Mast won't extend, here's what I see...

Motor, gears, clutch, mast and control circuit board all look great.
My '95 S320 has two wires to the antenna... a red/white and a brown.
I can run the motor and antenna either direction with 12V manually. Hooked up, it will retract automatically with 12V supplied by red/white wire. It will not extend though, as no power is coming from the brown wire that connects to the back of the Becker head unit. The brown wire does have continuity.

Is this a fault in the head unit itself? If that's the case, can these old Beckers be repaired?
Can I just send 12V through the brown wire with a switch as a fix? When 12V signal to extend is sent from head unit, is the 12V still present on the red/white wire?

Thanks again
TJ

FYI, most Becker radios can be exchanged for a refurbished or repaired at Becker NA. See link at top.

Don't know about your suggested workaround. What about just extending it manually and disconnecting power? Maybe not much cool factor.

Good luck.

Here is the link.

Becker Of North America, Inc.
Becker Of North America, Inc.

Thanks guys, I called the Becker repair folks and spoke with a great guy named Ed. He said exchange /repair is $175 for my model 1492 regardless of problem with unit. Sounds very fair.

Looking at my AllData wiring diagram I see my '95 S320 should have a rear window AM antenna amplifier, an FM bumper antenna amplifier and an automatic raising antenna for the telephone/ radio with power coming from the the head unit.

Looks like 12V from anywhere should extend the antenna, (even though it should come from the radio when its on). I think I'll just send power there through a switch, since I really don't want the antenna up when listening to CD's.

Next question is this:

Didn't some of the other MB models have a switch that controlled the antenna manually. I'd like to put in a switch that looks like it belongs there with the correct markings not some generic toggle.

Any idea what years/models had these switches?

TJ

I'm not aware of any cars which implemented a switch for antenna control. Most would use the radio power on to close a relay for the 'wow' factor in the showroom. Good luck.

Look at older wagons or 80's 124's or 126's some of them had dash controlled antenna's.

Agree. My 1980 300CD had a switch that controlled the antenna.

If the car is/was equipped with a factory phone, the antenna switch is located on the right side of the cradle.

Thanks guys...found a bunch on Fleabay