Good stuff!

Dan Anstey I usually put a bit of grease on everything inside...

yes remove the mast then pull the whole antenna assembly out from inside . Likely the antenna motor needs electrical contact cleaner sprayed into it , then re grease . 9 out of 10 times I can get them working by spraying the contact cleaner into the motor

I was wondering about that board myself because it looks absolutely brand new but maybe there is a short.

any sythethetic dielectric grease will work fine. Petroleum based will degrade the plastics and rubber seals over time

@@fupabox Thank-you sir once again but you didn't say if the syn dielectric grease is also used for the outside/inside surface of chrome antenna mast?

@@billclark8241 Ah sorry I forgot about the mast .. You don't want anything sticky on it ,or it will gum up. A dry lubricant like the wd40 dry lube works well on masts

Yes that sleeve goes up into the main metal antenna post . it goes in before you install the telescoping mast . It does keep the plastic geared tail from binding as it feeds in and out of the main post . So slip it in ,put everything back together and then feed the mast in . you can feed the mast in manually by rotating the belt by hand , or by getting someone to turn the radio on and off and allow the antenna motor to wind the mast in

@@fupabox Thanks- thats where it came from so that's where its going back. I did see people replace their masts from the outside just by feeding it in after turning off ignition. But I saw you feeding it in slowly using your finger on the motor belt. Does it matter? I prefer your way rather than put antenna back into car and hope it feeds correctly.

@@billclark8241 either way is good. If the unit is out you may as well wind in by hand just in case something is wrong , you don't want to pull the whole thing out again .

@@fupabox I got the motor winding it in and out using a 12v battery but when I install it the antenna will not come out when turning on radio. Do I need to reprogram that darn thing? If so, I guess I will have to take it somewhere to get that done.

@@billclark8241 shouldn't need any programming. There is just a trigger wire coming from the radio to the antenna to signal the mast to go up or down . Is your secondary antenna button on the dash pressed ? There is the dash button on some models that will put the antenna down even with the radio on . also check the fuse for trunk lighting. It powers the antenna motor

check the antenna fuse,and electrical contacts on the antenna

@@fupabox Why cant I find the fuse for my antenna 1999 SL500 Sport? I have the original diagrams and the owners manual but I can't find "antenna" written anywhere. ARGHHH

@@billclark8241 #5 in trunk fuse box ..shared with other stuff like trunk light

@@fupabox Thank-you sir. Sounds like other things would not be working if that fuse was bad and the trunk light does work so probably not the fuse. The actual plastic "C" on the little black box with the "motherboard" that "clamps" onto the metal rod/pole had broken so I believe the whole time it was making contact intermittently because that is the power supply in my opinion. I put 12 volts to to motor and it worked perfectly. Belt looked great and nothing plastic wise was broken. No pieces inside to clean out. So I say the antenna stayed "erect" (can I say that on You Tube? ;) because that power supply finally vibrated away so it stayed up/out after pulling into my garage and turning car off. Has anyone ever recommended a zip-tie be used so it can't come disconnected from vibration? Unless you tell me otherwise I will be making sure it doesn't happen again using a zip-tie. New seals/grommets coming tomorrow - will let you know what happens. Thanks again FUPABOX I am sure you have been asked before about your name out of curiosity but I will tell you it is so strange yet so easy to remember thank goodness. Probably something obvious that I am not catching. Anyway Thank-you sir

​@@billclark8241 The name has a not ready for prime time origin , but was born out of frustration . My first internet account 25 years ago was with AOL . while asked for a unique login name I kept trying and was continually told everything was taken already . After several hours (dial up slowness) I typed FUPA as a joke ( urban dictionary slang ) AOL replied with "not available we suggest FUPABOX " I decided it was good enough and I could remember it easily.

hook the power leads directly to a 12v battery

+Chris Troxtell wow.. that's a pretty heavy spring.. I haven't seen a broken one before...I think you can get a new spring in the rebuild kits I've seen on ebay, or grab one from a wrecking yard

+fupabox The kits I seen while looking on eBay only had the 2 plastic gears. I didn't see any that contained a spring in the first few pages of eBay. Might find one at a wrecking yard, they tend to like to crush these cars rather fast it seems around here.

hmm ... it should fit flush so as not to bind. Are you sure the posts of th opposing gear wheels are both centered inside the gap in the spring

@@fupabox Yes absolutely I made sure the gears fit together so that plastic "post" keep the gears "locked" in place. They fit tight together around the perimeter in most areas but there is a slight gap/space but very slight. They don't actually "Snap" together they just go together. I keep saying , "Why didn't they make that center "starred" post that comes from the back cover a little longer to prevent it from "sandwiching" the gears when tightening completely. This is simple physics and it's not working ARGHHH. If I can't figure this out I will have to place a washer/spacer with a small enough diameter and a big enough hole for the screw to go thru. That will stop the squeezing/friction from occurring I just hate to rig things like that. I prefer original design to stay exactly that - original. I want my music back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Forgot to say thanks again for tolerating my questions but I swear I am very good at things like this although this example would prove otherwise ;)

@@billclark8241 That one has me stumped . Not sure why there would be such separation between the 2 gears . There is a gap , but it should go together without binding

@@fupabox the center portion of white gear will be rubbing against the cover if I dont put a spacer. There is no separation between gears as they fit together well. I put 12 v to it with out cover attached yet its not running smoothly. It sounds terrible goes up and down but does get stuck. I wish I could send u pics. Almost 1am - hitting the hay - actually I have a bed - much better idea

@@fupabox OK so maybe this was in your video but I don't remember- If you re-install the motor/belt assembly first the gears will go in very easily UPSIDE-DOWN and won't go in correctly !!!!! But if you reinstall the actual gears BEFORE the motor you will see which side of the gear assembly should be facing up because the center hub of it will install "flush" with the gears as it should be. Yea. Time to reinstall entire antenna unit into car with new grommets.

welcome

Those signal amplifiers usually work quite well , but I'm sure like anything they can go bad. The usual problem is with poor grounding , so check that the booster is grounding properly before getting a new amplifier. You can check once the radio is on and antenna hooked up , by running a wire from a body ground bolt to the outer nut on the coax connector . If this improves the reception you know the ground is bad . LOL no such thing as an allotment of questions , I'm here to help if I can :)

And we never landed on the moon either right?