Is my aerial b**ggered?

[bmc123]

OK.... got my new mast, followed the instructions and got as far as the bit about pulling out the old mast with its cord.

erm... no cord.

just about a 4 inch bit on the end that showed up when I got the antenna to fold up.

I must assume the rest of the cord is still inside the antenna housing?

so what next - do I need to remove the motor unit (and if so how) or any ideas?

I'm not really in a panic as I don't actually listen to the radio very often (I prefer my own CDs) and I was able to get the old antenna to close up so it sits flush now so it cannot be broken off.

[bmc123]

OK, took the bull by the horns and pulled the carpet back to have a look-see. In my case (as I was not sure what I was doing and not having the right tools with me) it took me 20 minutes to sort out.

I simply removed the black cover on the antenna (6 screws) inside there is a round white plastic "dome" that you pull towards you (its not screwed in) and the old cord was neatly wrapped up in there. I took it out, put everything back together and followed the instructions to replace the mast and its all done now and working 100%

Its a little tricky to get at as I am right handed and where everything is makes it a bit of a bending act but to make it a bit handier it is easy enough to remove the single 8mm bolt that holds the antenna to the bodywork, and a little cross headed screw that holds an earth wire to allow the unit to be turned around to access the screws.

While in there I noticed that the flexible tube from the LPG filler cap was running through a hole in the body with no grommet on it So I sorted that out when in there.

So all in all a productive morning with my heater pump and antenna sorted

[springelec]

Hi Everyone,

Read with interest previous aerial stories and it made me think I should add my experience.

When I bought my car, the aerial wouldn't fully extend or retract.

My solution was to treat the aerial with penetrating oil every time I came home.

Simply run your thumb and two fingers up and down the aerial with a liberal amount of oil. Leave to simmer.

In my case, since the aerial wouldn't fully retract, it left a nice aerial cavity to fill with oil.

After about a week and with a bit of brut force, the aerial fully extended together with a white desposit around the base of the lowest stem.

Using a brass wire brush to prevent damaging the chrome, I removed the offending white oxide, cleaned and coated the aerial with some engine oil.

The aerial's worked fine every since.

Am I the only member to coat the aerial with engine oil every time the car is returned home ?. Am I really that sad. (no need to reply)

Cheers

Springelec