power antennae motor gear

I need to replace the plastic gear that is driven by the worm gear in my power antennae motor on my '95 Camry. I have a ratcheting sound (that lasts for about 10 seconds) when my antennae reaches full height. I was told the antennae itself needs to be replaced when that sound is heard. I installed a new antennae but the ratcheting sound still occurs. So I took apart the power antennae motor to see what condition the gears were in. All except the one gear driven by the metal worm gear were in great shape. That one gear had a little wear on about 8 or 10 teeth. Is replacing that gear alone going to solve my problem?

The Toyota dealer in town said I can't get just that one gear. I will need to purchase the whole motor ($150) I was told. Our local scrap yard said they may have one if I want to come out and paw through their Camry section. Has anyone else had this problem? What did you do to remedy the ratcheting sound? Will I just have to get a new motor? I don't really want to spend $150 on it though. Does anyone know where I can get just that one gear? I had thought about just letting the antennae get about halfway to full height and then unplugging the wiring harness to prevent it from going up and down. Does that sound reasonable to do?

Thanks for your input!!

You do not need to replace the whole thing. Last I remember the plastic gear cost about $50 and was easy to replace. You have to go in the trunk and remove the old gear from the bottom. It has been a few years since I have had to do this, time to do it again since it broke klast month!!

When mine gets close to the top, it makes a metal grinding kind of noise and sometimes doesn't go all the way up. I think its the antenna itself, like the different segments have friction between them, I was wondering if there was a way I could just lubricate the antenna instead of replacing it. I tried with WD-40, but it usually just gets squeezed back out (since the segments are tight together) and only really helps for a few raisings and lowerings.


It may be easier for you to change that gear by taking the Antenna out of the car. I assume you know how to take it out, instead of trying to do it in the trunk. I don't remember clearly enough to give you good instructions, sorry. I taught myself using a Chilton book (the instuctions in there were either not completely correct or hard to follow or both) Just as long as you know the round silver part of the mount outside the car at the base of the antenna with what looks like a + sign indented into it is also a bolt that must be removed. They probably make a tool for it, I just used a flat head screw driver at an angle and lightly tapped it with a rubber mallet. Its easiest to get this bolt while the other two in the trunk (that are clearly bolts) are still tight.

I had no problem removing the motor. Disconnect the wiring harness, remove two nuts and the whole power antennae motor removes easily from the trunk so it can be worked on on a bench. That was the easy part and so is taking the motor apart to look inside at the condition of the gears. It is pretty straight forward to take apart and put back together.

I just need to know where I can get a new gear without having to buy the whole stinking motor. Gator2764, where did you pick up a replacement gear? Who sells them? Toyota dealer in town here said I can't get just that one gear, but I can't believe it. :banghead:

And Ice745, I had also thought that the antennae itself just needed to be lubed up. So I also tried an application of WD-40. It made things slide nicely but the 10-second ratcheting sound still persisted.

I had no problem removing the motor. Disconnect the wiring harness, remove two nuts and the whole power antennae motor removes easily from the trunk so it can be worked on on a bench. That was the easy part and so is taking the motor apart to look inside at the condition of the gears. It is pretty straight forward to take apart and put back together.

I just need to know where I can get a new gear without having to buy the whole stinking motor. Gator2764, where did you pick up a replacement gear? Who sells them? Toyota dealer in town here said I can't get just that one gear, but I can't believe it. :banghead:

And Ice745, I had also thought that the antennae itself just needed to be lubed up. So I also tried an application of WD-40. It made things slide nicely but the 10-second ratcheting sound still persisted.
I was able to buy just the plastic gear, the long straight part from the Toyota dealership. I am sure that they want to make extra money by selling you the whole assembly!! Just off the phone with the dealership and the part you need is called the "Mast" It should run about $40.00 and you will go through the trunk to replace that. It is not a hard job

Gator, thanks for the response. I did purchase the mast (it cost me $67) from the Toyota dealer last week. It installed easily enough for me but that did not solve the ratcheting problem. Even with the new mast installed the noise still happens. The mast raises and lowers perfectly fine (like my old one did in fact) but the ratcheting still happens when the mast is full height.

The gear I think I need is inside the power motor itself, not the antennae that raises out from the rear fender. There are a series of 4 gears in the motor unit that will raise and lower the "long straight part" (the mast), as you say, and the only internal gear that shows any wear at all is the one directly driven by the metal worm gear inside the motor housing. The "long straight part" on my original mast shows no visible wear to the teeth. I was told it quite likely had some stripped teeth but I don't see any at all. I think my problem is with the small round gear inside the housing. That is what I think needs replacing but I need to find where I can get one. Thanks for trying to help me, Gator.

Sorry about that. I figured it was just the mast since the dealership keeps those in stock since they do tend to be a big problem.

Just a FYI to all generation 3 owners while we are talking about power antenna masts. Pep Boys sells an exact duplicate of the generation 3 mast for around $15. I found that out after I too spent dealer $'s on a replacement one for my 94.

RDEshadow,

How easy would it be for you to remove that gear. I'm thinking you could take it out and take it over to any electronics store that might me in your area. Many of the VCR's I have seen have similar gears and maybe you could match it up to one they might have in stock. Just a thought.

Good luck.

Mike

You can buy a new complete repacement antenna assembly for $29.99
on E-bay. I replaced the antenna on my 88 Camry a year ago and it
works great.

JJ

Gator, no problem. Thanks for your comments and help anyway. I appreciate your interest.

Mike, I had thought about what you suggested. The gear is very simple to remove but I didn't know if it was a specialty item that only Toyota carries. I might try to find a place to take it in and see if they have one similar. Thanks for the tip.

Since I know the mast is not the problem I inquired and the Toyota Parts Dept said I could bring in the mast I bought last week and get my money back. As long as I have the original packaging, which I do. I will just re-install the old one since I know it works. Then, instead of dishing out any more money, I am sort of leaning towards just turning on the radio and letting the antennae get to a sufficient height and then unplugging the wiring harness to the power motor. That's real easy to do. It won't raise and lower each time I start the car but I don't care about that too much. I wash my own car so having the car washes rip the antennae off isn't a concern.

That sounds like a pretty good idea if you can't find that specific gear or find a cheap full replacement on Ebay.

Good luck.

Mike

Gator, no problem. Thanks for your comments and help anyway. I appreciate your interest.

Mike, I had thought about what you suggested. The gear is very simple to remove but I didn't know if it was a specialty item that only Toyota carries. I might try to find a place to take it in and see if they have one similar. Thanks for the tip.

Since I know the mast is not the problem I inquired and the Toyota Parts Dept said I could bring in the mast I bought last week and get my money back. As long as I have the original packaging, which I do. I will just re-install the old one since I know it works. Then, instead of dishing out any more money, I am sort of leaning towards just turning on the radio and letting the antennae get to a sufficient height and then unplugging the wiring harness to the power motor. That's real easy to do. It won't raise and lower each time I start the car but I don't care about that too much. I wash my own car so having the car washes rip the antennae off isn't a concern.

That is what I have been doing for the last year, just left it in the up position. Be careful if you bring it to a car wash!!!