Groaning noise from antenna

http://twinturbo.net/net/viewmsg.aspx?forum=general&msg_id=1220863&words=antenna%3a%3anoise

The ~2” sleeve that you must remove from the old antenna and place on the new one was most of the culprit. Grease and grime had caked up inside it to the point that friction was causing the stopped movement. This is only an issue when the last (and largest dia) deployed section of antenna is being returned. Water goes through here during rain and car washing, etc. Over time it removes the lubricant and leaves behind the grit and grime. In fact, replacing the drain hose behind the rear fender well was the toughest part of this procedure.

My first sign was a slight groaning sound of the antenna motor at the very last point of movement during the return process. This became louder and louder over a period of months until it finally quit returning all the way down. If you had signs starting this way prior to your antenna finally stopping short of full return, this is for you.

I took my antenna completely out of the car. I measured the current draw across the terminals through complete cycles in each direction with no antenna mast inside. Motor seemed flawless. Then I installed the mast and did the same. The biggest change was the last several inches of returning. I slipped the sleeve off the antenna and the outside was spotless, but the inside had seriously caked up junk in there. I hadn’t noticed this the first several times around. I used a 9mm bore brush and cleaned the inside. Put new lithium grease in there and tried it again. The current change was Much less and it returned all the way. It still groaned a little, but not near as much. Remembering that it takes energy (meaning energy supposed to be directed at lowering the antenna, but being wasted on noise due to friction) to make noise and this thing shouldn't be groaning, I went ahead and disassembled the motor assembly, cleaned out the grime and put new lithium grease in side. I then took my old antenna mast, cleaned the teeth of the attached cord and then re-lubed it, making sure there was lithium grease between each tooth in the entire length of cord I could reach as well as on the side surfaces of the cord.

I put it back together, using the orig mast, and it works like a champ. Decided I would save the new mast assy for when this one actually breaks.

So to sum things up, when you pull out your old mast and it has noticeably less than 13” of attached cable exposed (with mast fully extended), you likely have a broken piece inside and it’s time to take all of it apart (check end of cable - it is to be rounded where teeth start, not sharp). If you remove your old mast and everything seems to be in tact, slip that sleeve off and see what it looks like on the inside. If dirty, clean it out, reinstall it as well as re-lubing the attached cable (after cleaning old lube off) seriously well and see if this doesn’t fix things.

This link I found by searching was very helpful.

http://www.zhome.com/ZCMnL/PICS/antenna/BellAntenna.htm