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Electric Aerial functions

vs-lover

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I have just purchased a 69,000km 1997 VS Series II Calais and the only thing that doesn't work on the car is the Electric aerial. I have for quite a long time been refurbishing Electric aerials to suit VB through to the end of Series 1 VY so I'm quite converse with the Eurovox factory units.

When I bought the car it had a bent aerial mast but the mast nor motor never moved at all when switching the radio on. I felt that maybe the motor in the assembly had maybe burnt out due to the jammed mast. Anyway this morning I removed the as new looking aerial assembly and dissassembled it. Re-lubed the internals and fitted a new mast and as we know the only way to install a new mast is to have the motor side of it draw the mast and rope (as it's known) back into the unit.

So on the bench I have a perfectly working aerial but in the car it won't function. There seems to be no power at the harness connector when the radio is turned on. That's at the square block connector above the ECU with the green and gray wire that turns into a red and a white wire that's on the aerial side of the connector.

So my question is............. is it possible to disable the aerial in the BCM via a Tech 2 to stop it functioning as I feel that is what the 86 year old previous owner might have had done due to it making a helluva racket being jammed opposed to replacing the aerial assembly which would've cost far more than a simple Tech 2, 5 minute hook up at Doncaster Holden.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I know there are a few electrical guru's on this fabulous forum.

Cheers,
Marty.
 

vrsprspt

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Did you trace the wire all the way back to the head unit?.....is there power coming from the head unit to tell the aerial to go up/down?
 

vs-lover

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Hi vrsprspt,

That was my next step to use a test light and check at the BCM plugs to check inputs and outputs as the common item is the BCM.

But as this is a one owner car that is painted in Heather Mist and has absolutely no fade factor and everything you look at is totally untouched from kiddy fingers over the past 20 years I feel that it is more so something that has been done at a Holden dealer more recently as the car was going to be sold with the knowledge of changing to a Holden Trax due to the owners inability to get in and out of the lower Calais seating position, thus not spending anymore money that really needed to be when the end for the car was so near.

Personally I am a stickler for originality and I just love cars that haven't been kiddy molested, so the less I have to pull things apart the better I feel the car will stay.

I do have the hard to get volume 5 VS Service Manual book that covers nothing else but wiring diagrams and it's surprisingly a very full book with many pull out spread pages that cover every type of loom involved in the VS range. Even I never realised how many different loom combinations there really are, thus I've traced all the check points for this issue and most of it at Calais level is all based around the BCM, so from that your idea is spot on to check those vital connection points.

But I would still like to know if the high level BCM has the ability to have the aerial turned off via a Tech 2.

Cheers for your input and I'll keep the info coming as things progress.

Marty.
 

BlackVXGTS

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Well, Tech2 doesn't work on VS models. Tech1 is what you really mean, and good luck trying to find a Holden dealer that still has one of those with the correct cartridge. Frankly, I don't see why Tech1 would have the ability to turn off the aerial - that would be very strange. Refer to the attachment below for testing:
 

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  • VR-VS Checking Antenna Motor Operation.jpg
    VR-VS Checking Antenna Motor Operation.jpg
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vs-lover

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Hi BlackVXGTS,

Thank you for your input, sorry but I was under the illusion that GM dealers used a Tech 2 with a backward adapter to use on a Tech 1 port. Obviously I am wrong on that account. I've spoken to a Holden dealer and the service person I spoke to feels that there is no provision to disable the aerial. I've actually tested the aerial in situ by jumping 12 volts straight to the input plug and the aerial goes straight up, so the issue is further back up the line within the wiring of the BCM and the output from the Eurovox radio. So until I measure those points and get a bit more info from that end, I'm stumped.

Again thanks for your input and also the thumbnail.

Cheers,
Marty
 

vs-lover

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Hi BlackVXGTS,

Thanks for the literature you have sent me.
I appreciate it very much.

Cheers,
Marty
 
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