Aerial stuck!

BARNPOT · November 13, 2012, 19:24

Hi, my aerial refuses to go right down, staying up about 75mm when radio swirched off. When I first got the 2002 car it was up about 25mm and I thought it might just need a clean and some lubrication....anyone got a suggestion? I have seen the thread to melt a blob on the nylon gear inside the motor, and will start unscrewing things shortly, just thought someone may have had a similar issue and resolved it easily??? Wishful thinking perhaps! s:? :? s:?

BARNPOT · November 13, 2012, 19:26

By the way anyone know the cost of a complete replacement aerial (toyota part)?

2 of the left · November 13, 2012, 19:42

Spray WD 40 on cloth and give aerial a full wipe!! s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

BARNPOT · November 13, 2012, 21:03

Yep, will keep trying the wd40 trick. Thinking if I undo motor housing and spray liberally (if nothing obviously broken) it might do the trick!

spit · November 14, 2012, 13:58

Quote from: "BARNPOT"By the way anyone know the cost of a complete replacement aerial (toyota part)?

Horribly expensive. c £300

They come up from time to time in private sales around the £25-£35 mark.

You can get a new whip from Toyota for about the same money. The blob trick is also a good 'un if the existing whip is broken in the right place. Either way you're going to get dirty - keep plenty of rags handy as the grease inside the housing is evil.

BARNPOT · November 14, 2012, 14:06

Thanks Spit,
Used to getting dirty...I know its not a big issue as the radio still works etc , but would be nice to get everything working as it should s:)

s:)
300 squid is pretty impressive even for a main dealer!! Gives me more incentive to fix the one I have ...

BARNPOT · December 31, 2012, 17:11

Eventually got around to taking a look at this problem aerial...
Took it out of the wing and left the coax attached.....undid the casing and the nylon gear seems to be intact. Sprayed grease around liberally, put it back together (minus the top earth screw as it would not catch a thread....(oops may have lost a nut inside somewhere) instead reconnected bracket earth wire to mast earth screw instead....put it back together, and............

Aerial now goes right down as it should s:bounce: :bounce: s:bounce:

However s:? :? s:? before I started this I had an added issue in that I had done an ECI reset by disconnecting the battery for more than 20mins (in the process of trying to resolve a diagnostic code issue), and since this two things have changed.
1. I now have the radio beeps when I switch off the ignition to remind me to remove the radio fascia..this had not happened since I got the car, and
2. Now every time I switch off the ignition, the aerial goes up and then down again of its own accord, which is annoying to say the least.

Has anyone any ideas on how to stop issue 2 please? (Don't particularly want to change the aerial for a bee sting)

I guess the system is getting energized when I switch off , perhaps by the radio beeps operating. Maybe previous owner had managed to switch them off/ disable them somehow and now I have effectively reset everything s:? :? s:?

Any help much appreciated....

trevsmr2 · December 31, 2012, 18:18

Theres a post on here somewhere ,that says to reset the aerial after its been changed ,ill try and find it

unless its to do with the earth you connected differently?

BARNPOT · December 31, 2012, 18:38

Thanks trevsmr2,

No, the issue with the aerial activating on switching ignition off was there before I took a look at the aerial mechanism itself...just started after disconnecting battery, New earth connection is fine I think its just connect ed to the next screw along. So yes, sounds like some sort of reset required but I haven't spotted the thread, I will look as well...

BARNPOT · January 2, 2013, 20:17

RESOLVED .....to an extent.....

Started to look up the radio model I have on the web (which led me to realise I have a dutch imported car... but that's an aside), and read my radio manual very closely...The model is a Panasonic TM4201 marked Toyota, so the original I think.

The "security" beeps to remind you to remove the panel when leaving the car (something we all do every time I am sure s:!: :!: s:!: ) can be switched on/off by holding down the SEL button for 3 seconds with radio live.
As I suspected the brief powering up of the radio to make these beeps and flash "PANEL" on the radio LED was powering the electrical aerial to do an up and down cycle, when the ignition key was removed, even when I had not had the radio on when driving. The beeps were "reset" to "on" when I reset the ECU the other day.

So "beeps" off and normal life resumed....still seems strange that a standard radio fitted from new would not be set up to avoid this issue, but it may be "the Dutch way" s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

s:idea: :idea: s:idea: Perhaps the aerial is an extra reminder when leaving teh car to take the panel off....too many reminders s:crazyeyes: :crazyeyes: s:crazyeyes: