Power antenna?
Newbie
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
300TE
Well, admitting it is the first step. :-p
There are multiple wires to the antenna, I want to say off the top of my head it's a bundle of 4 or 5 wires. On my wagon, open the right side cover & the wires are right there plugged into the antenna unit. Easy to identify. I assume a sedan will have some trunk lining you need to remove. Could be the antenna, the mast, the up/down switch, the wiring... You're going to have to do some electrical testing to see where you do & don't have power. First/easiest test it to listen to the antenna to see if it makes any noise when it should be going up/down. If it sounds like it's trying it may just be a broken nylon insert for the mast & not a dead motor. -G
There are multiple wires to the antenna, I want to say off the top of my head it's a bundle of 4 or 5 wires. On my wagon, open the right side cover & the wires are right there plugged into the antenna unit. Easy to identify. I assume a sedan will have some trunk lining you need to remove. Could be the antenna, the mast, the up/down switch, the wiring... You're going to have to do some electrical testing to see where you do & don't have power. First/easiest test it to listen to the antenna to see if it makes any noise when it should be going up/down. If it sounds like it's trying it may just be a broken nylon insert for the mast & not a dead motor. -G
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 123
Likes: 0
2001 E320 4matic Estate
It worked before I swapped out the oem deck with my kenwood. Now it wont do anything. I triple checked that I had the trigger from my deck to the black wire in the A plug and the #5 wire. But I still got nothing.
Newbie
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
300TE
I can't get a copy of the wiring diagram to attach. You've got:
Automatic antenna connector behind the radio,
starter harness connector on the firewall above the brake fluid fill,
accessory connector block - looks like it's to the left of the brake pedal,
anti-theft / central lock connector - under rt rear passenger seat?
hall effect sensor connection (speed signal) behind the dash instruments.
I take it your car has (had) speed sensitive volume adjust?
I'd say keep it simple. Ignore the things you didn't mess with. Try to power the antenna directly to get it to move. This would tell if a power spike fried a circuit in the antenna unit. I can't find the correct diagram to tell you how to do this. I know on a Volvo I worked with you supplied power to raise the antenna & the lack of power made it retract. To get that antenna up manually I applied power, the mast went up & then I unplugged it & it stayed up. To get the mast down I just plugged it in & it would drop. So I knew it wasn't getting the power to raise it, but never found out where the flaw was as the owner didn't want to hear beyond the antenna is up. It may simply be that your new radio puts out a weaker mast up signal & it's not enough to trigger the mast. First step is to see if you can apply power directly to the mast to get it to raise.
Automatic antenna connector behind the radio,
starter harness connector on the firewall above the brake fluid fill,
accessory connector block - looks like it's to the left of the brake pedal,
anti-theft / central lock connector - under rt rear passenger seat?
hall effect sensor connection (speed signal) behind the dash instruments.
I take it your car has (had) speed sensitive volume adjust?
I'd say keep it simple. Ignore the things you didn't mess with. Try to power the antenna directly to get it to move. This would tell if a power spike fried a circuit in the antenna unit. I can't find the correct diagram to tell you how to do this. I know on a Volvo I worked with you supplied power to raise the antenna & the lack of power made it retract. To get that antenna up manually I applied power, the mast went up & then I unplugged it & it stayed up. To get the mast down I just plugged it in & it would drop. So I knew it wasn't getting the power to raise it, but never found out where the flaw was as the owner didn't want to hear beyond the antenna is up. It may simply be that your new radio puts out a weaker mast up signal & it's not enough to trigger the mast. First step is to see if you can apply power directly to the mast to get it to raise.
Newbie
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
1993 190e
All power antenna have a motor and a relay -
Red wire is full time power.
Blue wire is power up-command from radio.
Brown wire is ground.
Use an inexpensive 12v trouble-light probe to verify voltage at the antenna. There is NO weak power, just fused +12v. When blue wire voltage is removed, the antenna motor lowers antenna using red wire voltage.
My head/park lights are now blinking when I lock the car. separate thread
You might post the radio model number so we can investigate the installation instructions.
Red wire is full time power.
Blue wire is power up-command from radio.
Brown wire is ground.
Use an inexpensive 12v trouble-light probe to verify voltage at the antenna. There is NO weak power, just fused +12v. When blue wire voltage is removed, the antenna motor lowers antenna using red wire voltage.
My head/park lights are now blinking when I lock the car. separate thread
You might post the radio model number so we can investigate the installation instructions.
Last edited by PaulBennett; May 18, 2011 at 12:45 AM.
