|
Does your antenna not retract
fully?
Will it retract when
you put slight pressure on the mast? Clean the mast with a DRY cloth to
remove road grime. If you are mechanically inclined and don't want to spend
money on a new antenna assembly, remove the assembly from the vehicle,
remove the cover, and clean the clutch mechanism with a greaseless cleaner
like break cleaner to remove the oily film from the brass disc ONLY. Run the
antenna through its cycle a few times as you are cleaning the clutch. This
removes the material that causes the clutch to prematurely slip before the
mast is fully retracted. If you need to, you can disassemble the clutch
entirely and clean it. If the mast is straight and smooth this procedure
should help, unless there is a more complex problem with the motor/drive.
Good luck!
Replacing the Antenna Mast
Two techniques are listed here with the
second being most likely the easiest
Technique 1:
As you will find, most power antenna problems are related to the antenna mast. Either
the plastic has broken, or the teeth are stripped.
An easy way to check to see
if the power antenna motor is still working is to listen when the car is being
turned off. If the radio was on and you don't hear the power antenna motor, then
the problem may be in the motor itself. If you can hear the motor, then you
probably have a mast problem.
My mast was halfway deployed and wouldn't raise or lower. I could
hear the motor working, so I bought a mast off of eBay for $18.99 shipped.
You
should also know before you start that if the seal between your car body and the
antenna isn't recently new, then it will probably get damaged during this
process. The good news is that the retail price of the seal (at my Mercedes
dealership) is only $2.11 and is part# 126-827-14-98.
If your mast is deployed any further than the top
picture here, then you may have
a problem removing the antenna from inside the trunk.
Start off by removing the antenna from inside the trunk. Pull back
the carpet to expose the power antenna control unit.
It's secured by one screw down low, the antenna lead, grounding
screw and control wires up top. Remove the lower screw and slide the unit
out.
Remove the grounding screw, unscrew the antenna lead and detach
the control wires. That should make the power antenna unit completely
disconnected from the vehicle.
The next step is to open up the control unit. There are several
tabs (14) along the sides of the control unit. Using a slotted screwdriver,
press down into the tabs and loosen the cover.
Loosen the two on the straight end last. The cover should pop
right off.
Inspect the inside of the control unit for any obvious problems.
I've heard that the drive belt can break, although I've never seen that. If it
has broken, that could certainly be causing your problem.
It may be easier to remove the mast if you remove the two screws
and the plastic cover along the rounded edge of the control unit. This is where
the mast meets the teeth of the drive unit.
I understand that earlier units may
not have teeth at all.
I didn't take any pictures while removing the mast and installing
a new one. You can turn the drive belt by hand to aid in the mast removal and
installation.
You may be able to connect the control wires and let the motor
pull the mast back in, but I wasn't so bold. Once the mast is in, installation
is the reverse of these instructions. Good Luck
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Technique 2:
Brand new antenna mast ready to take its place in the
Mercedes.
A broken antenna mast has no business on a Mercedes!
Hopefully your radio works the antenna like it is supposed to.
You don't need to remove the power cover but I did to show you the
guts. Pretty ingenious how it works.
The original antenna plastic
cord is smooth, but I opted for the upgraded and better toothed
cable. The friction roller is knurled and works great if kept clean.
If you have any plastic shavings in the housing, vacuum or blow them
out before installing the new mast.
With
the radio off take some pliers and unscrew the antenna and pull it
up until you expose about this much of the shaft. Then have your
friend turn the radio on and gently pull it out as the motor feeds
the cable out.
Take the new mast and insert the cable into the hole
with the toothed notches facing the front of the car and push it all
the way in until it stops. Then have your friend turn the radio off
and the motor will grab the cable and suck it in. Gently guide the
mast down and tighten the antenna back and your done.
Not having a friend helping as I didn't, requires you to turn the
radio on and run back to the antenna and try to guide it in.
I did
this several times until the cable grabbed correctly.
If I had a
helper, then I could have focused all my attention on the cable and
not trying to dodge the jack stands on the floor.
Use the old antenna as a fishing pole or just throw it away like I
did.
New mast ready for another 20 years of service.
Yes those 4 jack
stands were my obstacle course. It would have been easier for me to
have just moved them but then that would just be the easy way out!!!......
Good luck... Enjoy!
|
