michaelxx16

i did a search & all it pulled up was cars for sale... lol,, but anyways,

was driving my trans am yesterday, & after i had it parked, i noticed that my antenna was still up all the way..., whats the normal causes for this? (car has 98,xxx miles on it) possibly a fuse? or could the motor be out.

thanks,
michael

Scira

iTrader: (4)

Mine did the same thing about a year ago. I ended up just forcing it back down, cutting the power to the motor, then calling it a day. I never listen to my radio anyways

michaelxx16

damn lol, i listen to it somewhat , hows the reception w/ it down? crappy?

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

This is a common problem and was even preemptively addressed in the F-Body Factory Service Manual. Its caused by the mast shedding paint, which gets gummed up in the telescoping joints. I've found that the more I drive my car in road salt environments the worse it gets.

The easy fix:
- Wet a rag with 100% Mineral Spirits. (You need the real thing - paint thinner will not work.)
- Wipe down the mast really good and then try to retract the antenna.
- Repeat as necessary until the mast moves well.

I've found that the above procedure needs to be done once or twice a year to keep things going well, but after a couple of years, it will stop working and then the mast needs to be replaced. (Replacing the mast isn't a big deal either. Its just $25-30 and you can keep re-using the original motor.)

That being said... I've had my car for 10 years now and have gone through 3 masts. I decided to move on WhiteBird00's hidden antenna mod and its been great! https://ls1tech.com/forums/stereo-el...m-antenna.html

michaelxx16

i'm guessing the mast is the black section correct?

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

correct.

michaelxx16

i'll have to try that tomorrow, thanks for the info

michaelxx16

so if i cant seem to get the antenna to go down.. does the motor have to be trying to pull it down for it to go down? or should i be able to push it down manually w/o it running?

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Yea, the motor has to be running. The easiest way to do the procedure is to have someone in the car turning the radio on/off for you.

michaelxx16

ok so i basically just took some scotch brite to the entire antenna, & some lacquer thinner, cause thats all i had at the time, and i got it to where it would go all the way down, but on the way up when the radio is being turned on, it snags the mast & the motor makes a loud noise like its bogging down or some ****, maybe just spinning freely idk,,

but anyways, is it alright if i take some high grit sand paper to the mast? to remove all the black crap off of it? or just near the bottom maybe? so it wont snag or whatever's happening?

edit: also by the time i got home from school, its back to being stuck all the way up again....

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Nope - definitely not OK. You must use real 100% Mineral Spirits. That is THE solvent for the particular antenna coating. (Anything else won't be fully effective.) If you sand it all up, the metal will not be smooth and will also corrode - which will make things much worse.

The scotch brite may have helped get rid of some surface contaminants, but its the goo in the joints that causes the jamming. If you get some real mineral spirits and you should be fine.

The loud noise is the motor gear skipping over the plastic teeth connected to the antenna tether. (This is what pushes/pulls on the antenna mast.) This is normal when its jammed.

michaelxx16

good thing i asked about the sanding, was planning on makin that sob mirror like lol,, guess i'll be finding some mineral spirits instead.

thanks for all the quick responses