Power Antenna Repair

[Guest McCloyd67]

I've gotten some helpful info here so here is something I recently worked on if any one is interested.

 

Going through the little fixes you do with any used car right when you purchase it the '90 Legacy I bought with power antenna had the antenna conveniently removed by the previous owners kid in a carwash. I yanked the power unit by removing the top nut and big rubber gasket and the two bolts in the trunk (power plug and antenna connector also).

 

The mast was snapped off right where it exits the body fixturing and the toothed nylon "cord" broke off also. I happened along one for sale from the same year on ebay and bought it. It was really dirty and the unit I had was clean so I planned to remove the aluminum housing with the mast inside and also the nylon cord from the unit housing. Well the aluminum housing was completely corroded at its base where it connects to the plastic unit housing and when I cleaned my power unit I found that mine was just about to break there also. It seems that the water from the outside must seep in and drip right at that point on the aluminum.

 

Any way, I pulled off the aluminum housing from my unit and tossed it, took the "new" mast housing after cleaning and attached it to my power unit. I used epoxy putty to "weld" the mast in place and it seems to work well for a solid connection.

 

BTW, to get the cord into the power unit I hooked up the unit to the power plug and layed it on the trunk floor, turn on the radio so the unit is in extend position, then extend the mast fully, thread the cord into the unit until you feel the teeth meshing with the gear then have someone turn off the radio while you make sure that the mast closes properly without falling apart. I was amazed how easily it zipped into the unit. I did this before I "welded" the mast in place with the putty.

 

I re-installed the unit while the putty was still a little soft to

make sure the alignment was right. Its been working fine.

 

Don't mess with the guts of the unit too much. There is a

potentiometer setup inside that I am sure senses the position of the gear for mast extend/retract and if that gets out of whack I'm sure the system won't work to well.

 

McCloyd

[Guest SmashPDX]

I'll put this in the archives after folks have had a chance to peruse it.