how the hell do i take the old one out? i only tried to do it at night, but im confused. if anyone knows how, please explain.

peace

 

I've never removed mine on my Prelude, but I think it would be similar to the one I messed with on my old 240sx. For that I gained access to the part inside the rear fender by removing the trunk lining in that region. I then loosened a round nut that was where the mast came out of the fender. That allowed the entire assemble to drop down into the inside of the rear fender where it could be removed though the trunk, where the lining had been.

I can't say for sure that this is the same way for the Prelude, but that might help you a bit.

 

I seem to have damaged my power antenna. I can still hear the motor try to raise and lower the mast, but the mast does not move. Is there any way that I can repair this or does it need replacement? What would you recommend as a replacement part? Where can I buy it and what does it cost?

 

it's easy, generic aftermarket replacement antennas with the motors cost about $50 or less.

you have to get behind the liner in the trunk and remove it. while you loosen the nut on top of the black plastic on the exterior. once you get hte liner out, it should take you about 15 minutes once you figure out which wires to keep on the generic model. doesn't line up exactly the same as oem.

 

you could also leave your antenna up. Just trun your radio on and make sure it's all the way up. Then just pull the trunk linning material on the passenger side back and unplug the wire connecter on the side of the power antenna motor. Thats what I did.

 

If you can hear your motor running, then most likely it's just a bent antenna and you can get that replaced for about 30-50 bucks depending on where you buy it. Just type in "honda antenna" on ebay and you will find a few.

Anyway to fix it is quite simple. You don't have to open the trunk or remove the lining at all. Make sure the antenna is down. Wrap a towel around your antenna to protect the paint. Use a flathead screwdriver in the little valleys around the antenna base and turn counter clockwise. Turn on radio to get antenna as high as possible and then just pull the whole thing out. Put in new antenna mast and turn off radio so it sucks it in. Simple.

Then again if your motor is blown you will have to go into the trunk and do a lot more work.

 

Make sure that you get all the broken pieces of the old mast out. Otherwise it might not go down all the way when you try to install the new mast. If the part with the teeth on it on both the new and the old mast are about the same length, then you should have no problems at all. If not, you might have to take the antenna motor out and disassemble it to remove all the old pieces.

 

Get the Metra unitfor $40, I put one in my 4G and it's fairly easy. I thought mine was just the mast but it turned out the whole thing was f'ed. Even used Honda assembles are $200+ (what a rip!)