Antenna Difficulty
 

Just installed a new mast, and fixed a missing (yes, missing!) gear in the "transmission" of the antenna mechanism. So, here's the problem:

When I turn the car to "ACC" and turn the radio on, the antenna goes down. Turn the car off, the antenna goes up.

Turn the car on, but the radio off, and the antenna goes down until it is about 6" from the bottom (I hear that is "AM" mode, but it should be slightly shorter than full height, not slightly longer than all the way down).

What am I doing wrong? I've tried different combinations of unplugging motor or relay while changing the car or radio status, but the car seems to incorrectly determine the invalid state and goes back to its old ways.

Thanks for any tips,
-jmjatlanta

Welcome.

This is the procedure for the 95-97:

Remove antenna nut.

To remove mast:

With CD player:
1. Press AM & CD buttons on the radio while turning the ignition switch to ACC.

Without CD player
1. Press AM & Tape buttons while turning the ignition ACC.

The rod will extend fully and be released from the motor.
After removing the mast, leave ignition switch at ACC.

Install

Insert cable until it reaches bottom, teeth facing rear of the car. Turn ignition to Lock and it will retract. If the ignition is already in the lock position, go to above steps for mast removal procedure.

Re-install antenna nut and test.

Here's what I found that fixed it. I simply reversed the two wires coming from the antenna relay to the antenna motor. One was blue and one was black with a stripe (sorry, don't remember the stripe color).

I snapped the connectors out of the plug (there's a plastic tab you must press on with a small pick or screwdriver), reversed them, and snapped them back in. The antenna works as it is supposed to. I have no idea why this worked.

you probably put the gear in backwards, causing it to reverse action, and swapping wires (changing feed) allowed it to work for you.