radio & antenna problems

[margz3]

Hoping someone might have an idea to help me out. I have a 92 Caprice Classic. My daughter left an interior light on (drained the battery). She also left a "tape" (connector for car cd-player) plugged in at the time. When she had the car jumped, the radio would no longer work (it kept thinking that there was a tape in the tape player, even when it wasn't) but the tape/cd player would work.

On top of this, last night when she came home, the power antenna motor would not stop running (even with the power off on the vehicle) We could push the antenna down, but it would still keep running. Ended up pulling the fuse (which is also the interior light fuse) to get it to stop. We tried disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, but it did no good - radio still doesn't work and antenna motor keeps on whirring.

We just had work done on the car (picked it up the day before this started happening) but that was intake manifold, exhaust manifold and oil change.

Any thoughts????

[TommySS]

Your daughter is sending you a signal that she wants a new car. Do NOT fall for this ploy. My daughter did the exact same thing.

The electronics are very sensitive to voltage spikes. My guess is the jump fried one of the radio ICs. No help except to replace the radio.

The GM power antenna is not the best in the world, and they can go anytime. What happened is that the perforated nylon tape inside the motor assembly no longer engages with the motor gear.

Unplug the motor connector, or it will run until the battery runs down. Pulling the fuse is ok, as long as you can live with the other stuff sharing the same circuit.

It's cheaper to replace the motor than attempt fixing the original.

Disconnecting/reconnecting the battery clears computer faults and radio presets. Not much else.

Whatever you do, be sure to recharge the battery with an external battery charger. If you don't, the alternator will wear out trying to get the battery back to a full charge.

Finally, instruct your daughter to turn off ALL accessories before jump-starting a car.

Don't fault the shop. They had their hands full with the other stuff they did.

[margz3]

Thanks Tommy! Beleive it or not, she really likes the car, so I don't think its a ploy for a new one...just our continuing dumb luck! I really appreciate all the advice. And go figure, husband got an external battery charger just yesterday for his birthday! And no, absolutely NO faulting the shop...I just wasn't sure if anything could have gotten bumped around

[TommySS]

Please stay in touch and let us know how it goes.

[nekeel]

Hi. Tommy. My antenna motor won't stop turning either. You mentioned in your post to "unplug the motor connector." Can you tell me where this morot connector is located? Btw, I have a 89 Caprice Classic. Thanks for your help.

[TommySS]

There are two (ok, three if you count the fuse).

You can disconnect it from the motor. The antenna motor is located inside the passenger side fender (jack up car, remove tire and inner fender, unplug motor.

Perhaps a little easier is to pull the antenna motor relay, which is located on the instrument panel brace left of the glove box. The brace is a heavy, triangle-like piece of metal between the radio and the glove box.

Easier than that is to pull the RADIO fuse. However, you lose the radio and cruise control (but the antenna will stop).