Antenna mast woes

[H-townbenzoboy]

Ok, this is how the story begins. A few years ago, the antenna motor on the 300SD was having problems. So, for some reason, my sister calls up her country shadetree mechanic friend to try to fix it (I guess she figured since he could fix an 85 Mercury Cougar, he could fix a simple antenna motor.) So, he ended up making things worse. The antenna motor would not shut off. So for the past few years, we've been riding around with sub par radio reception because we had to disconnect it. Today, I picked up a used Hirschmann antenna motor with no mast off an 82 300SD at the parts yard. I figured I'd use the mast off of the original motor to put in the newer one. So, after following direcions off of some DIY websites, I finally got the mast out. I mounted the motor and everything, and made the connections, and put the radio on with the antenna selector on high. So, I turned the radio off with my helper putting the end of the mast into the motor, expecting the mast to go back in. It did not work, even when trying to put it back into the original motor, it still did not go back in. So, do you think I need a new mast, or am I not putting it in right? BTW- it appears to have two sets of little teeth on it, instead of one side smooth, and one side with teeth.
-Joe