Jaguar XJ6 Series 3 Power Antenna Broken or Stuck
On the Series 3 saloon the aerial motor sits in the boot by the spare wheel, pushing the mast behind the right tail lamp through a long flexible conduit. That's why a one-piece universal aerial won't fit, and why a jammed mast clicks at a slipping clutch instead of burning the motor. I'd start by looking at the mast and listening at the boot.
How bad is it · Safe to drive
Safe to drive
A mast left up is easily snapped in a car wash. Otherwise this costs only reception.
Which one applies to yours depends on your symptoms, your model year and what has already been done to it.
Likely causes, most common first
Read the check cost before the odds: a free check that rules a cause out beats a likely guess that costs money.
A broken mast — fit the correct split-type unit
Snapped or bent masts are the commonest failure. The replacement must be the remote-motor type with its own conduit; combined units are too bulky by the tail lamp. Bare replacement masts were never offered for the Series 3 aerial, unlike later cars, so the choice is a whole unit or a mast salvaged from a donor.
Mast broken, bent or missing; the motor still runs. Running through a car wash with the mast up is a classic way to snap it.
Access through the boot (mat, finisher, spare wheel, a brace) and from outside with the right tail lamp out. Run the new unit on jumper leads before threading it in.
The correct split-type replacement. A rigid aerial for an earlier XJ won't turn into the tail-lamp cavity. An aftermarket remote-motor unit works: cut the old mast off at the motor, tape the new one to the stub and pull it through the passage into the wing, reusing the original bracket and chrome cap. Check the mounting-hole-to-tip length against the old unit before buying, and retract the mast before a car wash.
A dirty, dry mast — the clutch clicks
When the mast binds, a slip clutch in the motor lets go and clicks. A dirty mast can also blow the aerial fuse.
The mast rises half an inch and stops, clicking; or the aerial fuse has blown. A 'bump bump bump' when the mast is fully down is the clutch doing its job, not a fault.
Radio on, help the mast up by hand, wipe each section and lightly oil or wax it. Still binding — open the gearing, clean it, regrease with silicone. Wipe each segment upward only, with metal polish, thinner or a solvent cleaner; wiping downward pushes grime into the joints. Every segment but the thin top one should rotate and slide freely. A little penetrating spray down the base of the mast reaches dried grease in the mechanism; corrosion on the axle of the geared drive wheel gives the same symptom.
Worth trying: clean and lubricate; don't keep running a dirty mast. Silicone spray on a cloth, wiped upward, then several full cycles with someone switching the radio while you help the mast. Repeat it now and then.
Mast moves only a little with a thump at each end — the clutch out of adjustment
The motor drives the line through an adjustable slip clutch. As it loosens over the years it slips before the mast reaches either end, and it gets worse in cold weather.
The motor runs both ways but the mast travels only a short distance, with a 'thump thump thump' where it thinks the end of travel is.
Clean and lubricate the mast first. If it still stops short, open the motor cover and find the clutch adjuster.
Tighten the clutch a little at a time, for example about a third of a turn as the repair manual describes, and test after each step.
Grinding or a ratchet noise — worn motor gears
The drive gear's teeth and the notches of the cogged line wear down until the gear skips. Left alone, the noise becomes continuous every time the car starts, until the motor is unplugged.
A ratcheting or grinding noise from the boot that gets worse over weeks.
Open the motor in the boot and look at the gear teeth and the line's notches.
A worn-out motor is replaced and the existing conduit and line transferred onto the new reel. DAC3542 was superseded; DAC4090 is the later number, and the DAC2383 bracket is cheaper second-hand. Re-cutting worn teeth by hand only buys time.
The motor runs but the mast doesn't move — a broken drive line
A plastic line wound in the motor drum pushes the mast. If you hear the motor, the line has usually snapped. Toothed and smooth lines aren't interchangeable. The two line types are not interchangeable: a smooth line can be replaced with strimmer cord, a cogged one cannot, and it is run out by the motor with the mast unbolted.
The motor whirs as normal; the mast stays put.
Open the drum and see which line you have. Handle the conduit gently — it's the Jaguar-specific part, and frail.
Worth trying: renew the line — nylon trimmer line of the same thickness for a smooth one, or the line from a cheap used unit — matching the old length. For example 3 mm strimmer line replaced a snapped smooth line on a DAC4040 unit. The line's top end is swaged into the thinnest mast section; warming the fitting softens it enough to pull the old line out and seat the new one. Clean out set grease from the drum while it's open.
Nothing at all — the delay relay and the trigger wire
Early cars use a separate green delay relay that lowers the mast after the radio goes off; others have it inside the motor. It needs a permanent feed and a radio-on trigger.
No motor sound either way; or an aftermarket aerial rises an inch and stops. The interior lights dead as well: they share the F3 fuse with the aerial relay's feed.
With a meter, find the always-live feed and the radio-on trigger. Test the motor straight from the battery: earth the motor body, then 12 V to one motor wire raises the mast and to the other lowers it; the internal end switches stop it, so this is safe. If the motor runs, the relay or its wiring is at fault. On the green five-pin relay the switched centre pole should show 12 V with the radio on and 0 V with it off, and touching the radio wire on and off should make it click. The motor housing must be earthed or nothing moves.
Worth trying: wire a replacement with its own relay to feed, trigger and a good body earth — that makes the green relay redundant. Keep the drain tube at the base clear: water trapped inside the unit corrodes the motor and its electrics.
The order to check them in
The point of the order is money: each step either rules a cause out or makes the next one worth doing. Green is free, amber costs a little, red is the one to arrive at last.
Look at the mast
Broken — replace. Dirty and binding — clean and lubricate first.
freeListen at the boot, radio on and off
Clicking is the clutch, whirring is the line, silence is feed, fuse or relay. A grinding ratchet is worn gears.
freeTest feed and trigger with a meter
One wire always live, one live with the radio on, and a clean earth.
freeRepair the drive line before buying a unit
Open the drum; match line type and length.
cheapIf replacing, buy the Series 3 remote-motor type
Route the conduit in a gentle curve at the mast base — a sharp bend kills new units.
a replacement aerialThe fuses named above — where they sit
The highlighted position is the one the procedure talks about. Pulling a fuse is a stop-gap, never a repair: check what the circuit feeds before you pull it.
Circuit descriptions from the Jaguar fuse tables, 1987 edition. Drawing by jagaux.com from the factory electrical guide. Fuse layouts change between model years — read the legend on the lid of your own box before pulling anything.
What it usually isn't
Don't spend money here first:
If none of this finds it:
On jagaux.com
- XJ6 Series 3 fuse boxesWhich fuse feeds the power aerial.
- Jaguar XJ6 Series 3 Battery Drain, Flat After a Week
- Jaguar XJ6 Series 3 Window Switch, Windows Not WorkingIf the windows are slow or dead too — the master switch, the switch contacts and the same direct 12 V motor test.
- Jaguar VIN decoderConfirm your exact model year, engine and factory options before ordering parts — free.
Ratings, fuse numbers and torque figures vary by model year and market. Read the legend on your own car before pulling anything, and use the figures in the manual for your car, not the ones in a video.
Check your VIN: exactly which car you have and which bulletins apply to it.