Useless auto antenna, How to get to it?
 

I am trying to change the original antena of the 83' 944. After a few minutes of fighting with it I realize I cannot get it out because it's an automatic lift antena with a motor in the fender. Just one prob. How do you get to it? I couldn't get at it though the wheel fender or from under the dash. how can I get at it?

Your 944 should have a charcol canister (black canister) behind the front left wheel inside the fenderwell. You need to remove this to access the antenna. Its held in place by a few 8mm nuts.

It's best to jack up the driver side of the car, put it on a jackstand, and remove the front wheel to reach the canister. Don't disconnect the canister hoses - just rest the canister on the wheel hub and rotor.

You will need a ratchet and 10mm socket to get the canister out. The old antenna is a pretty large unit. If you get an aftermarket Asian-made Hirschmann, it will be much smaller, but you'll be able to mount it inside the fender wall with the bendable bracket that comes with the new antenna. These aftermarket antennas are not very good. I've gone through 2 or 3 and they haven't lasted very long at all. The best option is a real German Hirschmann, but they're very expensive. Another possibility is a manual antenna.

Before doing anything, you should pull your stereo receiver out of it's socket so you can get to the wires later when your car is up on a jackstand. To get the old antenna out, unbolt the mounting hardware inside the wheel well, and then the upper fender bolt to drop the unit into the wheel well. You can cut the old antenna cables, or unplug them from the receiver end and follow them along the wiring harness in the driver side footwell to the hole in the fender wall.

Follow the wiring diagram that comes with the new antenna to install it. If you have a Blaupunkt receiver, there is a handy diagram on the casing that helps identify where to connect the wires. RoW cars had the antenna mounted in the rear fender cubbies, which are not exposed to water and road debris like the U.S. cars which carry it in the front wheel well location. I wrapped my antenna motor in duct tape to protect it from dirt and moisture, and so far it's held up longer than any of the previous power antennas on this car.

Send me a PM if you need help with it during the weekend.

If your 83 is anything like mine you will find out that tons of debris are lodged up there behind the antenna. My internals were all corroded. They should have put a splash shield up there. The newer Hirschman electrics on E-bay work great as a replacement; got mine for $24.

FWIW.. You can ease your suffering if you use a fish line when removing the old antenna cable..

Securely electrical tape a length of coax (rg58 works fine due to the cable diameter) to the male (radio) end of the antenna cable. as you pull the radio lead thru, the coak will follow it. when you need to re-fish the antenna cable back thru the firewall- remove the tape and tape the new radio end of the antenna cable inthe same fashion and pull it rback into the cabin and attach it to the radio...

1 minute. Voila.

On my 84 I took my antenna apart and took out the motor and turned it into a manual antenna. It works just fine.

If you want to retain the automatic antenna it might be fixable:
I've replaced the mast on my '84 many times over the years. It is not necessary to remove the whole unit from the wheel well to change only the mast. Unscrew the small nut at the base of the mast. Pull the mast out of the antenna unit. All of this is easier if the antenna mast is fully extended. When inserting the new mast, it helps to feed the spline into the unit while simultaneously turning off the radio so that the antenna motor reverses while your pushing the spline into the unit.I bought the last replacement mast, a Hirschman, off of e bay.

During one of the replacements, part of the mast plastic spline broke off while I was pulling it out, remaining in the antenna motor unit. So, I had to remove the unit as recommended above. I was able to get at it by turning the steering wheel all the way to the left and removing the charcoal cannister. Once I got the unit out, I dissassembled it, removed the remaining spline and reassembled the unit. The wiring inside of the antenna unit was the only small challenge. If I remember right, there were only four wires. One was a ground. So, the wiring order was only three choose two, or six combinations. I tried them all. By the process of elimination I eventually got the wiring correct. So, If you do take the box apart, save yourself some time and verify the wiring as it comes apart.

Of course the above assumes that the motor is good, you only have a sticky/frozen/broken telescoping mast and you want to retain the automatic antenna.

Great suggestion, Chris! I just used thick string when I did that to my Civic, but it made it much, much easier.