InoCybe

My trans-am antenna will not retract all the way. I'm not sure the date but it was right at or around when I got my car serviced. When the radio is on it extends up all the way up but with the radio off the antenna retracts and stick up about 5 inchs. When I took out the spare tire and was looking at the power antenna motor. The silver metal "pipe" sticking up that the antenna actually retracts into is bent right where the upper mount is.(looking from the inside it is bent 2inchs below the open end of the tube, antenna mast taken out) I can't even bend the tube stright so it took some force to be bent. It's not the mast, i bought a new one and it also won't fully retract. Has anyone heard of this? I can't find anything on the web. Did my dealer do it on purpose?(I think dealerships are VERY sheisty) Someone could of maybe taken a screw driver or something else metal to it. Since the motor is mounted they could slip something behind the motor's tube and with both hands pull and bend it. Rubbing my finger behind suspected bent site it feels as if the metal pipe is collapsed, might be in my head. Please post and thought, advice, or anything that can help. Thanks

This is a link containing a picture of the power antenna motor assembly. It is below the picture of the purple f-body. The part that's bent is the longer silver metal guide tube that the mast actually slides back into. The bend is near the top.
http://www.antennamastsrus.com/Power...s%20Chrome.jpg

firetpi

iTrader: (1)

Im sorry your having this problem, myn is not retracting all the way either but it doesnt stick up 2 far.


I highly doubt a tech would hate you that much to take time out of his job to do something like that. But anything can happen

hitmanws6

iTrader: (20)

no. techs wouldnt bother doing something that complicated to get back at a customer

dragonrage

If someone there hates you and this is the best thing they could think of, I would almost feel more sorry for them than for you.

InoCybe

I don't think the tech hates me, I'm a very calm likeable guy, I think someone did it to get repeat business. All it would take is removing spare tire(1 min) and bend it and replace spare(3min total) and If I didn't fix motor/mast myself they would charge me what, $200-300 in part/labor. Before I saw the light I had a v6 mustang(that could beat stock v8 stangs all day), I had it serviced and the a/c worked driving there then I got my car back and guess what, the a/c didn't work, a screw in the compressor which requires a special tool to install/loosen suddenly came loose and disappeared, not a cheap fix

I used to be a tech until IED'd in iraq and severly damage my right hand, many of them are honest(including myself) but it is possible in these slow times they can "generate" business.

firetpi

iTrader: (1)

well i can honestly say from being a tech at a dealership, and now working at a independent shop i would never do something like this on purpose, mistakes happen but no matter how much of a jerk the customer is i could never mess with there car.

especially if they did not work in that area i SEVERLY doubt it. Myn has been doing the same thing, these cars are getting old and things are gonna wear out.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

This really doesn't sound like a probable kind of event. The antenna not going down all the way is a common thing with the antennas, but when it gets jammed, the internal mechanism slips. (I doubt it could have bent itself or that anyone would go out of their way to bend it.)

Was anyone in the wheel compartment lately? I'd bet that an object in the compartment or an innocent bump with a spare going in/out of the well caused the bend. (It must have been some kind of impact.)

InoCybe

I haven't had a flat in years so no one has been back there and its only accesible from the spare well. The antenna only starting jamming after I got my car serviced. When the motor assembly is mounted, looking in from the t-top well, the tube is bent towards me. So I think if it was a bump(it would take a sledgehammer to bend the tube) it's only reasonable that it would be bent towards the rear quarter panel, not bent inwards towards the ttop well. I took my antenna motor assembly out, got the biggest screwdriver that would fit, braced the tube with my foot on a crate. I pulled as hard as I could, breaking my driver and not straighting the pipe at all. This pipe is think, what ever cause it was sever. Since nothing else is messed up, or out of place, I'm at a loss. What could of possibly been the cause of this? No one has any good leads, and there is nothing on the WWW. Thanks for the posts tho.

xbcrguy182x

That is very odd. I really doubt any of the techs would do that. If they wanted to make money off of you, they would have done something that would cost more money to repair. Don't let paranoia get to you. lol

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Do you have a picture of your bent unit?

99monguse

Did they run the car through the carwash? If they did run it through its very possible one of the idiot service porters left the radio on while it was being washed and it got bent.

Stevievai

I doubt they did that intentionally. I had something similar happen to my antenna mast housing, except mine literally snapped in half. My antenna mast was leaning at an angle toward the rear of the car while up, and wouldn't retract at all. I think something hit my antenna while I was driving on the highway.

So after removing the old antenna mast, I had to "splint" my antenna mast housing back together with two metal rods (one on each side) and two hose clamps. That was the only way I could get my new antenna mast to fully retract again.

I agree the mast housnig probably got bent while the antenna was up.