How do you manually retract a power antenna?

[jharvat]

Latest in my seemingly endless supply of dumb questions. I found an original power antenna for my 240 but the antenna mast is fully extended. Is there a way to manually retract the antenna so I can install it on my car?

Hmmm... there's a joke in there somewhere about "If your antenna remains extended for longer than four hours, please seek medical attention..."

Seriously, any insights are appreciated!

[zKars]

Just power it up. Apply +12 to one of the leads and ground the metal of the base. See which way it goes. Choose the other wire to make it go the other way. Here's hoping it actually retracts....

[Dr. 240Z]

Further to the last post, if you power it up and it still will not retract (you hear the electric motor running, but there is no retraction of the mast) it's very likely that the plastic/nylon cord that drives it from within has broken. This happen to mine a year ago and I replaced the drive cord with whipper snipper cord. That said, it works great again.

FYI: I posted a detailed account here on CZCC of how I fixed mine.

Hope this is of value to you.

George

[jharvat]

Thanks, guys, I will give that a try tomorrow. I'll report back with the results.

[jharvat]

Well, the motor didn't even make a peep. Tried the wires both ways and it did nothing. Guess it may require a little exploratory surgery .

[Webmanic70]

You may find that when you pull the cover off that the white plastic mast inside the antenna housing is broken. This will stop an antenna from retracting manual or otherwise.