Busted Aerial

[Neptune]

I got my Curren home today; just as I did, I noticed the aerial didn't go down then I turned the ignition off... :-\
I gave it a test and its jammed. You hear a short 'whurr' of it trying to retract but thats all. Pushing it down doesn't work either.

Last time I listened to the radio was a year or so ago, but I don't just wanna snap it off .
I'm guessing either the motor or aerial needs to be replaced; is it possible to do either of these things yourself (with relative ease)?
And if it's the motor, about how much will I have to pay to fix it?

Cheers

P.S. Its a 3sge engine, manual, 1994... What octane fuel should I be using? My thinking was that it likes 91 & 95, and would prbably prefer 95.
Cant afford 98 in any case...

[Santa'sBoostinSleigh]

it will probably the the cogs on the motor or the corresponding aerial cogs that are busted/worn
if you dont use it, pull it apart and put the aerial down, then disconnect the power to it so it doesnt go back up
or pull it out and replace with a new or 2nd hand one.
fairly easy to do

fuel: 98.
95 if you have to
if you do some comparitive tests on milage vs L of fuel, youd be surprised that 98 will be about the same cost as if you were filling it up with 95


i dont understand why people buy cars with 'performance' engines if they are scared of fuel costs

[Ae92typeX]

Often the aerial cogs wear. You can get new replacements, but its often cheaper just to buy another unit.

As above if not used.

[Neptune]

After taking the aerial off/apart I found out that the reason I cant puch the aerial down is that the plastic thing with teeth on it (it evidently retracts/extends the aerial) is the problem. Its the plastic thing I cant get down.

Do I need to take the aerial motor apart or something?

[nobody]

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago. So that we're on the same page I'll run through how I remember it working first:

The metal part of the aerial that goes up and down is called the Mast. Running up inside it is a strip of plastic with teeth cut in it. When the aerial goes up and down, the motor is turning a cog that pushes or pulls the plastic toothed strip (I'll call it the PTS from now on to save typing) which moves the Mast.

It sounds like what you need is a "Replacement mast". This is a new metal aerial and includes the PTS attached to the inside of it (but no motor assembly).

What happened with mine (on the celica, so effectively the same car) is the PTS had broken, so although the motor was working fine and turning the cog, the mast wasn't moving.

I undid the couple of bolts holding the main assembly part to the body, and the slotted nut on top of the antenna and removed the whole thing. I pulled out the Mast and opened the main assembly (6-8 bolts?), pulled out the rest of the broken PTS and then bolted it back together and bolted it back in the car (leaving the top slotted locking nut off).

I got a "Replacement mast" from Toyota - ($90ish full price - talk to Mr Revhead for better pricing) on the packet it listed many different Toyotas on it including the Camry and Celica so it's probably a standard part for all 90s Toyotas.

I got someone to turn on my stereo, waited for the aerial motor to stop making a noise, then got them to turn off the stereo. As the motor started to churn I fed the PTS from the new antenna into hole where it should go and the whole thing was pulled down by the motor (teeth facing towards the front of the car IIRC) into place. A quick screw of the slotted locking nut on top and it was all good.

Hope this helps.