so ive searched the threads and i see a lot of problems with the radio but cant seem to find my entire problem anywhere. the first part is that it does not fully retract (i have not tried lubricating it, so i will do this next) but worse than that it does not seem to recognize when the cd player is on. it stays extended (no motor noise to attempt to retract) pretty much all the time until you turn off the car at which point it retracts about halfway- if i gently assist it, it will completely retract

 

You would think when playing the CD the system would figure you don't need the antenna and retract it. Nope, it stays up whenever power is on.

They spent good money on that antenna and they're not about to hide it!

Oops, forgot this ...
There is a mod which involves inserting an override switch so you can force the antenna down when listening to CD (or some other add-on). Give a yell if you can't find it by way of a search here.

 

well thats dumb... $100k for a car that the antenna doesnt retract when radio not in use? my 92 maxima was better built... antenna still retracts perfectly... everything else still works too... guess jags are all name and no value for money spent. hence the huge depreciation for a so called luxury vehicle.

 

IMHO...one minor flaw does not diminish what is arguably one of the most elegant cars on the road today...new or used.

Tell ya what...I got a 92 Maxima that I will trade for your XK8...antenna works great.

 

Power Antenna's really are just generic items. Amazon.com has them for $20, $28 and $73. I don't know where Jaguar thinks $359 is a reasonable list price.

The last one I installed just took a few minutes to put in--little skill involved. Base Rate per Jag is .8 hrs. Good luck!

 

I will not dispute you on the elegance comment however "one minor flaw" could be argued for hours.. for the price spent you are not getting the quality workmanship one would expect for that dollar.. apparently "Elegance" is what you pay for. Guess ill have to wait till im loaded so i can get both quality and elegance in a Bentley, lol

 

My antenna did exactly the same thing. It would stop half way down, I just replaced the mast and it now works perfectly. I did have to take the whole antenna motor out and take it apart to get the antenna out though. I think it was getting stuck on the way up. Very easy fix and inexpensive. I found if I'm listening to the CD player I don't bother looking in the mirror that way I don't know the antenna is up.

Good luck

 

[quote= I found if I'm listening to the CD player I don't bother looking in the mirror that way I don't know the antenna is up.
Good luck[/quote]

Even if one keeps his eyes pointed forward there's an unfortunate way to tell if it's up or not, on a rag top anyway. The antenna "sings" at speed; annoying as hell.

Some of us have put in a switch to force it down when using the CD player. Pretty easy to do. There's a post on this somewhere ... in FAQs maybe?

 

Here is the link.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=24564

A nice Sunday afternoon project.

 

My '91 XJ6 had a bad mast that was very easy to replace without removing the antenna motor. I would talk to a mechanic or check a manual Before I took out the motor.

 

By the way, years ago all car stereos had the antenna go up when the stereo was turned on, even if the radio itself wasn't being used. I guess Jaguar just didn't bother to change.

 

Just found a thread on radio mast replacement:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=49539