well, i've always read how antenna motors have been going bad on 4Runners and i figured it was just a matter of time until mine went out. Well, it did.

My antenna is stuck up right now but I can lower it by pushing it down. The antenna motor still thinks it is raising and lowering the antenna but it isn't.

Here are my questions:

is it worth it to buy/repair mine?
is there a fuse that controls ONLY the antenna motor?
is there a better antenna to use that i could possibly put on my roof that is much smaller. Something like a car mountable cell phone antenna.

 

the taco whip
http://www.4runners.org/articles/whip/

 

Yep, the Taco whip mod rocks. Get that piece of junk out of there. In fact, I have a silver (new, OEM) that I would sell you for cheap if you want to go with that color. Let me know.

 

Easy enough to replace the mast if that is what is shot:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...ent/index.html

 

I was looking through the mechanics manual for my 4runner and i saw in there that the passenger side window in the trunk area has an antenna in the window. has anyone ever used that or is it even hooked up?

Thanks

 

i always thought that the antenna looking thing was a defroster :pat:

 

if my antennas stop point on the way down is about 3 inches from being fully in, is this the motor or something else? i couldnt find an answer in other posts. it runs fine up and down, just closes short. although the mast is kinda bent.

 

Yep, it's hooked up.

 

It's probably the plastic track inside the mast itself. This is the first sign that it is about to break, or already has. I had the same issue, and eventually it just snapped off inside the motor.

 

There's a connector you can unplug, just follow the cord from the motor to it. Mine was up near the top of the wheel well and I was able to get to it without removing the tire, just had to remove a few 10mm screws. I just left it unplugged until I had a chance to fix it, then I took the broken piece out of the motor and let the new one suck in. It was a lot easier than I expected it to be. I wanted the retracting one again b/c my bike hangs over the hood and is hard to get out if the antenna's in the way.

 

Wait a minute, I thought the previous owner had broken the other window and replaced it with a non-defroster window. But That is actually an antenna, and only on the one side correct?