hey guys, got an 89 Trans Am GTA with a power ant. that was having trouble going up and down and now "drains power" so the prev. owner pulled the fuse out as a quick cure, but now my lights wont flip up and on nor does my horn or power locks work either...i would like to disable the power ant from drawing power from the batt so i can put the fuse back in and have lights...shall i trace the wire from the ant and disconnect it?
he said it drains the batt slowly but will if the car is off....i dunno...
thanks...

 

I retrofitted my IROC from a stationary to power antenna and years ago. I bought all the OEM parts and it was plug-and-play.

Look at the fuse block. There should be a single wire for the antenna that plugs into the fuse block. The fuse block should be marked like, "pwr ant" or "ant" or "radio" something like it.

IIRC, it's a pink or red wire. Unplug this wire from the fuse block and you'll be good to go.

Edit:

Look at the fuse panel image attached to this thread (https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...emp-gauge.html). The power antenna power lead should be plugged into the fuse panel right below the Radio fuse (it's the hole with the single contact in it.....there's an arrow pointing to it).

 

The relay is under the map pocket behind that lower panel. Disconnect the relay and it should stop.

 

Thanks guys...I will try to get it right from the fuse panel, if not that then I will try to locate the relay behind the pouch on driver side, and if not that, then I will just snip the damn wire running from that stupid ant! JK I wont do that...but seriously, thanks for the help guys! this should help!

 

Well after messing around with the ways to disable the power ant, I should rename the post how to get power lights to flip up! I couldnt locate a pink or orange wire going into the spot you mentioned in the fuse box. It is pretty hard to feel up there but there was at least 2 pink wires in the area so I would have to narrow down. Like i said earlier, the guy removed the power accessories 20 amp fuse because when it is in, the power ant. motor starts running continuously which could drain the battery.....
While I was looking at the relay behind the panel on the passenger side "glove pouch" thing, and I disconnected 1 of them to see what would happen and sure enough the power ant stopped and all my power locks mirrors worked interior lights and horn worked. Then I checked the headlights and sure enough, nothing. I tried the lights even with the fuse in and relay connected and still nothing. Is my next option to replace the headlight motors? I attached a pic of the relay pass side behind the panel. Any input would be greatly appreciated! Need to get this thing inspected soon and won't pass without headlights.

 

oops here is the pic! i tried with the one on top in and one on bottom out, visa versa...didnt touch the thing on the right...

 

The headlight doors are a separate issue, they don't use power from the ACC or radio fuses you have been messing with.

Can you crank them up manually? Will they stay up, or will they close again when the headlights are turned off? Do the headlights actually come on, regardless of the door position?

 

Anyone know where to purchase an antenna/motor?

I haven't been able to find one...

 

Not too sure about how to get the headlights to flip up manually..i have tried flipping the light switch on and having someone "assist" the lights to flip up but that didnt work. I have not been able to get them up at all

If the headlights not flipping up and down is a different issue, how do i go about fixing it? new motors?

Also is anyone 100% sure about which wire is for the power ant? i couldnt find the wire leading to the ant itself, so i dont want to go guessing which wire it is and cut them only to find out i cut the wrong one

 

did you see my pic above? by yanking that relay, i got everything back to work minus the headlights (which may be another issue)
anyway are all 3 of the wires that make up the 1 relay underneath the map pouch for the power ant or are there other things in that 1 relay with 3 wires? (from the pic) thanks

 

Turn on the lights, then crank the big black knurled **** beside each door motor about 100 times to open them. If they crank open this way, the gears and bushes are probably ok, and it's an electrical problem with the fusible links, door module or grounds etc.

 

ohh so i can manually crank something OK im sorry i never knew this...i imagine to get to the black **** that i have to pop the hood? lol i had a third gen camaro before but not a bird with these flip ups...anyway so i literally have to crank this **** thing that much?! yikes, i will do it when i get the car back...

at least if it cranks up then we can eliminate 1 possibility...also the prev. owner said to check the headlight module which is next to the brake master cylinder..i guess i will check that out make sure it looks alright...

if i must replace the motors for the power lights, where would i go about buying them? i know they sell rebuild kits, but i am not savvy at all with these things so is it easy to rebuild them or can i just spend a little more and replace them all together? i am good with cars in general just not with these headlights... thanks so much guys

 

Yep, under the hood. The ***** have holes you can stick a pen or w/e in, to make the cranking easier.

For repair or replacement parts, check out some of the site sponsors - Top Down Solutions, Hawks Thirdgen, Thirdgen Ranch etc.

 

Thanks for the help bud...when the light switch is pushed inside the car, you can hear the motors running on both headlights...both of the ***** for each headlight also spin when the switch is actuated...however, manually turning the ***** isnt opening or closing the lights...

does this mean the gears and stuff inside are shot? I imagine that since I can hear the motors running at the lights, that the fuse, wiring and module can be ruled out, and that it must be the gears and internals inside? is that correct? i ordered the rebuild kit from hawks...

is it difficult to rebuild these things? and if i cant open the doors up manually with the crank, than how am i supposed to rebuild the motors? any help please! thanks

 

I'd expect you've nailed it there. I've never had to pull mine apart (yet), but from what I've read the plastic internal gears turn to dust and bushings break. I'm not sure if it's necessary to have the buckets in the up position to remove them; try the search function and see what you turn up.