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Hi Guys, I need help again. This is mainly for those guys with some electrical experience. I installed a power aerial from an NA8 into my NA6 and it is just not powering up. I would like to do a write up to show people how to do it but until I get it fixed it's not going to happen.

This is the deal. I bought a second hand one off ebay and fitted it into my car. After much grinding, swearing, and ripping out of the interior I thought I had it all sorted. I didn't . With some help from Fastfreddy we had a look at it and even swapped it into his car and it still didn't work so I assumed that the antenna I had just bought was busted. Today I went and bought a brand new one from Mazda and thought my problems would be over but alas it was not meant to be. I fitted it into my car and wired it up and still nothing.

The wiring I was able to procure after much searching on the net and with some help from Fast freddy went like this:-
Blue/white at connector - Cigar fuse - Shows 12v when key is in acc position
Green/white at connector - Radio signal wire - Activate antenna when radio is on
Blue/Red (purple?) at connector - Permanent power - Comes from fuse shared with heated rear window - shows constant 12v
Black/yellow at connector - Meter Fuse - Shows 12v when key is in on position
The antenna is grounded though the bracket to the car body

To the best of my ability all these are wired up solidly and showing the expected results. I need help with this guys or I just spent alot of money on nothing so any help given will be appreciated. Thanks

Ben

just confirming you checked them all with a voltmeter???

\"Permanent power - Comes from fuse shared with heated rear window\"

Its only a guess, but i thought this power would only be on when the demister switch is turned on AND the soft top is up?

just confirming you checked them all with a voltmeter???

Sure did and they all read the way they should

\"Permanent power - Comes from fuse shared with heated rear window\"

Its only a guess, but i thought this power would only be on when the demister switch is turned on AND the soft top is up?

There is a fuse block in the boot that has a seperate fuse for the heated rear window and a seperate fuse for the power antenna. This is for the permanent power supply so it is completely independant to the heated rear window

Ben

Have you tried shorting power directly to both antennas to make sure they work first? I assume it should just be a contact closure to cause the motor on the antenna to trigger?

If that works, then perhaps just rig it so you've got accessory power tied to the antenna and leave it at that? At least when the car's on, the antenna should raise, and when it's off, it'll go down. It won't be as neat as having it trigger off the radio itself, but it's pretty close.

Tried taking it to an Auto Electrician?

How much was the full new one?

Have you tried shorting power directly to both antennas to make sure they work first? I assume it should just be a contact closure to cause the motor on the antenna to trigger?

If that works, then perhaps just rig it so you've got accessory power tied to the antenna and leave it at that? At least when the car's on, the antenna should raise, and when it's off, it'll go down. It won't be as neat as having it trigger off the radio itself, but it's pretty close.

I'm not really sure how to do this. If you know can you let me know

Tried taking it to an Auto Electrician?

I'm very close to this Rodders but would prefer to do this myself and without spending the dosh. Of which I have already spent too much and there will be less for mods then.

How much was the full new one?

It cost me $217 from Essendon Mazda. I asked if they had a club discount and they said they would give it to me trade price which is where this figure came from.

Thanks for the comments guys. Keep them coming and hopefully someone can steer me in the right direction.

Ben

bdscott wrote:I'm not really sure how to do this. If you know can you let me know

I remember when I was fiddling with my car stereo in my NB8A, there was a grey wire that connected to the stereo which was the antenna up/down. Basically, if you applied power to this wire, the antenna would raise, and if you removed power, it would lower.

So, I would assume that there would be a constant 12v supply to the antenna, a ground wire, and this extra wire. Connect up the ground (I assume the ground is obvious to connect), then the 12v constant to whichever looks like it would be constant power, then finally the accessory/on 12v power and turn the key. If it doesn't work, try swapping the wires around.

There should only really be 9 combinations of wires you can try before you've tried them all anyway, so it's not overly many to try before you exhaust that option.

PS if this fries your antenna, I take no responsibility.

$200

Someone decided my antenna would look better bent
I bought an amplified one from an xtrail (which helped me cover teh dent they left at the base) and it works a treat.

If you have power to all the positive connections (and you're sure of it) it has to be your ground. Make sure you have 0 ohms between the antenna base and the -ve battery terminal.

Thanks guys. Will try again to find the fault. If still no good will take it to an auto elec. If anyone else has any suggestions, please help

Ben

marcusus wrote:There should only really be 9 combinations of wires you can try before you've tried them all anyway, so it's not overly many to try before you exhaust that option.

PS if this fries your antenna, I take no responsibility.

or just use a multimeter with the car turned off then again with it on, no frying anything

SM wrote:or just use a multimeter with the car turned off then again with it on, no frying anything

Well no, because that will only tell you the voltage across the live terminals from the car, which they've already done. If you use the multimeter on the antenna you won't get any readings unless it's connected up to the car.

I assume the antenna is the one that isn't as clearly labelled as it should be?

I assume the antenna is the one that isn't as clearly labelled as it should be?

The antenna is a factory antenna from an NA8 so consequently it has no label at all. I'm going on American wiring diagrams which are incidently different from the Australian model

Ben

So how many wires are there out of the antenna? Shouldn't be too hard to work out if there's not overly many. What are the colours etc?