Issues with power antenna... - Honda Prelude Forum

LUDE'Z · 03-04-2005, 02:54 PM

Sup Luder'z,

My power antenna won't seem to go down anymore.

I was trying to wash the lude today and noticed my antenna was still up, which is odd because it usually goes down once the radio or car is shut off.

So what's the deal...do I have to spend alot of money to get this fix? It just sucks because I spent $60 on my rear defroster relay, around $150 for a cv boot and now this.

TIA

96LudeSR · 03-06-2005, 08:44 PM

Mine used to do the same thing. Only that mine would make this horrible noise when it was trying to go down. If you push it down with your hand, it will go down. I just disconnected mine, which is an option. You can get one of those invisible antennas which is what I will be doing so that you don't have to deal with it ever again.

lude_vtec · 03-06-2005, 09:09 PM

You can get replacement antennas with the motor from AutoZone for around $50.

Ludster · 03-06-2005, 10:01 PM

i say take the antenna wire and attach it to ur chassis. Works as a great antenna

Does it go done alittle then stop? or doesn't even move.

solowerks · 03-06-2005, 10:32 PM

My antenna goes down half way and stops. I can't even push it down. I wish I would have shaved it when I got my car painted because it looks ugly to me. I would be interested in knowing a good fix for it as well

aneurysm · 03-06-2005, 11:21 PM

There's two things that can be wrong:

1) ONLY the mast itself is broken. With the ignition on, have a friend turn the stereo on and off. Listen inside the fender or through the trunk to hear if the motor is still making noise. If this is the case you can order JUST the mast for the power antenna. They retail from Honda for about $40-50. It is common for the plastic teather to break off (which is the plastic end with teeth that the motor uses to extract and retract the antenna). When you remove the old antenna, if the entire teather does not come out with it you will have to remove the entire motor assembly, take out the broken piece(s) and reassemble before the new mast can be installed. I recommend regreasing the inside if you have to take it apart.
Once the old mast and teather are removed its pretty easy to install the new one:
(Again, you will need a friend to do this)
(at this point the nut/cap at the top should be already be removed)
1. Turn on the Stereo so the motor is in the extracted position
2. Insert the teather of the new antenna as far inside the motor shaft as possible...but do not force it once it stops.
3. Have your friend turn off the stereo so the motor returns to its retracted position. When you do this guide the mast into place as the motor draws the teather in..
4. Continue turning the stereo on and off until the mast goes all the way to the tip of the shaft. This should only be required 2-3 times at most.
5. Reinstall retainer nut and you're done!
-----This is the BEST way because you retain the factory look----

Method #2- Replace the entire mast
This WILL cost more money if you buy a good antenna. I do not recommend buying an after market antenna for this vehicle because of the steep angle it sits at on the quarter panel. Most aftermarket antennas do not even include the hardware for such an angle. Even if your kit does, it will NOT look the same.
1. Remove top retainer nut
2. Pull back the trunk interior lining to expose power antenna assembly.
3. Disconnect 3-pin harness and antenna coax connection.
4. Remove one 10mm nut which holds the antenna in place to the frame
5. Lower entire assembly and remove from car.
6. Install new antenna in reverse order, you will have to rig up a new mount with the supplied hardware for the lower mount. You will also have to cut and splice 12V cconstant, Power antenna lead, and chassis ground.

------------
Its not often that the motors go bad. Its remotely possible that a fuse blew, but highly unlikely. Check this before replacing the whole mast. You can test for power at the 3-pin harness in the trunk. The black wire will be chassis ground, and the other 2 will have 12V with the stereo powered up.
Taking the motor apart, if required, is not terribly difficult - just be sure that you keep track of all your parts and reassemble in reverse order. White lithium grease is recommended during reassembly.
--------

Let me know if anyone has more questions.

Brad G

lude_vtec · 03-07-2005, 06:27 AM

The aftermarket antenna I got from AutoZone looks exactly like stock and plugs into the stock harness. It has worked great for the two years I have had it. The only problem was that the mount point is different for the inside of the trunk, but that's a pretty easy fix.

aneurysm · 03-07-2005, 08:49 AM

good to know.....i never even heard of them selling an aftermarket power antenna that is vehicle specific....how much did you pay for it?

brad

red92si · 03-07-2005, 11:48 AM

I got tired of listening to that dang antenna, and I didnt like the way it looked when it was up (R/C Car style). So I just unplugged the power to it. I dont get radio reception, but I have the iPod in the lude... so it doesnt matter.

LUDE'Z · 03-07-2005, 05:23 PM

Thanks for the responses.

Well, I can hear a "click" whenever I turn off the radio manually but nothing happens. It will not move at all...I was kinda hoping it was just frozen or something but it was 65 degrees here and the thing still won't budge.

Also, as 96ludesr mentioned in his post, I did have a slight "grinding" noise when the antenna went down so that might have something to do with it.

How much would is the OEM antenna compared to the autozone one? How much are we looking at laber since I have no idea how to remove, replace or fix it. If it's to pricey I'm just going to reconsider getting it fixed/replaced at this time.

lude_vtec · 03-07-2005, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aneurysm

good to know.....i never even heard of them selling an aftermarket power antenna that is vehicle specific....how much did you pay for it?

brad

Mine was actually a kit for a 5th gen Accord, but it included that outer rubber piece for the Prelude. I paid between $50-60 for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUDE'Z

How much would is the OEM antenna compared to the autozone one? How much are we looking at laber since I have no idea how to remove, replace or fix it. If it's to pricey I'm just going to reconsider getting it fixed/replaced at this time.

OEM motor + mast was around $300 IIRC. Just to get a new mast would be around $40-50. If you're lucky you can pick an OEM one up on ebay for pretty cheap.

Removing the old one and installing a new one is easy. Getting the metal nut by the rubber was probably the hardest. You just open a needlenose pliers, stick the ends of the pliers in the two grooves across from each other and unscrew the nut. Then on the inside of the trunk there is a 10 mm nut at the bottom of the motor (behind the carpet). Pull the power harness and the antenna cable and then you can just pull it out, and put a new one in reverse they way you took it out. Labor shouldn't cost more than an hours worth of work if you got it repaired at a shop.