Power Antenna
06-03-2003, 05:06 AM
#2
Rennlist Member
Here goes:
1. Use whatever utensils are necessary to extract your stereo receiver from the center console of your car (e.g. for Blaupunkt units, use 4 standard wood nails pushed into the 4 holes at the corners, and the unit pops out).
2. Loosen the lug nuts on the left front wheel (assuming your antenna is in the left front fender). Jack up the driver side of the car, support with a jackstand and remove the wheel. Now you have better access to the antenna. This can also be done without removing the wheel, but it's much more tedious.
3. The black plastic container you will see inside the wheel well is the emissions canister. Do not disconnect from its hoses. Just unbolt from the support brackets using a socket wrench with the appropriate size (10 mm, I think) and let the canister sit on the wheel hub so you have access to the antenna unit.
4. The antenna unit is attached to the top of the fender by a mounting ring at the base of the mast. Unscrew this ring with an open wrench and remove it. The antenna motor is attached to the the wheel well panels by support brackets (3, I think) which you will locate easily. Undo them and pull the unit down from inside the fender.
5. Now go back inside the car and look for the antenna wiring attached to the back of your receiver. There should be a fat black coaxial cable (the antenna proper) and 2 other wires. If you have a Blaupunkt unit, there is a chart on the housing, telling you which wires are antenna related. Otherwise, check the owner's manual for your receiver. Unplug these wires from the back of your unit.
6. Trace the antenna wires from the console into the driver side foot well and do the best you can to remove them, separating them from the other wiring. They should lead you to a grommet between the cabin and the left wheel well. From inside the car, it's located below the dash, to the left of the clutch pedal, near the hood release cable. Once you've undone the old wires and traced them back to this grommet, you may cut them so they'll slide through and out of the cabin. Go back outside the car and pull them out. Now you are ready to install your new unit.
7. You're probably installing an aftermarket Hirschmann. They're OK, but not German made. The German units cost around $200! Hiratas are OK too. One reason for power antenna failure, is that the location behind the front tire exposes it to excessive moisture, road debris, etc., setting it up for certain failure. For this reason, I recommend wrapping the new motor in a couple of layers of duct tape, in such a way that the unit can still "breathe" but won't fill as easily with dirt and water from the tire.
8. Route all the new wires (except the black ground strap) through the grommet in the wheel well, and back to the receiver, and hang the new unit loosely from the top of the fender using the most suitable base ring and seal from those supplied in the aftermarket kit. You are now ready to test the new antenna.
9. Following the receiver and antenna instructions, plug the wires into the stereo accordingly, attach the ground strap somewhere temporarily, and test the new antenna. It should automatically shoot up/down with the key in/out of the ignition, or turning the stereo on/off. If it works, it's time to mount the unit to the wheel well. If not, go over the wiring diagrams again until you get the connections right. There is a built in fuse that is sometimes confusing, but the diagrams are pretty straightforward.
10. The aftermarket units are shaped differently from the OE. They come with several different base rings for the mast, and a mounting bracket that you can bend as necessary to attach the unit to the wheel well. I found it better to support the unit from below, rather than hang it from above. When you install it, you will know what I mean by this.
11. Once the unit is solidly mounted to the wheel well, be sure that the ground strap is also well attached somewhere, or the antenna will not work. Since the strap comes with a ring, I simply slid one of the mounting bolts through it and tightened them together.
12. The last step is to tighten the ring at the base of the mast. Be sure to test the antenna beforehand, making sure that it doesn't jut forward when raised. I found it better to mount the antenna unit with the logo facing the engine bay for this reason. This way, the raised antenna "flows with the car." Holding the unit with one hand, tighten the base ring with an open wrench in the other until it's solidly mounted to the top of the fender. Reattach the emissions cannister, front wheel, and lower the car.
Enjoy your new power antenna!
1. Use whatever utensils are necessary to extract your stereo receiver from the center console of your car (e.g. for Blaupunkt units, use 4 standard wood nails pushed into the 4 holes at the corners, and the unit pops out).
2. Loosen the lug nuts on the left front wheel (assuming your antenna is in the left front fender). Jack up the driver side of the car, support with a jackstand and remove the wheel. Now you have better access to the antenna. This can also be done without removing the wheel, but it's much more tedious.
3. The black plastic container you will see inside the wheel well is the emissions canister. Do not disconnect from its hoses. Just unbolt from the support brackets using a socket wrench with the appropriate size (10 mm, I think) and let the canister sit on the wheel hub so you have access to the antenna unit.
4. The antenna unit is attached to the top of the fender by a mounting ring at the base of the mast. Unscrew this ring with an open wrench and remove it. The antenna motor is attached to the the wheel well panels by support brackets (3, I think) which you will locate easily. Undo them and pull the unit down from inside the fender.
5. Now go back inside the car and look for the antenna wiring attached to the back of your receiver. There should be a fat black coaxial cable (the antenna proper) and 2 other wires. If you have a Blaupunkt unit, there is a chart on the housing, telling you which wires are antenna related. Otherwise, check the owner's manual for your receiver. Unplug these wires from the back of your unit.
6. Trace the antenna wires from the console into the driver side foot well and do the best you can to remove them, separating them from the other wiring. They should lead you to a grommet between the cabin and the left wheel well. From inside the car, it's located below the dash, to the left of the clutch pedal, near the hood release cable. Once you've undone the old wires and traced them back to this grommet, you may cut them so they'll slide through and out of the cabin. Go back outside the car and pull them out. Now you are ready to install your new unit.
7. You're probably installing an aftermarket Hirschmann. They're OK, but not German made. The German units cost around $200! Hiratas are OK too. One reason for power antenna failure, is that the location behind the front tire exposes it to excessive moisture, road debris, etc., setting it up for certain failure. For this reason, I recommend wrapping the new motor in a couple of layers of duct tape, in such a way that the unit can still "breathe" but won't fill as easily with dirt and water from the tire.
8. Route all the new wires (except the black ground strap) through the grommet in the wheel well, and back to the receiver, and hang the new unit loosely from the top of the fender using the most suitable base ring and seal from those supplied in the aftermarket kit. You are now ready to test the new antenna.
9. Following the receiver and antenna instructions, plug the wires into the stereo accordingly, attach the ground strap somewhere temporarily, and test the new antenna. It should automatically shoot up/down with the key in/out of the ignition, or turning the stereo on/off. If it works, it's time to mount the unit to the wheel well. If not, go over the wiring diagrams again until you get the connections right. There is a built in fuse that is sometimes confusing, but the diagrams are pretty straightforward.
10. The aftermarket units are shaped differently from the OE. They come with several different base rings for the mast, and a mounting bracket that you can bend as necessary to attach the unit to the wheel well. I found it better to support the unit from below, rather than hang it from above. When you install it, you will know what I mean by this.
11. Once the unit is solidly mounted to the wheel well, be sure that the ground strap is also well attached somewhere, or the antenna will not work. Since the strap comes with a ring, I simply slid one of the mounting bolts through it and tightened them together.
12. The last step is to tighten the ring at the base of the mast. Be sure to test the antenna beforehand, making sure that it doesn't jut forward when raised. I found it better to mount the antenna unit with the logo facing the engine bay for this reason. This way, the raised antenna "flows with the car." Holding the unit with one hand, tighten the base ring with an open wrench in the other until it's solidly mounted to the top of the fender. Reattach the emissions cannister, front wheel, and lower the car.
Enjoy your new power antenna!
06-03-2003, 09:41 PM
#4
Track Day
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Central Florida
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Great post Luis, I have been putting off my replacement for about two weeks. This morning when I pulled the emissions cannister I found 2 antennas, a manual antenna and the original powered one jammed in the fender with the power wires still hooked up.
06-03-2003, 10:29 PM
#5
Rennlist Member
Well guys, after you've done it THREE times like I have in the past year or so, you get it down pretty good!
FWIW, I think my "antenna failure rate" was due to a bad batch of aftermarket Hirschmanns. 2 in a row went bad in less than 2 months, so when I contacted Hirschmann U.S.A. to complain they sent me a German-made unit.
I really like the '80s look of the power antenna. It's definitely an item worth replacing when it goes bad.
FWIW, I think my "antenna failure rate" was due to a bad batch of aftermarket Hirschmanns. 2 in a row went bad in less than 2 months, so when I contacted Hirschmann U.S.A. to complain they sent me a German-made unit.
I really like the '80s look of the power antenna. It's definitely an item worth replacing when it goes bad.
06-03-2003, 10:31 PM
#6
Rennlist Member
Coincidentally, I had to replace the emissions canister on my S2 today. I was getting a fuel smell sporadically in the cabin that went away at start up.
This car has 138K miles on it, and apparently the canister was saturated and wouldn't absorb any more of the fuel fumes that were bypassing it and reaching the cabin.
Depending on your car's mileage, this would be a good thing to replace "while you're in there" although the sucker costs around $35.
This car has 138K miles on it, and apparently the canister was saturated and wouldn't absorb any more of the fuel fumes that were bypassing it and reaching the cabin.
Depending on your car's mileage, this would be a good thing to replace "while you're in there" although the sucker costs around $35.
06-03-2003, 10:33 PM
#7
Rennlist Member
BTW, the aftermarket Hirschmanns should work OK. I just think I had particularly bad luck with them. Since they had received other complaints at Hirschmann U.S.A., they went ahead and sent me one of those $200 German-made ones. 
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06-03-2003, 10:54 PM
#8
Three Wheelin'
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Knoxville, TN
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I wired the antenna power to a switch so that I can choose to raise or lower the antenna. I generally keep the antenna down since I most often listen to a strong enough station that I don't need it. It's also nice to be able to lower the antenna when you're playing a CD. I guess it reduces noise, but I really can't tell.
06-04-2003, 09:46 AM
#9
6th Gear
Join Date: May 2003
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Yeah, I also have the power antenna wired to a switch located next to the power mirror switch. The Hirschmann antennas are so tall that i think it takes away from the car's appeal when up, so most of the time i leave it down and listen to cd's.
