well, you guys out there ( and gals I guess,,,doubt there are many) are such a wealth of information, my power antenna does not go up and down, just sits there in the extended position...i would guess that the power antenna breaking down is common as I see many that are ripped off, bent or replaced with some other jobby thing... what are some of the things you would check first??...could it just be a connection or do these motor go bad?..I have not pulled off the back panel yet and wanted to get your opinion first....Thanks again........CJF.................

 

The antenna is buried first off,is the mast all there ? if so,get in to
it and check connections at the rear first,if that looks ok,go to the
stereo,,,stock? aftermarket? something about a reley,and negitive
connection,that matters big time.Mine works fine,i turn "stock"
stereo on, goes up,off,down,,if i turn the car off at the key and
the antenna is up,it stays up,i don't think thats right though,but
hey it works

 

I had the same problem as you and it turned out to be the relay. To trouble shoot the problem, you can get a battery and get to the wire connector for the antenna (you can get to it by taking the right aft panel) and jump the wires ( positive to the left post and negative to the horizontal post makes it go up and positive to the horizontal post and negative to the right post makes it go down) using the battery. If the antenna works then go back to the relay, it's located up under the dash on the drivers side. Make sure you have continuity between these terminals: a and c, e and g, and the voltmeters (-) lead to b and the (+) lead to h. If you still have problems you have a wiring problem or a radio problem. Good luck!!!

 

i have the same problem but the antena itself is broken i wanna get a nice glass mount that mounts inside at the top of the rear hatch, the cable will just folow the gas strut thingy to the original cable.

It will smooth out the exterior alot i think

 

or if you hear this awful noise (sounds like cogs grinding/slipping against each other) when trying to lower/raise it - if you hear this you have the normal problem of it just having worn out - with my 80, I could push it down and pull it up manually - but my 84 just locked - fortunately in the up position - its normal for it to stay up if you leave your radio on and turn the key off - this will save the wear, also - the earlier 7s (e.g. my 80) had a separate toggle switch to lower/raise it - but later models went to the radio on/off switch controlling it

 

I had the antenna hole covered but then the stupid body shop only used bondo so aftere a few months it cracked and i had to put the antenna back but it did look good without it!

 

Thanks guys....will use the info . given and let you know what it was...........................................cjf. ...............................................

 

Hello all. I have the same problem with the antenna on my car. It will go up and down if i turn the radio on/off with the car on, but when if i just leave the radio on and take the key out it just stays up all the time. ??? There appear to be three connections at the power antenna, Red, Blue, and Black. I have Red, and Blue from the antenna hooked up to Red and Blue wires in the factory mazda wire loom. The black wire I have bolted to the car chassis ground. What gives?!?

 

I had the same prob with my Alpine. I explained it to the install guys at Best Buy and they made me a relay, free of charge, in about five minutes. I didn't even buy the radio there. Works perfectly.