I Hear The Motor, But The Antenna Is Not Going Up.

[DuaneG]

Im sure this has been addressed, but does someone has a link to the forum notes or can someone explain how to fix? Thanks.

D

[Threadcutter]

Im sure this has been addressed, but does someone has a link to the forum notes or can someone explain how to fix? Thanks.

D

D:

Well, I could ask you to do a search on this site.........

Seriously, probably every other person on this site has gone through the same thing. Having done it the hard way myself, my suggestion is to buy a complete unit on eBay and change the whole thing out in one shot. Trust me, changing just the aerial shaft and plastic rack can be one !Removed! mess. It's not difficult really, but I was left wondering why I bothered, It's not worth it.

Oh, BTW........the plastic rack that is attached to the bottom end of the aerial is broken/has teeth missing. That's why you hear the motor running but nothing moves.

[Alfalfa]

Sorry that I don't have the link at my finger tips, but do a search or someone will post it for you. No need to go the the expense of a whole new unit unless you have lots of unneeded cash that you need to drain off.

On my 95 I had the same symptoms of the mast not moving while the motor was running. The teeth stripped off the plastic. All that was needed was to follow the instructions that someone on here posted on how to replace the mast and plastic gear strip. If you can pull the old one completly out in one piece, you can easily feed the new antenna in without removing the whole thing. I bought my replacement off Ebay for about $20. Hope this helps.

[bigste]

Get your antenna from ebay and make sure it's stainless steel. Here the tutorial.

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/audio/powerantenna.html

[irmichel]

I did it recently on my old Benz and it's a 5 minute job if you have a helper.

Wouldn't recommend a screwdriver but a sliding-wrench of some sort (Bahco).

[IS400]

I agree with Threadcutter. I changed the mast twice and it kept failing either all the way up and grinding or down all the way and not rising. Took the whole unit apart and it was fragged plastic everywhere.

New unit is the way to go unless you want to take apart the old one and clean out all the old silicone (yellow goop that stains everything it touches!) and then check the condition of the drive gears and shims/guides before sticking a new mast to the old drive unit while packing new grease while guessing at the right amount of so it will not go where it does not belong.

I tossed the damn thing and ordered new. Too many cheezy wear items in that unit IMO.

;)