sluggo42

Just because I had a semi-tough time searching out how to fix my antenna, I thought I would add another thread to the subject.

Problem
tuned car on , and the antenna deployed, all the way out and swung to the ground. But, the little white "toothed" cable remained. I shoved it back in and it reeled back in when I shut the car down. But, next time I started it, the antenna fully came out and fell over. So I had to shove it back in, and my hands get dirty.

Solution.
I searched in here until I found a thread that told me to have another person in the car after removing the "keeper" nut. I found, for me, the easiest way was to take two flat bladed screwdrivers on opposite sides of the "nut", and gently unscrew motion with both at the same time until it got finger loose, then just loosen and remove.

Have your wife, (helper) press both the AM, and the CD buttons on the radio at the same time, holding them in, and then turning the key to ACC. Then just hold the antenna and it all deploys out nicely.

Then, I re-fished the white toothed cable back in, and had the helper turn the car off. It grabbed the cable and reeled it all back in. I replaced the keeper nut and turned it back on to acc, and the unit deplyed normally this time, and actually reeled in a few inches upon completion.

I heard that it auto adjusts height to specific radio stations, so I switched around to different stations, and by golly it did do that. Pretty amazing.

Summary
I really have no idea what happened to make the unit get too far out to actually fall out, but somehow it did. I can only speculate as to the cause..
However, by following this procedure, I was able to restore perfect working condition for the unit, and my happiness was restored. This 13 year old car continues to surprise me, and reinforce my decision to get her..

Hope this helps anyone who might have a similar problem...
cheers