Power Antenna Repair

[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