathfinder]

Make sure you inspect the end of the plastic rope. If a piece broke, the new mast may not sit all the way inside of the motor. But then all you have to do is remove the motor, remove the cover nuts, split it in two and remove the broken piece.

[zonianbrat]

Or you could do what i did to my wifes acura legend. I just took the motor out all together and replace antenna with a stubby rubber antenna you can get from autozone. She had always had problems with the motor for the antenna so I decided to solve the problem once and or all. she says the new antenna got her better reception than the old one ever did. We have since gotten rid of that car. Now she has a honda accord with the antenna built into the rear window. I had this on my old 78 pontiac grand prix except it was built into the windshield. I was always curious on how much it would cost to replace the windshield if it ever broke? anybody ever run into this problem and know how much it cost??? sorry for rambling just my $ .02

[t0ast]

Turn on your radio, and give the antenna a pull and see if it comes up. My antenna used to stick in certain segements cuz it was bent slightly.

 

If it does come up with a pull, then you can pull the antenna out. As its coming up, grab the last segment, and give it a pull as the motor is still running. Kinda scary the first time, but the antenna end will pop loose and the motor will continue to push the rope out until the end. Then you can check if the rope is broken on the end. It'll save you some time pulling the motor out and taking her apart when you might not need to if the rope isn't broken. But the clunk sounds like the rope is broken so you probably will have to pull the motor anyways.

Edited May 31, 2006 by t0ast