power antenna mast replacement not going well
 

i was told that if the mast wasn't going all the way back in, it needed to be replaced. motor still works. got the old one out. the chord was broke and binded in a couple of pieces. couldn't get the new one in, so i pull the mechanism apart. first i pulled the barrel of the motor off. the chord was folded up in there also. still couldn't get the motor to suck the new chord in. took the actual motor off of the mechanism, where i could see the gears. they spin free. but trying to push either chord in there stops it. i figure there is a piece lodged in the bottom that wont allow anything to pass. am i missing something here. i did get it to thread in one time when i turned the radio off. but turning it back on showed it wasn't in there far at all. not enough to retract the antenna. any ideas?

You have to do it with two people. One turning it off and the other person holding the new cord - with the gear teeth pointed the right way. If that cord isn't in place right when you turn the radio off, it won't suck in all the way.

BTW - There is a bad paint on these masts that gums up the mast. (I've found its worse when exposed to road salts in the winter.) Right when it starts to jam up, extend the antenna, wipe it down with 100% mineral spirits, and retract it. Repeat until running smoothly.

Your new mast will also gum up in the future, but he procedure above will keep it lasting longer for you. (This procedure is actually in the factory service manual.)

i've read that in every post about this. i appreciate the help, but there is a little more than that in my case. it really doesn't feed in at all. but the gear inside still moves free until i try to feed it in at all.

Not sure I understand your OP. If you let the old antenna go for a while, its common for the plastic cord to brake inside the motor. Just compare the old and new antenna.

Did you say that you got the piece out? (That's what I can't gather from your post.)

the old cord looks like its not as long as the new one. its in a couple of pieces though. so no i think the piece is still in there. i poured some minerals down into the mechanism to possibly wash it out but nothing. any advice would be appreciated. maybe blowing compressed air into it would get it out?

I went ahead and payed $50 at AutoZone for a Metra replacement power antennae. Install was a breeze...took maybe 30 min.

Good luck to ya

I'd try taking the antenna out of the car and shaking it and seeing if there is a rattle inside. Maybe turning it upside down will get the junk out. (You should just need to take out a few screws to get it out.)

I just broke my power antenna mast i think cause now it won't go back down, but the above poster is partially right about getting into the motor, you actually have to break some plastic tabs to get into the motor as a friend of mine did this for me last summer and for awhile my mast was working fine but then wouldn't go all the way down so today i was pulling it up and pushing it down trying to fix whatever friction is in there preventing it from goign all the way down and i think the cable snapped. i don't see a break but it stopped going up and down at all and when i took the mast out and tried to put it back in the motor wouldn't take it which leads me to believe there is a piece broken in there again. i ordered a new mast and will probably have to break open the motor again. hopefully this time it will be easy since theres only some glue and some screws holding it together rather than the how it was attatched oem.

I actually think there was a kink in the plastic cord where it would normally stop for ~ 5 years before i removed the motor and got the old plastic gear out. i think it got used to stopping there and was binding up so long that it kinked the cable and sometimes even after the old cable was removed it would stop there. hopefully it didn't break and i can just put the new one in but if not i at least know how to get the motor out now.