Fixing power antenna, has anyone done it? Options

[Xander_X]

As I have yet to find a working power antenna, in the interim, I thought I may try to fix mine.

When I first got the car, the motor ran but the antenna would not move up and down. A very common issue with power antenna after years of use. Now, upon taking it apart, I basically just put it back together, but had to figure out how to put the ribbed plastic tether back in the motor. I had someone turn the radio off for me as I essentially "shoved" the end of the tether in it's respective whole in the motor assembly until I found the position it was supposed to go in. Once I did, the motor sucked it up and I tightened the antenna tube back into the motor assembly. It then would go up and down ... sort of. When it went down, it worked great, low motor noise, and motor stopped as soon as the antenna was all the way down. But on the way up, the motor was quiet until the antenna was all the way up, then it continued to make a louder almost grinding motor noise. So now, basically the main problem is, I'm trying to figure out why it's not recognizing that it's all the way up and stop the motor?

[Galcobar]

The plastic cable breaking can lead to two possible results. The first, and less common, is that the antenna only partly extends. This is less likely to occur than the antenna will no longer retracting, because the gear can push the cable far enough that the teeth no longer engage on the gear and the gear then cannot pull the cable back down. It's akin to being able to push a box up onto a high shelf, but then not be able to grasp it firmly enough to pull it down.

You can also end up with a jammed antenna mast. I had to replace my mast last week for just this cause; the cable was fine but for some reason which lubrication did not fix the bottom two sections of the mast were almost immovable.

Worn-out or damaged teeth could be the cause of your partially-extended mast. I would speculate that as the mast reaches the point where it stops extending, the gear slips on the worn-out teeth -- probably only one or two. This in turn creates the grinding noise you hear. When the motor reverses direction, the gear is now engaging with the opposite side of the teeth. If those halves are in good condition, the mast is neatly pulled back down.

Given the age of our cars, I prefer to fully disassemble the antenna and motor assembly to clean it and re-lubricate. It also makes it a little easier to re-install the mast, since you can remove the gear, insert the collapsed mast, align the cable, and then put the gear back into place. Just make sure you don't forget to re-attach the drain line at the bottom of the motor, or you'll end up with a water-filled quarter-panel.