IDM

My friend helped me replace the antenna mast on my car.


He took the motor apart to get broken pieces out from the old antenna mast.
In doing this I guess he installed something in reverse in the motor so the antenna would go up when turning the radio off and down when turning the radio on. So instead of taking the motor back apart he swapped the pins on the wiring connector and it works normally now.


Would you see any problems in doing something like this?


Thank you.

Bassmastry101

iTrader: (1)

There is no problem in doing this. When you reverse the polarity on an electrical motor it spins in the opposite direction. Same way your power windows work.

IDM

Thanks, I was not there when the motor was re-installed. Can you tell me what he reversed in the motor? Did he install a connection backwards? I was there for the reversal of the pins and understand that but am not sure what could have been reversed on the motor side.

IDM

ttt can anyone explain what was reversed on the motor side? pic would be great too Thanks

habanero

No answers, but here's a bunny with a pancake on its head:













from
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f200...1/index17.html
These were taken as documentation, not to figure out a situation like yours. It'd seem like he couldn't have plugged the antenna in backwards, that plug is keyed one way iirc. I don't know that the ground wire in the pic would make much difference other than not running if not grounded? It would be interesting to see what happened...if you figure it out please let us know (curiosity)

IDM

Thanks a lot for the help. Maybe he took off the motor portion and reversed it?
That's all I can think of as well. Thanks again for posting these pics. I am going to end up removing the entire antenna as I don't like it going up and down all the time and will end up breaking it off on a tree branch Im sure. Going to replace it with a shorty antenna once I find a good quality brand. When I remove it Ill write back about what was swapped.

TheDurk

I've been scratching my head on this one, too. The motor shaft looks offset and I bet the motor goes in only one way. Also, I don't think it would make any difference if it was turned 180°. It would still rotate the same direction.

There has to be a connection internal to the motor case that got reversed. I can't think of anything else. Even reversing the worm gear would not do it; it would still drive the gear the same direction. Please post if you figure it out.

habanero

What I don't get is that to get the pieces out all he has to take out is the round center sections. He would not have needed to mess with the gears at all, and definitely not with the motor. No electrical either, other than that little wire you can see in my pics gets unscrewed at the bottom (iirc) and the connector he unplugged.

In my 96 I ended up running a switch so I could select when I wanted the antenna up (Build thread, table of contacts post 2, it's in there somewhere if you're interested. There's also other write-ups on here.)

The 99 has an antenna in the rear passenger glass, so that one has a connector to make use of it, plus a switch for the front antenna. I *think* it was 98 and up that had this, but am not sure. I know not the early 3rd gens. It's really obvious if you do, though, a quick glance should tell you. There's a thread on yotatech about that connector, if you want to go that route.

IDM

I wasn't there when it was done either so besides your pics I don't have much of an idea about it. I know he took the motor apart to get the old plastic pieces out from the rotted mast and in the process reversed something that caused us to have to swap the pins on the electrical connector for it to work right.


So its possible to get rid of the antenna all together? Why do all 4runners up to 2002 have the front antenna as well then? I like the back glass idea as well as the switch idea, I thought of that as well. I just don't like getting in each time and hearing it go up and down, its annoying to me and seems silly and cheap as well as having a huge chance of being damaged in an offroad situation and almost daily in the back alleys where I drive.

habanero

Do a search on the rear antenna, you have to get a connector for it iirc. There's a thread on it somewhere, with a part number. You can also do a search on the Tacoma Whip, another mod some do to replace the motorized antenna.

As started earlier I just put a switch in so it stays down most of the time, unless I'm listening to the radio away from the city. I replaced my antenna mast in '05 with an oe and it's still working fine. Then again, I don't have the in-glass antenna in my 96.