Antenna Repair... mast won't catch

jonesboy1983 · Post by **jonesboy1983** » 23 May 2010, 13:07

Hello all. I am attempting to replace the mast in my 98 S70 antenna. I am pretty sure the motor is running fine as I hear it moving whenever I turn the radio on or off. I took out the old mast fine... well the track had completely separated from the mast so I had to take the motor apart and fish it out. When I try to feed the new mast into the unit I feel it catch but as soon as it does the motor shuts off. Does anybody know what is causing this and or what I should do about it. I've been at this for awhile and have tried to feed it in every way I can. Thanks for any suggestions.

Post by **jblackburn** » 23 May 2010, 13:31

Once you feel it catch, will it pull in further if you turn the radio off and back on?

The motor is set to cut off once it feels a certain amount of resistance on the shaft, like when it is fully down into the trunk.

If you still can't get it to go in, I would try putting some grease on the antenna mast/toothy strip and seeing if it will cooperate.

You're sure you got everything from the old one out of the motor?

Post by **Pauloil** » 23 May 2010, 13:34

see if anything here helps:

http://volvospeed.com/Repair/antmast.php

jonesboy1983 · Post by **jonesboy1983** » 23 May 2010, 13:50

Thanks yes I have seen that website. When I feel it catch it stops. If I turn the radio back on and then off again it just spits it back out and then goes back down and stops where it did before. I am pretty sure I got everything out as I had to take the motor apart to get to the nylon and it was all in one piece still since it broke off right at the metal mast part. One thought though... when I push the nylon into the unit how much should still be visible before I try to make it catch? As it is now, There is a good 7 or 8 inches of nylon still left before I can't make it go down anymore. Thanks.

Post by **jblackburn** » 23 May 2010, 14:04

When you are trying to feed the antenna down into it, do you have the mast fully collapsed or fully extended?

I think when I did this, I let it grab onto the strip, then fully extended the antenna by hand and let it suck it in.

jonesboy1983 · Post by **jonesboy1983** » 23 May 2010, 14:21

It has been fully collapsed but I guess I could try extending it. I'm just not sure how much nylon stripping I should be able to get into it before trying to make it catch. Does it only need to suck in a couple inches or does it need to suck in a significant portion of the nylon?

Post by **jblackburn** » 23 May 2010, 14:27

A few inches did it for mine. Once it can't collapse the mast itself down anymore, it stops.

jonesboy1983 · Post by **jonesboy1983** » 23 May 2010, 14:52

Okay so I tried it with the mast all the way extended but ran into the same problem. There is now much less of the nylon visible but again the motor seems to catch it, it goes down about an inch and then the motor shuts off before it can collapse any of the mast. Would it be possible for me to take apart the motor like I did to get out the broken nylon piece and just roll the new one into it before reattaching to the car?

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 23 May 2010, 16:47

Yes, if the old mast broke you can retrieve the piece by taking the antenna assembly apart. Pay attention to how things fit as you take it apart.

...Lee

jonesboy1983 · Post by **jonesboy1983** » 23 May 2010, 18:36

Success! Okay so I finally figured it out. Thanks everybody for your help. It seems that the nylon part wasn't able to wrap around the track like it was supposed to. I took the motor apart and took a picture of what I think it was doing. I don't know if the part I got wasn't bent correctly or what. So I bent the very end of the nylon inward and that seems to have done it. Once I put the motor back in the trunk and fed the mast back through it caught and kept pulling it in until it stopped perfectly after it had descended. Thanks again everyone.