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power antenna trouble


briandors

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Just bought a 95 Cutlass Supreme Convertible, this seems like a great place to learn about these cars.

 

My power antenna was stuck in the up position, though the motor was whirring when I'd turn the radio on and off so I figured I needed a new mast.

 

When I undid the nut, radio on, the old mast would not pull out. I pulled quite hard.

 

Is there a trick to pulling out the old mast, or is perhaps my old antenna's cable still holding strong and something inside the motor is slipping??

 

Thanks,

Brian

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you have to dissasemble the outer casing of the motor to remove the mast. you cannot pull it out it has to be removed manually (at least from what i remember when i did it. when you get the new mast you take the plastic thing with the teeth and feed it in by turning the radio off so that it sucks in. if its stuck in the up position that leads me to think its a problem with the motor, but who knows. also dont forget there are 2 different kinds. theres the black kind of mast (which i think u have) and the silver kind. they arent interchangeable, or maybe the black is with the silver? i forget someone else will probably clarify. when you turn the radio off, does the motor make any kind noise while the mast should be retracting?

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The antenna on my '94 Prix goes down about half way, then makes this god-awful griding/whirring noise. I just get out and push the damn thing down all the way.. seems to work. It goes up just fine.. for now..

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I HATE those rubber antennas!!! Words cannot even convey how disgusting I think those are! I hate them worse than Japanese Kanji on the rear window and park bench wings. I don't know what it is about them, but every time I see one, I think, "that musta come out of the 'white-trash special' section of JC Whitney". I guess maybe it's because I'm a perfectionist and those rubber antennas curve at the end and aren't straight, which to me just looks chaotic, cheap and sloppy.

 

Anyway, is the motor running WHILE you're pulling on the mast? The motor has to be running, otherwise if the motor is stopped, the mast won't come out. It does kind of like a more serious problem, because a broken mast should have some play in the end of it.

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The motor does run for a few seconds both when I turn the radio on and when I turn it off.

 

I was turning the radio on and then walking to the back and trying to pull it out. That's how I understood the directions at

http://www.w-body.com/service/radio-antennamast.html

 

Are you saying the motor has to be actually running "upwards" while I pull to have it come out?

 

The mast is not physically broken. It just doesn't go up or down by itself, it stays whereever you put it by hand.

 

Brian

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Are you saying the motor has to be actually running "upwards" while I pull to have it come out?

 

The mast is not physically broken. It just doesn't go up or down by itself, it stays whereever you put it by hand.

 

In some cases, yes, the motor has to be running upwards while pulling for it to come out.

If the mast stays where you put it by hand, it sounds like the cable is broken.

 

Is the bottom-most tube (the biggest) unable to be pulled out at all? If so, you might just have a very stuck antenna and maybe wiggling it back and forth will get it out.

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I had the same exact problem. (stuck in the up position and motor would run) My mast came right out with no problem. Yes we have the black mast but I replaced mine with the silver one and it works fine. I didn't know until after I replaced it that there were 2 different kinds.

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