[cphilip]

A little help please.

Here is the situation as I found it. The PO has put in some sort of cheapish radio cassette. The original radio long gone. He has attached the keyed hot wire from the bundle under the HVAC controls and run aftermarket Speakers. Said the antenna worked for a while. And he didn't know why it was not working now. I don't see a constant hot to this radio nor is it the type that needs one. No storage or memory devices.

So I pop it out today and find that the blue wire (antenna signal has come out of where he had it and I know this because his connector was still in the plug but blue wire hanging loose).

So I say "AH HA"... could it be this easy?" well... um... no... I plug that back in and nothing changes really. No up nor down.

So I take out my Volt meter and I go to checking. There is a Two Wire Black plug there, appears old original plug he has the Blue wire into and I replaced into. Appears the old original power to radio? Anyway the left wire (the one not containing the blue wire) shows reverse polarity I think (not an electrician). By that I mean when I stick the Positive probe from my Volt Meter (set on DC 25V) and ground my Black probe I get a slight depression of the meter needle. Not a rise. Then when I reverse that, Poss + to ground and Neg - to the wire I get 12V!

Now is that supposed to be? So I go further and start testing the pins back at the Antenna and find two that give me the same thing! And no combination that gives me the opposite. Switch appears in proper orientation.

I take the radio out and open it up and clean it and take my 12V power supply and jump the two motor wires and I get motor spin. I see absolutely no burned up places nor wires lose or anything wrong with it. I clean it all with Electrical contact cleaner and re-grease the cam and put it all back together and after reinstall I plug it back in and I hear motor spin. I think then I got it.

I go up and turn key on and radio on and nothing. No up nor down even when I place it one way or another.

I take switch out and check continuity but I got no idea which pins should bridge in what position.

What is going on here? And what polarity is this thing in normal state?

Two wire plug normal for original radio plug. Reading reverse like a negative ground or something? Is something else supposed to be hooked up to function this thing? I know the blue wire is but is that the right place. Appears it is as putting it in the other of the two wires in the plug blows the radio fuse.

Not finding any other fuses blown and even replaced some that looked suspicious. Don't find a Fuse position listed on the fuse box cover specific for the Antenna either.

Help!!!!

 

[79Mercy]

Your better off than me, I don't even have a motor just a manual ant mast. All the wires are left hanging. The PO from 20yrs ago must have done this.

 

[cphilip]

he might have done you a great favor....

 

[cheapold280ce]

I don't have an antenna button mine goes up when I turn radio on and halfway down when I turn radio off.

but here is wiring diagram for antenna if it helps you.

 

[akimball442]

2 wire plug? Does your cigarette lighter work, because a 2 wire black plug is probably the one for the lighter in the ashtray.

The wire for the antenna should just be a single wire, with one connector. My 123 has just a brass female spade connector on it, my later model 126 has a similar connector with a plastic casing around it. Either way, it should just be a single wire.

Dig around in there and see if you can find it.

Aaron-

 

[cphilip]

2 wire plug? Does your cigarette lighter work, because a 2 wire black plug is probably the one for the lighter in the ashtray.

The wire for the antenna should just be a single wire, with one connector. My 123 has just a brass female spade connector on it, my later model 126 has a similar connector with a plastic casing around it. Either way, it should just be a single wire.

Dig around in there and see if you can find it.

Aaron-

Thanks for the diagram. I will study it.

Yea.. Cig lighter plug is different and it does work. And that one is White and has flat female receptacles.

This particular plug I am talking about has two round female receptacles. But it is a double wire plug. This is an 83 123. I will look again and see what else I can find. He might have thrown me off by telling me that it worked recently and had it in the wrong place all along. I just might be being mislead by the PO.

 

[cheapold280ce]

heres a better diagram for you..

 

[cphilip]

Yes! very nice .... thanks!

Now here is a stupid me moment. You know how I was measuring 12V Negative? Well... I can tell you why now... someone had juxtaposed the probes in my Volt meter! Dooooooh! Yea... negative probe in positive and visa versa. I didn't even realize it until today when another ugly variable that threw me off while I was checking out this Antenna reared its head. The battery is bad! Talk about karma.... and coincidence. Yea... today the battery is completely dead. Took it down to do a load test and it failed. And when I was checking things out thats when I realized the probes were in the wrong places on the Multimeter. So now I wasted all that time and have to start over but at least I eliminated a few variables. And this gave me the chance I was looking for to redo and fix that familiar battery rot area under the battery tray. So I switched gears today and did that, Cleaned and fiber Glassed that in and put in a new battery and now I can go back and start again, with these diagrams.

Anyone know where to get a new battery tray? Mine is fairly bad. I bead blasted and painted whats left of it and am using it, but it needs a new one.

 

[rrgrassi]

While you have the battery and tray out, check the area under the tray for rust out...I had a nice 3 inck long 1/2 inch wide area that let me see the floor mat on the passenger side.

ON my antenna, with the switch in it's off position, the antenna stays down, or lowers completely if it was up. The switch in the middle position raises the antenna if the radio unit is on, and lowers when off. In the full up position, the antenna goes up if it was lowered, and stays up, regardless of radio setting. The antenna always lowers when the engine is shut off.

 

[cphilip]

While you have the battery and tray out, check the area under the tray for rust out...I had a nice 3 inck long 1/2 inch wide area that let me see the floor mat on the passenger side.

Oh indeed. I was prepared to do mine when I got around to it. But seems like a dead battery moved that project up.

Mine was not quite so bad as yours it sounds like. I could see the fire wall but had not even started to eat through that second layer. However it apears someone, at some point had done a half arsed fix. Bondo and Caulk that did not really fix it but may have prevented it from getting worse faster.

Mine was pretty bad though. Had not quite made it all the way over to the Body drain hole thankfully. I was able to get in there and dress it all up and clean it out and lay Fiberglass into it. Two layers of Cloth and form up the lip around the Body drain hole two. I could feel down in there with my finger that the drain tube appears almost intact but I took the opportunity, while I was in there to put a "liner" around the lip of it with RTV caulk to make sure it was all going down the tube and out of the bottom of the body and not forcing its way under my Fiberglass repair.

I could use a new Battery tray. Missing the left front corner of it. I managed to bead blast it clean and repaint it in the mean time though.

 

[mbkomfort]

If you have one wire (blue) to the antenna( no antenna switch on dash): power it = antenna up, 12v off = antenna goes down.
To check this, open connector on the antenna and see if you have 3 wires, black(?) and brown (main power 12v+ and ground) and the blue wire (up-down signal)
I think there must be several different antenna types/wirings, with and without the manual control..

 

[rrgrassi]

I bought a battery tray from amember on another forum for $10 plus UPS ground shipping.

Luckily, the area did not affect the sway bar bushing or the drains.

I used a rust treatment, epoxy to treat the metal, then I fiberglassed the area under the hood w/two layers, and then a layer od fiberglass from inside the the car. Then I got some "metal" JB-weld type epoxy and spread it all over the repair and extended past the repair site. Then I painted it, and after the paint dried, I sprayed 3M rubberized undercoating on the repair spot and on the "new" battery tray. I spread a layer of baking soda on the battery tray before I put in a new battery.

I am now saving for a high priced sealed battery like an Odyssey or Optima.

 

[cphilip]

I bought a battery tray from amember on another forum for $10 plus UPS ground shipping.

Luckily, the area did not affect the sway bar bushing or the drains.

I used a rust treatment, epoxy to treat the metal, then I fiberglassed the area under the hood w/two layers, and then a layer od fiberglass from inside the the car. Then I got some "metal" JB-weld type epoxy and spread it all over the repair and extended past the repair site. Then I painted it, and after the paint dried, I sprayed 3M rubberized undercoating on the repair spot and on the "new" battery tray. I spread a layer of baking soda on the battery tray before I put in a new battery.

I am now saving for a high priced sealed battery like an Odyssey or Optima.

My bushing cleared too. I was able to get in there with my small side air motor and a Red flex abrasive pad and work it all over before the Fiber Glass work went in. I then cleaned it all with Brake Cleaner and let that flash off.

I just went and got an NAPA Gold battery in the group 49 and it was expensive as heck. $100 for the 72 month good one.

This Antenna has a Dash panel switch. And there are five posts back at the Antenna plug. One being hot, and as I found out later discovering my Volt meter screw up, it is Hot 12+. The others its hard to discern without getting me some help. I cannot be back there testing without being up front flipping switches.

But the old Radio plug appears to have one Hot wire and One antenna wire all in one Black plug. I cannot find anything else in there of interest.