power antenna/rear deffoger

[Liquidus]

I have an 1991 240sx. The person i bought it from had an amp and bass tube in the rear which was removed before i bought it. I think the use of it had caused the fuse for the radio/cd player to blow. I changed the fuse and now it works.

Now that it works i have noticed that the power antenna doesn't. Also the rear defoger won't work either and i have a feeling these two things are related. I checked the fuses in the fuse box under the dash and none were blown. Could it be the larger fuse labeled for the rear defoger in the fuse box under the hood? Could it be something else?

Thanks

[s13sr20chris]

power antenna...is it plugged into the radio? is the antenna plugged in?

defogger...does the light come on in the switch?

[Liquidus]

The light for the defoger does come on on the dash, just nothing happens on the rear window. As for the antenna, i'm not sure. I haven't actually pulled out the radio to check yet. The thing is when i looked at the car it was working fine, the next day when he removed the bass tube and amp the radio and antenna weren't working. From that it would seem like it isn't a loose connection but i'm not sure.

Also, if it makes any difference, the wire that was connected to the bass tube/ amp is still connected to the radio and runs to the back of the car but is hooked up to nothing. I don't think this is a problem but maybe it is. He had it running through the plastic panels at the edge of the carpet so i didn't want to take all those out and take out the radio to take it out.

Maybe just that wire somehow is causing it, maybe a blown fuse in the radio? I'm not sure, when it comes to electrical systems in cars i'm clueless. Mechanical stuff i at least have a clue as to what is wrong and how to fix it, with this i have no idea.

So is it probably not the relay or is there a chance that that is it. I was going to try and get a replacement one because i figured that was the next easiest thing to try. Should i even bother?

Thanks,Rob

[s13sr20chris]

for the defogger you need to check for power and ground at the defog grid.

for the antenna you need to locate the antena motor and check that it is plugged in.

[Liquidus]

I pulled out the radio today. Besides the amp and bass tube there is a 10 disc CD changer (cheap brand that plays through a radio station and still used stock radio). When i pulled out the radio and saw how that was wired in, i realized no fuse or relay would help me. I undid everything, cd changer and wire that once went to the amp/bass tube. Then i reconnected all the original wires to their original locations.

All the wires had been stripped and cut and twisted together in such a horrible way its a wonder anything worked. Once i got everything taken out and connected all the wires back to the radio the way they were supposed to be the antenna worked perfectly. Well, at least it went up and down.

There is a wire that comes from behind the radio and it is just an open end. The connector for it had been cut off. After looking at all the ends that had also been cut off of the box that connected to the cd changer i think i have figured out what connecter is supposed to be on this. It is a connecter that has two round prongs that come out of it. There is a spot for this to plug into the back of the radio. This i beleive is for the antenna, so even though the antenna now goes up and down, theres no reception.

Is there a way for me to reconnect the end back to this wire so i can plug in my antenna. The connector had been cut off and then an end to the box that came with the cd changer had been cut off and this connecter had been twisted onto the wire from the cd changer. It was bad. How can i get this back together again?

Thanks

[s13sr20chris]

nissan antenna wires are usually round. is there a round hole there somewhere?

[Liquidus]

The plug is round and there is a round hole in the radio but there are two prongs coming out of the connecter and two smaller holes in the round hole on the radio for those to plug into. I'm pretty sure it is for the antenna. There is a larger wire and a smaller wire that connect to it. The larger wire also has smaller gold wires under the first layer of plastic, then two plastic layers then the wire. I'm guessing thats insulation to avoid interference with the signal? The cut off connector was also twisted onto the cut off wire on the FM modulator for the disc changer that said "to radio antenna".

[s13sr20chris]

ah hah. that sounds correct. i would just solder it back together.

[Liquidus]

Okay, one last question. Do i need to connect both the large and small wires or just the large. I was thinking maybe the smaller one was for AM reception. The cable that was on the FM modulator only had the large one. Its not going to be a big deal if i have to connect both i guess, but theres no slack in the wire and it's a small space so its not going to be easy either. Just curious if i could connect only the larger wire.

[s13sr20chris]

i would do both. if you have to get some scrap wire and add a little extra that would be a good idea. plus, you need some slack anyway.

[Liquidus]

All right, i'll solder in some extra wire to extend it, i already had to do that on some of the other cut wires, they were just easiear to get to, that antenna wire is back there a ways. Thanks for the help.