Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting My power antenna motor died? (please help :) )

Well about 3 months after my power antenna mast was replaced, I'd say about 2 days ago the antenna was intermittently going up and down. Sometimes it would, sometimes it wouldn't. I think yesterday it went down for the last time as when turning the deck on and off, I don't even hear the usually hum or noise from the antenna or even the motor for that moving. I hear a SLIGHT knock or jerk (very light or quiet) and that's it. Is this something caked on the mast that's preventing it from moving and it needs lubrication? Or do I have to assume that the whole thing needs to be replaced? If it's something I can disassemble and reassemble I'll be glad to do that and relubricate the parts. If anyone has a schematic for that (assuming that's possible), otherwise car-part.com is telling me that then power antenna for this car is unavailable in my area meaning it's pretty much if I get lucky and being there today I didn't see any mystique LS or contour SEs out there. So where do I go from here? Take it apart and hope for the best? If so how? I don't want to replace it because the part will be harder to find than it's worth, but I want to listen to the radio again. Again the mast was a NEW replacement so I'm assuming it's either a jam or the motor dying.

p.s. Tony2005, if you reply can you I guess provide me some general idea of how this is done, I'm sure you or todras have some vauge experience with this as this is not just my problem but slightly more common I assume, TIA CEG

It isn't a complex system. Take the antenna assembly out of the car for best access inside. You need to remove the chrome trim piece on top of the fender that holds the assembly in place along the top. There are two attaching bolts or nuts holding the bottom of the antenna assembly to the trunk floor. Disconnect the wiring and remove the antenna assembly from the car.

Remove the nut that holds the scroll cover (the black somewhat flat round part near the bottom of the antenna assembly). Pay attention to any washers. Carefully remove the scroll cover.

If there is anything wrong in here it could be the cause of your problem. Most common problem is part of the old antenna "tail" or "whip", the white plastic gear teeth strip is left behind and eventually gets in the way. You should be able to figure out where grease may be needed.

If the antenna whip gets loose while you have the scroll cover off (and it usually does), it is often easier to leave the mast off, reinstall the rest of the assembly, and feed the mast back in the same way as the instructions that came with the new mast.

I hope this helps.

I have had the extra piece of the old antenna gear belt jam before. I hope that is your problem. I later had a small gear break inside, hard to get at and not available separately. I had to get another antenna assembly off E-bay, which works well after I put a new mast in (so far). I removed the bad gear which gave me a manual retractable antenna for a while.

bleh some water got in there and developed some browning or corrosion on the plastic gears which isn't nice at all, so to fix it I washed throughloy the gears and the housing and regreased everything and it works like new. Thanks for the help gentlemen.

You're welcome.