99maxk2

Ok, let me start off by sayin i hate the look of a max with its antenna up, it looks like an RC car .... SO, i was sittin in class today and startin thinkin.. what if i put a switch on my antenna power source??? So I tore apart the trunk and found the wires that controlled the power to make it go up and down. The wire connector had a Pink, White, and Black (ground) wire. Now for my question---

--- is it the pink or the white wire that controls the power?

Terran

iTrader: (6)

Do you just want it to never go up?

Crockpot

There is a blue wire in the stock stereo harness. When this line gets power the antenna goes up.. so just run a switch to that. tis what I have

99maxk2

No, I am putting a switch on it so if i ever get bad reception i can just flip the switch and up goes the antenna.

Can you specify where the blue wire is because i dont want to snip a speaker wire or something.

ewuzh

iTrader: (20)

I'm sure it is very possible on the maxima. I did this on my previous car (integra). Like Crockpot said, there should be a wire from the stock headunit harness that provides power to the antenna. Just cut it, and run a switch in between. On my integra, I installed the switch right under the front of the armrest.

Any repair manual (Haynes, Helms, FSM) should have wiring diagrams for the stock radio. Look for the wire that goes to the antenna.

99maxk2

I am looking at the wiring diagram and it says:

Bat (Back up) = pink or pink / blue

Ant Signal = Black/ Red ----> Power Antenna

With that info, does it mean the pink is the power source to the entire head unit?

ewuzh

iTrader: (20)

My intuition tells me the black/red wire is the wire you're looking for.

Crockpot

could be, I forgot that I'm running a wiring harness off mine for a aftermarket HU and forgot that the colors could be different. just go to town with a volt tester

99maxk2

By it sayin Ant. Signal.. that isnt the signal for the reception is it.. its means the power source.. right?

99maxk2

what exactly would i do to test it with a volt thingy-ma-jig

Crockpot

reception wire is the single big plug wire in the back.. different from the regular stock harness

99maxk2

.. sorry i shoulda known that cause i JUST took my dash apart

Crockpot

Try getting a light up volt tester. 3 bucks at auto store. Clip the ground to a grounding point and use the probe to test wires. Have the ant down.. test wires, then put ant. up and see which wire has power now that didn't have power with ant. down

99maxk2

i will do that tomorrow and hopefully do this mod tomorrow if time allows me

Thanks for the help guys, keep this post goin if you find anything new info

ewuzh

iTrader: (20)

Do a write up for the org community

99maxk2

sure thing, if all goes successful, then i will do a write-up with pics

Crockpot

Question, I'm assuming you're doing this to a stock headunit .. why would you need this? On my old stock system the ant. was already switched... when ever radio turned on it came up...

and if you are running an aftermarket hu just switch the power to the blue wire on the wireharness... so whats the question again ?

ewuzh

iTrader: (20)

Come to think of it, you're right. I had to do the antenna switch on my integra because the antenna would go up whenever the stereo was on (even when playing CD's). So I would only make it go up when I listened to the radio, which was very rarely.

On my stock Bose headunit, the antenna already only goes up when the radio is on...

99maxk2

I know, but i ran a lil test and realized when the radio is on and the antena is down, the reception difference is nearly unnoticeable. So that switch will allow me to listen to the radio sithout the RC car look, but if i ever need an antenna, i could put it up in the flip of a switch...

Mmmaxx

Why not get an antenna like an IS300 or something? Its small, black and mounts to top of the rear window. They even look pretty good too. I to hate the stock antenna on the maxima. I rarely listen to the radio either, Im probably going to disconnect it from the HU.

99maxk2

I would get the IS300 antenna, but only if i could shave the antenna i have now because what is the use of it if it ISNT being used.... get my drift. I also dont have the money to do all that because i am saving for other things (exhaust, I.C.E., etc...), so why not still have the stock antenna functionable only when needed. So far, my reception has been great even with the antenna down, so ima go ahead and do this mod if i have time when i get home from work. shall be fun

99maxk2

Finished the mod!!!!

-- I started out by going behind the dash to look for the wire. I was gonna run the wire from behind the HU so i wouldnt have to use TOO much wiring. Well, it turned out that our good old friends at Nissan wrapped all of the wiring with a what seems like a quarter inch of electrical tape. I said scratch that idea, ill just run the wire from where the harness is in the back.

-- I found out that the power wire that control whether or not the antenna goes up or down is Black/ Red. So, I cut that wire and put a switch on it. I mounted the switch near the fuse panel up by the driver's seat.

--Now, I can have my antenna go up and down at my will....