I recently replaced my broken antenna mast in my 98 4runner with a new one which worked for about 10 days, then stopped functioning. After disassembling the antenna again to remove the broken toothed cable, i noticed that the cable was still whole, and the metal retainer(?) that holds the cable to the uppermost section of the antenna had pulled completely out of the uppermost section of the antenna which was missing.
So my questions are these: How long is the motor supposed to run? Is it suppose to stop once the antenna is fully retracted? Is there a timer or cutoff, etc that tells it when to stop? Or a mechanical switch? I have another new mast but am hesitant to install it and have the same experience. Or was the first mast i put in faulty?
Any info will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
98 4runner owner

 

If there are any limit switches they are either in the antenna motor or the antenna relay

Nothing showing in the auto antenna schematics .

If you want this to work correct buy the antenna from Toyota if it still can be had

 

hi wyoming9, thanks for your help!
I'll probably resort to that but i was wondering why my first replacement mast failed after working for a couple of weeks. It seems that the cable was pulled out of the top section of the mast as it still had the metal retainer affixed to it. I guess that since it was working, then broke, that it was the mast that was defective!
Anyway, thanks for checking the schematics for me!
98 4runner owner

 

just an addendum to the power timer part of my post.
With the toothed cable removed from the antenna assembly, the motor would run approx 15 seconds b-4 stopping. Now, with another new mast installed, the motor runs for about 6 seconds, both extending the mast and retracting it. The motor stops about 2 seconds after the mast is done moving. So i assume there must be some kind of limiting switch to control how long the motor runs.
Again, thanks for all the help!
P.s. Hope this replacement mast lasts longer than the first one!