99 4runner antenna replacement, HOW?

[Begal]

My wife and I recently purchased a '99 4Runner and we really love it. But the power antenna died about a week after buying it. I've picked up a replacement mast from the dealer, but they had no instruction sheet on how to procede. I looked at a cheap aftermarket antenna at a car parts store and figured out how to get the old mast and serated plastic cord out. That was easy, but the old cord is broken off and is down in the antenna motor. Any thoughts on getting it out without having to remove the fender or wheel well to get to the antenna motor?
Thank you for any advice.

[2toyowner]

Begal
New subscriber so please forgive the timing of this response. Had the same problem and after talking to several techs, resolved that the motor had to be removed to R&R the broken mast part. Not easy, but was able to do so. It was very difficult reaching inside the fender lining without removing it completely, but I chose to do it that way, and just barely had enough room to work on it with the lining bent out of the way. The toughest part was tightening the bolt holding the motor to the bracket inside the fender. Couldn't get two hands inside and took a while. Disassembling the antenna motor to remove the broken piece was not as hard, just very greasy! Make sure you are careful to track the process so re-essembly goes properly. Good Luck!

2toyowner

[cavdude]

Begal, you can get an upholstry/ door panel removal tool from advance auto for about seven bucks. Use it to remove the plastic fender liner after you have removed the bolts (I hink those take a 10 mm socket or a phillips screwdriver) you will most likely have to break these to get them out so you need to buy new ones before hand, the ones I needed came in a pack of 10 at the Toyota dealer. Once inside, I removed the entire motor/drum assembly after taking off the antenna mast nut and bushing on top of the fender.The problem I had was feeding in the replacement mast after I removed the broken piece from the drum and re assembled. It fed in perfectly the first time, went up one time. On the second retract action, it pulled it too far and separated the white plastic cord from where it was crimped to the mast. Does anyone have any advice for me as to why that happened?