Antenna on 97 lx450 (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Threads
4
Messages
9
Location
Birmingham, Alabama
First time to post on this site. My antenna will not go up or down and I can hear the motor running and clicking. There is a mast on ebay for 24.95 which looks like it will take care of my issue. Is this a good price? Any help will be appreciated.
Jerry
 
Just ordered a new replacement for mine. Stupid me bent it while loading the rack. Cost Antenna mast $34.36 + shipping. So 24.95 is good if you're sure it's the correct one.

Do a search and you can find that this is either a) easy (like it has been for me) or b) difficult (like it has been for some others, mostly due to short wires)...

Shouldn't take too long, either way.
 
Oh, and welcome to the group!
 
Jerry,

Your 97 LX uses a different mast than 91-96 Toyotas. Your best bet is to contact CruiserDan via PM and order one from him. You'll get the right part, it will be a Toyota part, and it will work.

This is far and away the most frequent issue new owners find with their Land Cruisers. It's an easy fix unless the plastic gear broke off inside the motor; in which case you have to gain some length on the antenna cable and pull the motor assembly onto the fender, open, remove the strip of broken plastic, and reinstall the motor. Then you can go through the "normal" mast replacement procedure for the '97 models.

-B-
 
I agree with Beowulf. CDan is a good person to know and I would give him a call or PM him.

My replacement came from him.
 
Last edited:
That's where I got my mast from. CDan is the man.
 
Had the same problem on mine. Ordered the part from CDAN. Essentially, there is a nylon type rope/chain/?? that connects to the bottom of the mast and the motor uses to push the mast up and bring it down. when this breaks, there is nothing being driven by the motor
 
Easy Job

I had the exact same problem on my 1997 LX450 and ordered a new mast from CDan. The entire job took about an hour with the most complicated task being removal of the drive unit from the inner fender-well. My mast had partially broke-off in the drive unit so I had to disassemble it to extract the remaining piece of the mast drive cable. There are several good threads on this site to guide you thru the process. I did remove one bolt from the mounting bracket of the drive mechanism which made removal from the inner fender a less challenging task.

Good Luck
 
mustardjerp said:
First time to post on this site. My antenna will not go up or down and I can hear the motor running and clicking. There is a mast on ebay for 24.95 which looks like it will take care of my issue. Is this a good price? Any help will be appreciated.
Jerry

Another Jerry with the LX450 :confused: WTF goin on here :flipoff2:
 
Got a question along these lines, witch does the 96 LX match up to in the LC as far as procedure? Not sure on this but it seams that some years have to be disassembled to replace even a good mast and some only have to be disassembled if the cable is broken.

I ordered the mast from C-Dan as PM mine has not broken yet, from the posts here I was expecting to just remove the top nut push the old one out with the antenna buttons and thread in the new, but even pulling on the toothed nylon(?) cable and pushing the "up button" (yes you can rach both) mine will not come free,

On the 96 LX do you have to disassemble the motor to replace the mast? How do you "clock" it? As in how much cable is suppose to be engaged at the full up position? I looked in the FSM and could not find any info about it, am I just not seeing it or is it not there?

When I searched I could not find someone who had replaced a mast on a 96 LX that had not already broken,

My antenna has about an inch of play in the full up position, as in I can take one of the lower segments and slide it up and down on the upper segment that is rigidly attached to the cable, is this normal or has mine been replaced already and done improperly?
 
Bump
 
Raven,

Are you positive you're doing the "eject" properly? Anyone know if he should have his radio on, or off, or the "acc" position, etc??

DougM
 
RavenTai said:
My antenna has about an inch of play in the full up position, as in I can take one of the lower segments and slide it up and down on the upper segment that is rigidly attached to the cable, is this normal or has mine been replaced already and done improperly?

Mine does EXACTLY the same thing! It's been doing this since replaced under CPO warranty.

By the time it was supposed to be picked up, the service advisor called and informed me that they'd need a few more hours since the new antenna did not retract all the way (with an inch or so still sticked up), even though it was the right part number (the advisor said so). Was the plastic core cut short or not, I don't know, but it'd make sense if there's a retainer clip at the end of the cord. Having changed few ribbed teeth winding cord antenna masts on other makes, I've never seen a retainer at the end (like on a MKIII Supra that has smooth winding cord).

Edit: BTW, have someone pulls the mast as you push the 'UP' button. You're not pulling it hard enough, ya wimp!
 
IdahoDoug said:
Raven,

Are you positive you're doing the "eject" properly? Anyone know if he should have his radio on, or off, or the "acc" position, etc??

DougM

Well I am not positive I am doing it properly, seams there are some differences between the years and between LX and LC, not sure witch applies to my 96 LX, but here is the one I tired first as it is the simplest, I put to the key to acc, turned on the radio so the antenna would go all the way up, then removed the gold top nut and plastic piece under it, slid up the metal segments to get access to toothed plastic cable,

I reached in and pressed the up button and to my surprise the motor did not extend the cable any further like I was expecting it to, I then tried gently pulling on it with one hand wile pressing the up button with the other it still did not come out nor did the motor turn nor attempt to turn , I could get it to retract with the down button but going back up the motor stopped at the same spot again, no noise or overrun it just stopes like it hit alimit switch, I did not give it a strong pull as I was afraid I would beak it, from the previous posts it sounded like it would become free on its own I just had to help it out of the hole.

sjcruiser said:
Mine does EXACTLY the same thing! It's been doing this since replaced under CPO warranty.

By the time it was supposed to be picked up, the service advisor called and informed me that they'd need a few more hours since the new antenna did not retract all the way (with an inch or so still sticked up), even though it was the right part number (the advisor said so). Was the plastic core cut short or not, I don't know, but it'd make sense if there's a retainer clip at the end of the cord. Having changed few ribbed teeth winding cord antenna masts on other makes, I've never seen a retainer at the end (like on a MKIII Supra that has smooth winding cord).


That’s interesting that yours also has slop at full up but only after bring replaced, but mine does retract all the way but it makes noise at the bottom like the motor over drives after full retract, It sounds excessive, a noise similar to a squeaking suspension bushing but not having any other 80 to compare to I am not sure, from your post sounds like mine has been replaced before, (not surprising) I guess they botched the install.

Looking at the new one from Dan (Rod Sub-Assy, W/cable 86337-60080 ) there is no stop at the end just uniform toothed cable

Edit: BTW, have someone pulls the mast as you push the 'UP' button. You're not pulling it hard enough, ya wimp!


It seams that the cable is still engaged when the motor decides it is at the top, would pulling harder help? Seams that if the motor still has a hold of it then I could break something or are you saying it would it just let go of the cable with no damage if more force is used?
 
sjcruiser said:
By the time it was supposed to be picked up, the service advisor called and informed me that they'd need a few more hours since the new antenna did not retract all the way (with an inch or so still sticked up), even though it was the right part number (the advisor said so).
The service advisor should have known that it won't retract all the way--even with the up/down button--until you turn the radio off. Then it gets pulled down all the way.
 
RavenTai said:
It seams that the cable is still engaged when the motor decides it is at the top, would pulling harder help? Seams that if the motor still has a hold of it then I could break something or are you saying it would it just let go of the cable with no damage if more force is used?

Yes, I'd think so (Disclaimer: unless Lexus went bizzarre and added a retainer there, which is 99.9% unlikely :) )

Scamper said:
The service advisor should have known that it won't retract all the way--even with the up/down button--until you turn the radio off. Then it gets pulled down all the way.

That was my original thought but after experiencing the freeplay at fully extended mast, I concluded it was not the case (not retracted completely flushed with the base nut)

My antenna extends to whatever height it is last set (last used position memorized) when the RADIO is on. It's fully retracted when switched to use CD/Cassette or power off.
 
Well the truck decided for me, this morning the antenna cable broke so I will be pulling out the whole motor anyway.

In the man time need to figure out how to disable it and keep it from running for about 30 seconds on shutdown. I was hoping it had a separate fuse no such luck.
 
There are two quick-disocnnects in the wiring leading to the motor tucked in there with it. If you're concerned about it trying to retract it'd be a 2 minute procedure to disconnect.

Personally I just let it run, there's not much load there as it's not even putting the antenna up and down...
 
Thanks for the tip,

Got it replaced today, that was a pain, I decided I wanted it out far enough to watch is go through the motions and figure out the clocking (turns out on the 96LX it was partially wasted effort as it is automatic)

To get enough slack in the antenna cable to pull the motor all the way out of the fender the center dash and radio had to come out along with the glove box, took the cable out of 2 plastic mounts one near the radio and one near far right side of the dash. Then pulled the slack through the grommet into the fender.

To get the antenna out the washer bottle (dual batt) cruise control actuator and fuel pump resistor came out for access, one bolt at the bottom and the dress nut at the top and the motor is loose, took a wile to figure out how to get it through the hole.

Got the cover off and found 2 broken cables in there, apparently last time it broke they just shoved a new one in and let the old one spool out into the area under the cover. The weird bumping/knocking noises my antenna made when it got all the way down are almost gone except for the squeak at the very end witch is still present.


Wile the antenna was broken I noticed going up the motor run for as long as it normally would, but on the down side it ran for quite a wile, 30 seconds? Turns out there is a sensor on the cover and it turns off the down only after the antenna stops and the geared spool stops, this sets the clocking/timing. And then when it goes up it must count through this same sensor (hall effect looking sensor) and it stops when a certain number of revolutions have been made. I still have about ¾” of slack in the antenna at full up,

Unless you are able to pull hard on the cable and turn the motor over (never tried 10 pounds or so of force) then looks like you have to take the motor apart to replace the mast on a 96LX weather it is already or broken or just for PM. Unlike the earlier antenna’s where you can easily replace it as PM with the up/down buttons and only have to pull the motor for a broken cable.

Is this more like the 97LC or 96LC?

I should have gotten the part # off the motor while it was out.
 
Raven,

Two comments. One, I found it amusing yours has that little 'squeak' also just as it completes retracting. My new 97 antenna does this each and every time in the silence of the garage.

The other comment is that Cdan may have figured out a way to override the automatic functions unique to the 97s. I will be trying this mod in the Fall when things quiet down at the Miller house and will report back.

DougM
 

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