Power antenna repair (sucks)

[Lewy47]

Can anyone tell me why the replacement mast and rope I purchased from Rare Spares refuses to fit back into the vertical tube that sits upright of the motor? (Car is a VX SS)To get the old mast out, I had to chop the tip off in order to remove it from this tube. I have the the tube off of the motor. That's fine but the mast will not fit from either direction. There is a white plastic piece at the base of the mast which hindered the tube. In desperation, I trimmed this with a knife until I could squeeze this into the tube. However I then found that there is a metal sleeve on the mast which absolutely will not fit the opening of the tube. I think this sleeve is designed to locate the mast within the tube and keep it stable. I used brute force and ignorance to no avail. I'm pretty sure it's the right part, it certainly looks the same as the original I removed.
I am deadset pissed off. I am driving from Sydney to Adelaide next weekend and need the thing working. If anyone can set me up with a complete antenna before next week then I am all ears.
Thanks

[Lazza78]

what brand is the one u got mate???

i know the Aerpro part# is AP250 for the replacement mask, thats the one i used in my vt

[Dayvo]

I had the same prob when i put a new mast in mine last weekend .You have to cut off the metal tube on the new mast , then ,on the end of the antena where the mast comes out you need to use a pair of pointy nose pliers and pull the black plastic tube out . The new mast should now fit . To replace the plastic tube you need to cut it down one side and slip it over the mast then slide it into position and then just assemble the rest .

[Lewy47]

Got it back together but now have that time old noise click, click, click, click at both the top and bottom end. Is this right or can I fix this?

[Lazza78]

mine has that aswell, only when it goes down tho, hopefully someone has an answer to stop this.. otherwise im buyin an aftermarket aerial

[Dayvo]

My one done it untill i put a new mast in it , now its quiet.

[Dayvo]

Got it back together but now have that time old noise click, click, click, click at both the top and bottom end. Is this right or can I fix this?

Did you check to make sure that some of the old plastic rope wasn't still left in the motor ?
it there is it might be causing it to get stuck.

[benjamino]

i had this problem too, i took off my tire and the inner guard, managed to disconnect the whole unit and take it out, fitted a new mast, but when i put it alll back together it clicked and then woudlt go up or down, which was my problem in the first place.

then after that, when i turned the key off and pulled it out the motor in the antenna kept buzzing away as if trying to retract. which was worse than what i started with.

so, in pure rage i reached in and cut evry single wire going to the antenna.
now i listen to my cds

[Lewy47]

Hey benjamino. Sounds like the only sensible thing to do. If in doubt hit it with a sledge hammer. Stupid things. Anyway, just got into Adelaide this morning after driving straight through the night from Sydney. The antenna is working fine. Goes down when CD player is on etc but still have the annoying clicking going up and coming down. Sorry Dayvo but no old rope left inside. I'm assuming that the clicking is the motor trying to push the rope a couple of centimetres further than it is able to go, so is the replacement mast perhaps slightly shorter than the original? Or, is the antenna getting caught and not retracting completely causing the gears to strip across the teeth on the rope?
Thank god I'm trying to get to the moon or we'd all be waiting a long time, what with my shit engineering skills.

[Dayvo]

I remember when i replaced mine i forgot to install the white spacer that goes on the base of the antenna . Maybe mine doesn't click because the mast has an extra 10-15 mm travel where the spacer should be.

[John Lees]

The mast on my VY antenna was bent and snapped when I straightened it so I cut the damaged section off with a pair of side cutters. I was quoted $85 for a used power antenna from a wrecker or $73 for a replacement mast and rope from Holden so I went for the replacement mast.

I removed the LH front wheel and proceeded to remove the inner wheel lining but removing the four nylon toggles took ages. I hate these things. They are easy to install but are swines to remove as the nylon head chews out and if you can get purchase, the entire unit spins instead of unscrewing. I strongly recommend buying four new ones (~$3 each from Holden) in advance so you can drill or rip the installed ones out by brute force. I ended up reaming a hole in the nylon screw heads and using screw removers (similar to Ezy outs) but doing this was time consuming.

Then there are also 4 traditional self tappers in the panel lip and I had to remove a mudflap. Note there is a screw you can't easily see underneath the car on the LHS before the wheel arch starts. Once you've got all the screws and nylon plugs out, the wheel lining can be removed to expose the antenna.

Remove the small earth strap above the motor and then remove the 13m bolt holding the assembly and the unit will come out. The aerial cable prevents it being removed outside the wheel arch but I found by gently pulling the cable, I could free enough to move the antenna unit outside the wheel arch.

On top of the motor is a an aluminium tube containing the mast and it is held in place by two screws. Remove them and the aluminium tube can be eased out of the motor assembly. Release the clip in the wiring connector and the motor assembly can be removed.

I was stumped at this point as I couldn't see how to open the aluminium tube but after a bit of experimentation I found the white nylon cover on the base could be carefully eased out with a pair of multigrips. This released an inner plastic tube and allowed the remaining cable and rope to be removed.

Now onto the motor assembly. I removed the two screws on the metal face of the motor to expose the rope holder and confirmed there was none left behind. I replaced this face and undid the other side (4 screws and a nut) to expose the gearbox. The lithium grease had dried so I replaced it with a small amount of fresh grease taking care to keep it away from the electrics.

At this stage I couldn't work out how to remove the threaded top on the aluminium tube to install the new mast as it is smaller than the black ball on the new mast so I popped the ball and it's retaining clip off the new mast by holding the thinnest section in a vice and using the nail remover on a claw hammer under the retaining clip (it was on tight!) See image of remove ball below.

Once this was done I was able to insert the new mast into the inner plastic of the aluminium tube. I put lithium grease on the rope and connected the antenna motor back the the wiring harness (hint use a lead to earth the motor or it won't operate). I then got a helper to switch on the radio and allowed the motor to operate as it would to unwind to extend the aerial. I inserted the nylon rope with teeth on the inside and had the radio switched off to retract the aerial.

Be ready as this happens quicker than you expect!

I put the threaded cap back on the top of the aluminium tube, replace the black top ball back on the mast (this is easier than removing it) and gave it a light tap to reseat it and then reconnected the earth strap, tightened the 13mm screw. All done!

In my case the antenna clicks a couple of times when fully extending and again when it finishes retracting. I think this is because the replacement mast is a bit shorter than the original. Hopefully this won't cause problems in the longer term.

[ruggj]

i had this problem too, i took off my tire and the inner guard, managed to disconnect the whole unit and take it out, fitted a new mast, but when i put it alll back together it clicked and then woudlt go up or down, which was my problem in the first place.

then after that, when i turned the key off and pulled it out the motor in the antenna kept buzzing away as if trying to retract. which was worse than what i started with.

so, in pure rage i reached in and cut evry single wire going to the antenna.
now i listen to my cds

I did the same thing, mine bent after parking under a tree (yes, i'm an idiot lol), so i said screw it, took out the whole unit, and bought myself an internal antenna that sits on the inside of the windscreen on the passenger side. It's not noticeable at all from outside, just when i'm driving people around, they always ask 'whats this' although it has a massive electric antenna sticker on it.

Works well, and now i don't have to worry about trees

[dunky]

A huge thank you to John Lees. His detailed description on aerial replacement is spot-on. The only thing I did differently was that I was able to unscrew the ball on the new antenna instead of prising it off. If all instructions were as detaied as this, I reckon I could fix almost anything! Thanks again, Bob

[Lazza78]

after pullin apart my spare electric aerial i fitted a new mask in it today, just the Aerpro AP250 mask and after playin around with it for a while i got it to stop making that click noise... its quiet as now... there is a plastic wheel inside it that u have to get the contacts to stop on the broken spots.... took a bit to work out but its all good now... will have a pic of the plastci wheel im talkin about soon if u dont know what im talkin about

[clemmy]

my antenna was snapped off, but only the outer mast, the wire inside, still intact holds it up.. still works too, im only pissed coz now it makes a big niose(like bumblebee rape) when goin up or down now.. but at least it works.. i would fix it but replacements are like $150 on ebay, does anyone know if you can get replacement masts seperate?

[Dayvo]

My replacement mast was about $30 from supercheap .They come with the rope attached to the mast.

[dunky]

I bought mine through Ebay for $38 post free. Haven't seen them since but the seller has a web site on -www.onlineautoparts.com.au and a phone number - 0732677394. It was an easy job; just follow John Lees instructions above. Hope this helps Cheers Bob

[admk69]

my gosh what a night mare

spent all day on this. word of advice don't take the motor apart and lose a spring. will let you know if the pen spring i replaced to hold the magnet on works or not. still not happy with the instructions on the packaging of Aerpro. Ap250. Hexagon nut? anyway will post again. the chistmastree clips do come out once you figure out the way. they are plastic and unscrew-able. the issues is don't apply pressure just turn. you also need to leaver the outer casing. once the middle part starts coming up you're on a winner.