stuck electric aerial

brianr70 · Post by **brianr70** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:30 pm

can anyone advise the best way to fix an electric aerial which is stuck in the upright position :lol:

you can hear the motor doing its thing, but aerial not moving

4wdnuts · Post by **4wdnuts** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:34 pm

get someone to turn the radio off and try and feed it into the unit. be carefull tho, thery are pretty fragile!

callum007 · Post by **callum007** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:39 pm

it will have broken its little plastic shaft of the bottom.. when its up and motor is winding out pull it out.. go to a powerbase branch or similar (repco if you like) and buy a replacement whip.. about $20. then shove it back down the hole then make motor wind in and hopefully it catches and retracts it..

well thats how i used to do it every second week...

sparx · Post by **sparx** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 12:57 pm

I did mine a few weeks ago too.. drove through the bush and bent it over on a gorse bush guess I should have turned the stereo off first!
I just bought a complete new unit and installed a switch in a spare dash panel to interrupt the remote wire which triggers the electric aerial to go up and down (usually the blue wire out the back of the stereo)
doing this means you can have the aerial down in the bush and still play CDs without destroying your aerial but if you decide to do it be careful as sometimes the blue remote wire also triggers secondary amplifiers if you have them..

callum007 · Post by **callum007** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:08 pm

you will mostly find that blue white wire is amp control if fitted.. and if your playing cds. the aerial should auto retract anyway.. should only be up on tuner..

mud_slinger · Post by **mud_slinger** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:17 pm

jus push the aerial down and unplug the motor so it doesnt go up. i did that on mine reception didnt change at all. cheap option

sparx · Post by **sparx** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:11 pm

hmm.. perhaps my stereo was made in the same factory that made my cursed flywheel..
my remote wire also controls the aerial which explains why it does not retract when playing CDs.. theres no decent radio stations on the coast anyway! :wink:

brianr70 · Post by **brianr70** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 3:41 pm

it seems that the troublesome aerial was loose and just setting in its hole, looks as if bottom bit that goes to motor thingee is broken??

mud_slinger · Post by **mud_slinger** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:18 pm

i have never owned a head unit that the aerial goes down wen you play cd's. i have used the blue wire many a time to hook up to the aerial tho its made for either the amp or aerial

callum007 · Post by **callum007** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:24 pm

ok. i was just speaking from my 4 years of experience installing headunits etc into cars... i generally worked with high end gear so, that may be why my looms had seperate remote and aerail wiring..

sparx · Post by **sparx** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:36 pm

you're dead right callum i had a flick through the install sheet for the stereo currently in my truck and it does have a separate wire (green/white) for remote aerial.. prolly is not powered when playing CDs but I never wired it the previous owner put it in - the pioneer head unit in my last car used the blue remote for aerial but like you say its cos it was a basic model.. i ripped that aerial off driving into a car port anyway!

callum007 · Post by **callum007** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:39 am

whats the maori word for aerial.... Coathunga??

tallsam66 · Post by **tallsam66** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:02 pm

Hi
Youll find you will have to take the whole aerial out as youll have to take it apart to remove the broken piece...if you dont the aerial either wont go completely in or it may break off like the first one did.
Dont buy a genuine replacement from Toyota unless you have just won lotto...they are around 110 +GST.go to somehwere like Supercheap.
If you install a switch to make the aerial go down when playing CD's you may find the rear speakers stop working as the power feed to the aerial is also the power feed to the amplifers for the rear speakers.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Trev