The trusty power antenna on my '88 XJ40 will no longer retract, so I'm in the process of replacing it and can't seem to get the replacement power antenna to work with my wiring.

The replacement antenna says it fits 1988-1997 model years with no wiring modifications necessary, just connect the wires an go.

My car has separate, external relays, one for "Antenna Up" and one for "Antenna Down".

At this point I'm thinking it may be easier to repair my old antenna.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
- Ben
1988 XJ40 VDP

Submitted by bentownley@aol.com on Mon, 10/23/2006 - 13:23

J.A.M.,
Thanks for the advice. I'm sure it's the small circuit board in mine too, so I'll keep the old one as a spare. I shelled out some cash at the dealer to buy a new OEM power antenna and it works perfectly. For anyone else out there who has the same problems... beware of the aftermarket power antenna's, they won't work with the external relays on the early XJ40's.
- Ben
1988 XJ40 VDP

Submitted by zurdo_1@univis… on Sun, 10/22/2006 - 19:22

chances are it's the small circuit board, not the motor. one of my cars had the same problem, I went to a salvage yard, got an antenna from a similar car (which had a damaged mast and the guys did not charge me a cent because I removed it myself), removed the circuit board, reinstalled it in my antenna and problem fixed.

Submitted by bentownley@aol.com on Thu, 10/19/2006 - 19:38

Dave,
My mast is fine, it's the motor which is acting up. All the relays
are working... when I turn on the radio, the antenna up relay
closes and 12V is sent to the red wire and the antenna goes up.
When I turn off the radio, there is the normal delay, then the
relay closes and 12V is sent to the blue wire, BUT, the antenna
won't go down. I took apart the Hirschmann (DBC 1868) power
antenna unit, and it appears that all the connections are good. I
suspect that the small circuit board is causing the problem, but am
not an electronics expert, so I'm stopped for now. I may try to
find a part at the junkyard.

The replacement antenna had no connector, I had to splice wires to
hook everything up. After looking at the wiring diagrams, it
appears to me that the replacement power antenna would work fine
with a '93-'94 car, but not the '88-'92 cars with the external
relays.

Thanks for your help.
- Ben
1988 XJ40 VDP

Submitted by dag77423@conso… on Wed, 10/18/2006 - 20:14

Ben,

I have also had problems with the antenna retracting on my '86 XJ6...it would retract down to the very last section and stop about two inches short. I discovered a slight bend near the end...it apparently was binding...I worked at straightening it for awhile and finally, it was retracting regularly. There was another retraction issue which surfaced and was corrected by simply 'lubricating' all antenna sections by spraying WD-40 on a shop towel and wiping down the entire antenna...this technique is now a part of my regular PM.

I don't know if this will help your situation, however, I just wanted to pass-on my experiences with a balky antenna.

Good luck!

D.A. Gillespie
1986 Cobalt Blue XJ6 Sovereign