LS 400 Aerial

[shanra]

I am looking to replace the aerial and motor on my Lexus ls 400 '97 and wondered if anyone had any recommendations. The old one is not working and cannot be fixed. I was looking at one of these: Calearo Lexus LS 90-00 AM\FM.

[steve2006]

Surprised it cannot be fixed as it is generally just the mast drive that fails.

Perhaps an idea to obtain a worker from a breaker or you will lose some of the functionality of the original plus the added problems of adapting the wiring to suit an aftermarket unit.

[shanra]

Previous owner fitted an aftermarket unit which failed Steve so I think I'll go down the breaker route, thanks for your advice.

[Bluesman]

Definitely down the breaker route just make sure it does work 100%. I recently replaced mine. £40. Mike.

[shanra]

Thanks Mike

[shanra]

Got a working one for £32.50 delivered just as well I got it cheap as when I was fitting it I noticed some rust just above the mudguard and pushed at it with a screwdriver and I now have a hole which will get bigger if pushed again. Needs welding it will not be a proper job otherwise especially as it's a keeper. I know when I got it there was a lot of damp mud that hadn't been cleared out of the mudguard lips in a long time and that can't have helped. Better to find it sooner rathér than later.

[shanra]

Just to update on the rust it was caused by a leak around the aerial where it met the bodywork, the previous owner had replaced the aerial and in doing so must have dented the bodywork. Pushed the dent out and sealed with a clear silicone mastic which was applied to bodywork and aerial body then a bit more on the inside, I doubt that will leak again. Welding was done by a local mobile welder for £60 and he did a very good job and admired the car so I gave him an extra £10!

[Newbie1]

Great work! I have removed the broken aerial from mine as it was leaking into the car, and now just need to seal in the plastic aerial flange with sealant having capped it off with a solid grommet. Duck tape temp fix over the bare hole. It is a shame the hole is not round as I would simply fill that with a grommet. Never need the radio...

[shanra]

Another update on this I thought I had better have a close look at the other side and there was some rust in the same place I had it welded and then found water pooling near the drain pipe that comes down from the fuel filler, after pouring some water in through the top of the fuel filler water drain I could see it was blocked as the water sat there too long so I got some strimmer wire and gently pushed that through the downpipe and that cleared it.I then wiped all the water up in the boot before testing with a few more cups of water through the pipe which also helped to flush it I pulled the pipe from the bottom and ran it into a clear container so I could see when all the dirt had run through and then reattached the pipe to it's grommet. I cleaned around the fuel filler and it was dirty, again carefully so as not to damage any of the rubber surrounding it. There was also a kink in the pipe which probably caused the blockage in the first place I then straightened that to the best of my ability! A lot of trim in the boot had to come off to access the pipe and it will stay off for a while as I'm still going to monitor it just to be on the safe side. If those pipes had been maintained it may well have not happened, just cleaning around the filler and a run through with some strimmer wire could well stop this happening to someone else. One other thing I might add is it's worth cleaning out the channels in your wheel arches not many people do and the mud and crud just build up and hold the damp in there and that can eventually start rusting especially if there's even the smallest break in your underseal. I cleaned out years of the stuff when I first got the car and it took me a quite a while to do them properly again I think gently with any metal instruments as you don't want to make a break in that underseal because that is the problem with it, once the water gets in it will lift great chunks of it if you're not careful. Time for a cuppa and a round of golf!