Chrysler Repair: Power Antenna Wiring on LeBaron, 1990 chrysler lebaron, chrysler lebaron

Question
1990 Chrysler LeBaron - replacement unit has red and blue wiring, the original is white, green and gray.  How do I wire it?

Thanks, Larry

Answer
Hi Larry,
I looked at the photo and the left one is set up the way it is supposed to be according to the wiring diagrams, though I can't be sure of the wire colors at that distance. Let me tell you what happens with the circuit:

when the radio is turned on there is +12v on the black/red and ground on the gray.
when the radio is turned off there is +12v on the white/gray and ground on the black/red.
So what I would do is use two jumper wires from the battery posts and try them in these two configurations with the new unit:

+post to the red wire and -post to the black wire
+post to the blue wire and - post to the red wire

and observe for whether the antenna goes up and down. If it does, then what I suggested in my first response is correct and you can hard wire it that way. If not, then try some other permutations to figure out what combination will drive the antenna up and what combination will drive it down. One of the three new wires will be needed for both the up and down motion and that should be attached to the black/red feed wire, while the other two should be attached to the other two feed wires and you should be able to tell  how by trial and error.
Roland






Hi Larry,
I have checked all the wiring diagrams for LeBarons and all of them have the three wire system hovever the wire colors are white/gray, black/red, and gray. My inclination would be to return the antenna and try to get one with three wires from a dealer. About the only other possibility is to assume that the the body of the new unit is a "lead" specifically the one to which the gray wire should be attached. Then attach the red wire to the black/red and the blue to the white/gray, but I would not hard wire it but rather try touching the red and black/red wires together momentarily to see if the antenna moves or not when turning the radio on, and the blue momentarily to the white/gray when you turn the radio off, and thus possibly avoid a short circuit which will blow fuse #11 if the new unit is not truly set up for use with a three wire system.
Roland