MARK V ANTENNA REPLACEMENT

[SeamusOlfert]

Looking for some people who have experience replacing the motorized antenna. What they used and how easy/hard it is.

 

[Action]

If the power antenna has a round or ball like base it was made by a company that supplied both Ford and GM. I think they were out of Ohio and are definitely out of business. I think the company was called Tenna Corporation.

Unless you are going to modify to something not made for the application the solution is to fix or find a donor.

I elected to repair the motor in my Mark III. The motor worked and the antenna did not go up and down. Found out the plastic cable had separated from the metal mast. Cut off a section of plastic. Reattached and was good to go. I documented it n a different forum that is shutting down. And the search engine does not work either.

While it was expensive, I also bought two other used antennas if I need them in the future. Not sure of Mark V, those used antennas were about $100 each.

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[Action]

Found the data
If yours looks like this one it was made by Tenna Corporation. There are variations of this design.
This one is out of a mid-60s Buick
There are far more units built for GM vehicles. The antenna is mostly the same. It is the mounting and the mast that are different from car to car.

Action

 

[SeamusOlfert]

If the power antenna has a round or ball like base it was made by a company that supplied both Ford and GM. I think they were out of Ohio and are definitely out of business. I think the company was called Tenna Corporation.

Unless you are going to modify to something not made for the application the solution is to fix or find a donor.

I elected to repair the motor in my Mark III. The motor worked and the antenna did not go up and down. Found out the plastic cable had separated from the metal mast. Cut off a section of plastic. Reattached and was good to go. I documented it n a different forum that is shutting down. And the search engine does not work either.

While it was expensive, I also bought two other used antennas if I need them in the future. Not sure of Mark V, those used antennas were about $100 each.

Action

I wonder if there are any aftermarket antennas that would work.

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[SeamusOlfert]

Found the data
If yours looks like this one it was made by Tenna Corporation. There are variations of this design.
This one is out of a mid-60s Buick
There are far more units built for GM vehicles. The antenna is mostly the same. It is the mounting and the mast that are different from car to car.

Action

View attachment 14333

Thanks for the info! I’m looking on EBay for some parts. No luck yet.

 

[Action]

Yeah I took a brief look and did not find anything either.
It took me months to get the two spares I got. As I took a pass on a couple too. Either the seller's price was too high with no guarantee it worked. Or was obviously trashed and I wanted to at least start with something better.
They are not too difficult to take apart.

I would recommend removing and applying power to one wire. (of two) and ground the case.
In the car the case is grounded at the bottom mounting stud.
Power goes to one of the wires for up. The other wire for down.
If no motor sound you have at least an electrical issue.

That all assumes you have the Tenna Corp antenna.

Action

 

[Action]

I wonder if there are any aftermarket antennas that would work.

Anything will work.
Extremely unlikely there is anything close to plug and play.

Given enough time effort and money I am sure you can get a universal aftermarket antenna to work. May or may not be reasonably water tight where it passes through the sheet metal.

Action

 

[SeamusOlfert]

Yeah I took a brief look and did not find anything either.
It took me months to get the two spares I got. As I took a pass on a couple too. Either the seller's price was too high with no guarantee it worked. Or was obviously trashed and I wanted to at least start with something better.
They are not too difficult to take apart.

I would recommend removing and applying power to one wire. (of two) and ground the case.
In the car the case is grounded at the bottom mounting stud.
Power goes to one of the wires for up. The other wire for down.
If no motor sound you have at least an electrical issue.

That all assumes you have the Tenna Corp antenna.

Action

It tries to go up and down but it goes up like a couple inches and that’s it. I found a guy and bought an antenna from him off a Facebook group I’m in. I paid 175 including shipping. He assured me it works fine.

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[Action]

Typically partial up and down movement means the unit is good for at least the basics.
The mast may be bent. And it does not take much bend to be a problem.
The mast has to be nearly perfect with no bends

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