Can someone please help me with the installation of my replacement mast. The new mast will not feed into the antenna motor housing.
I have taken the cover off the antenna to make sure the teeth are matching up but the antenna will not catch on
them. It's almost as if the diameter is not large enough on
the plastic cable. Any techniques I can use?

Also, I'm trying to do it alone so is there a way to retract the motor by grounding it? I've found that if I
remove the power connection and restore power after a few seconds it starts by retracting. But pulling the plug and replugging it is getting old since the cable won't bite.

As you can probably tell I'm getting frustrated since I gave it the old college try after searching the shop forum and having it sound easy. I know we have some excellent techs online and all advice is welcomed!

Regards, Ed

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond
this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to
interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Bertrand Russell

Two things.

First, you must make sure that all of the old plastic came out with the old mast. You may have to take the antenna apart to make sure...

Second, bend the plastic on the new one so that it is pretty straight. This will help the teeth to catch. You usually can get it to grab, then turn OFF the radio. The antenna will retract.

__________________
Benzmac:
Donnie Drummonds
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 11 YRS

I second Mac's advise. I just faced the very same two problems you describe. You have to completely disassemble the black plastic housing of the antenna assembly and remove the old broken-off portion of the plastic cable that most often will remain inside because it is no longer long enough to protrude from the base of the mast. You cannot see it until you remove the white plastic gear from the housing.

To solve the problem of the plastic toothed cable not catching properly on the gear.... I observed what happens when I had the housing disassembled. The squared off tip of the cable catches on a guide as the cable enters the housing and attempts to mesh with the teeth of the gear.

To solve the problem I cut the BACK edge off the tip of the cable... the side opposite the teeth. In other words I made a one sided point at the tip of the cable. This technique solved the problem and the cable then meshed with the gear when inserted into the housing.

Smiles

__________________
Earl



1993 190E 2.3
2000 Toyota 4x4 Tundra

Hi Earl,

Thanks for the advice! I had disassmebled the antenna housing to see if there were any stuck pieces of old cable. However, I did not remove the plastic gear, only the small strip cover hiding where the cable feeds in and catches the gear wheel.
Do you suggest removing the gear wheel and looking for more stuck pieces? Also, did you have an assistant or did you find a way to feed it yourself?

Benzmac, the end seems straight enough to catch. Do you like Earls suggestion to make the end into a point? Reason being, I may have to return the mast and buy an new antenna if the gear wheel turns out to be worn or something such.
Your thoughts please, thx! EF

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond
this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to
interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Bertrand Russell

I doubt the antenna motor is broken. I would take off the gears and look under them to see if there is any plastic inside.

Leaving the side off, can't you see the antenna plastic guide fitting into the gear? I would think you could.

__________________
Benzmac:
Donnie Drummonds
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 11 YRS

Hey there,

Yep, I can see everything. The motor works fine and the new cable feeds through to the point where it contacts the gear.
The problem is that the amount of play between the gear and the plastic guide is more than the diameter of the cable. The cable's teeth don't press against the gears teeth and that's why I'm wondering if I'm missing some technique or should it just feed auto-magically.
What do you think Benzmac?

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond
this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to
interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Bertrand Russell

Should feed by itself. If the clearance is as excessive as you describe, then you might not have the correct replacement, or something is very worn out.

__________________
Jeff Lawrence
1989 300e
2000 Dodge Grand Caravan SE
No matter what you fix, there will always be something else to fix..
"Warranty" is just another way of postponing the inevitable.

The cable is not supposed to contact the gear at the point of the plastic guide. The guide only directs the cable toward the gear... the mesh occurs further on.

You have to remove the gear and take out the old piece of broken-off cable. It is the old cable that prevents the new cable from entering the gear.

I did not mention the following before because I did not want to complicate the procedure but you can insert the new cable now and not wait until you reconnect the housing to the car.

Once you get the housing cleaned out and reassembled you can take it to the car... plug it into the connector... insert the cable... turn off the radio... the cable will feed into the housing... and then you can insert the assembled antenna and housing up through the hole for the antenna and then attach the housing to the mount.

Either way will work... attach the housing first and then feed the cable into it from the outside or the method I describe above.

__________________
Earl



1993 190E 2.3
2000 Toyota 4x4 Tundra

Earl & Benzmac,

Today I finally had time to look into this again and took the whole thing apart.
What I found is that the gear appears to have split into two parts. My old mast was not broken, the motor was simply turning half the gear. Whether there is a plastic stem which mates them which is broken or if they should be one piece, I can't tell. Tomorrow I'll go get some 5min epoxy and try patching it. Does Fastlane or Partshops source parts for the Hirschmann?

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond
this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to
interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Bertrand Russell

The gear is supposed to be in two pieces. It should look something like two cookies laying on top of one another with teeth going around the perimeter of each one.

Keep breaking the housing assembly down untill there is nothing left to remove. Take out any plastic cable that may be broken off(you have to lift out the gear to see it) and then reassemble the housing.

Then feed the cable in and you can consider yourself an expert.

Smiles.

__________________
Earl



1993 190E 2.3
2000 Toyota 4x4 Tundra

Earl,

You sound like the expert, and willing to try new things too!
Looking at the two parts of the gear wheel, something has definitely broken. I can see the plastic where there was once something, my guess is a male stem to mate the two parts together. Short of a rebuild, I'm going to glue them together and see if that works.

Any reason I should be concerned about doing that?

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond
this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to
interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Bertrand Russell

Well Ed.. I cannot recall why the gear is divided into two pieces. I seem to remenber that the teeth on each are angled in different directions. I cannot visualize what you see as broken... so if common sense tells you to try epoxy ... then try it!

Smiles.

__________________
Earl



1993 190E 2.3
2000 Toyota 4x4 Tundra

Well, this is now a mission I'm on...
Unfortunately, gluing the two halfs worked for about two cycles. I think the gear is made to have enough friction to move the mast up and down and still be able to make the last few revolutions in the fully extended or retracted position.
Searching the archives it looks like my last chance is Palo Alto speedometer for a replacement part of repair. I've shot them an email and will wait to hear. Doing some research, it sounds like the original motor and design is better than the new model, so wish me luck!

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond
this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to
interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Bertrand Russell

You might try a junk yard for the antenna housing... now that you have the antenna.

__________________
Earl



1993 190E 2.3
2000 Toyota 4x4 Tundra

You'll probably find that getting a new antenna is not much more in cost than going the junk yard route. That's been my experience.

What is the model# of your antenna? Hirschman, right? Does it have a cell box on it? Do you have a cell phone?

I bought my last one here:
http://www.alleuro.com/

These guys were very helpful as well:
http://www.antennaworld.com
http://www.beckerautosound.com/


Willy

__________________
Willy

'94 E420 White

Mods
-------
Berg Werks Keyless Entry
Buzzer replaced with Chime
Dash Light Upgrade
Burlwood/Leather shift knob
Alpine CDA-9815 Head Unit
2002/2003 16" C Class 7-Spoke Wheels
Updated "Chip" to fix Code 19 problem