Antennae power is shorted out!

[ZSaint]

I have completely restored my '71. After putting all of the interior and dash back in, I turned on the antennae and the fuze blew. I tried it again and it blew another fuze. I had everything out of the car. I installed the antennae just like it was before. I wonder where the short is? The hot wire for the antennae motor is grounded somewhere. Anyone have any ideas? I wonder if I take this to a shop if they can find the short for me? I REALLY do not want to take the rear panels off. I guess if that is the only way, I can do it, again.

[EScanlon]

Since both wires going back to the antenna become "Hot", depending on which one is selected by the Antenna Switch and presuming that you used an original wiring style antenna (i.e. a totally manual electric antenna), I would check to see if the short could possibly be BEFORE the switch, and when you actuate you're completing the short to ground.

E¢

[ZSaint]

So, my short could be from the power source under the dash. I will look at the wiring diagram to see where the power comes from. Thanks for this input. I was thinking I had ground the wiring going from the switch to the antennae motor. Good info! Anyone know where the hot wire come from?

[EScanlon]

Yikes! MY GOOF!

The switch wouldn't complete the path to ground if the ground appears "upstream".

Sorry, sorry, sorry......too much going on and too many eggnog rounds.

In thinking it through, I realized that the short would be ONGOING if it were BEFORE the switch.

I think you may have to pull at least the tail-light plastic surround to see if you didn't damage the wiring through there. At least you'll be able to see if you can check your continuity through TO there.

You DID use a Full-Manual Electric Antenna didn't you? (i.e. it operates only when power is applied to it, and it's grounded) That's cause one of the Fully Automatic Electric Antenna will NOT work with the standard radio and switch without rewiring.

Sorry about the mistake.

E

[ZSaint]

Yes, it has a full electric antennae just like the stock antennae. Power up and power down. I will take the back panels off and check it out. The rear panel is sooo brittle and old I am afraid to try and remove it, again. I painted (SEM) it to get rid of the 'greenish' look and carefully replaced it. I don't know if I can do it all again without cracking it. I do not remember having 3 wires involved with the antennae. I remember hooking up the wire (plug-in) to the motor and screwing the ground into the body shell. Did it have a double wire? Can't remember!

[a7dz]

Mine is still apart so, I looked. Yes the stock wire harness uses two wires. Mine are located behind the radio speaker at the forward edge. Ground is through a bonding strap to the body. One more thing for me to test before I put that panel back on.

FWIW

[ZSaint]

Good task to do now! I should have done that. I guess I just hooked it up like it was and expected it to work. I must have grounded it somewhere. Maybe I pinched the wire behind the rear speaker? Something like that...!