Electric Aerial Troubles

[Manc]

Hello again,

I recently bought a new mast as i stupidly pressed the cd button in a car wash & the aerial extended (doesn't when tape button is pressed so i presumed cd was the same!!)

So i had to snap the aerial to stop it hitting my car whilst driving.

The old mast came out properly and i could see the tip at the end was identical to the new one, so i know there was no bits of old mast stuck in the housing.

The new one will not fit into the shaft that runs from the body (near boot hinges) & runs down to the motor assy.

It goes in about 2 inches and gets stuck, retracting the mast and leaving the fully retracted aerial sticking up about 12 - 18 inches.

force does not work and i have now broken the small 'olive' type piece of metal on the new shaft. This is the slightly wider ring-type piece that prevents the aerial from just sliding out if pulled. So i know it will be a tight fit but this is ridiculous....

I have the details on how to fully unwind the motor etc (hold 2 radio buttons whilst turning key to ign), and i can hear the motor unwind further than usual but its not that, the new mast just will not fit into the silver tube it should sit in....

whats going on??? has anyone else had similar troubles fitting their own mast?

[TigerFish]

Has the toothed cord inside the mast come out properly from the old aerial? i.e. definately none of it stuck inside the motor housing still?

I did this tutorial on the mk1 GS antenna, which I would imagine is the same as the LS. clicky. I had no problems with the mast fitting with the replacements I have had so does sound like something is stuck somewhere. Hopefully the mast tube hasn't got bent when the car wash mangled the mast, that's the only other thing I can think of.

[steveskeggy]

This may help also:

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/audio/powerantenna.html

[Manc]

no the toothed cable is all out (i have the narrowed end), i have opened the housing to check.

The new mast doesnt fit into the tube that holds it (between car body & motor assy),

it only goes in an inch or so and no amount of force gets it in farther.

its already cost me 60 quid (2 aerials) so fek knows, so might have to take it to lexus and let them deal with it ££££££££ :tsktsk:

[TigerFish]

Very odd. Is it the original aerial (as per the pics in the links) or is it an aftermarket one? Where did you get the masts from? I've bought mine from eBay, both UK sellers and latterly US ones as I could 2 masts for the price of one compared to the UK. If I remember rightly, I think the US ones cost me £20 for two including delivery.