Power Antenna

[Bill]

Hi Gang

I'm hearing 'groaning' noises coming from my Power Antenna motor which are starting to get very loud. I recall someone once telling me that you can do some preventative maintenance on them (as well as the power window motors) to avoid having to purchase a whole new (and I suspect very expensive) motor/antenna assembly.

Does anyone one know something definitive about this and if it is possible to work on it yourself how? I have a '91 MX5, BRG

Thanks in advance
Bill

[Keith Cook]

When I got my MX5 a month ago the ant. was stuck 1/2 way. I dismantled it (quite easy) and discovered that corrosion had blocked the small drain hole and it had been half full of water. This caused corrosion and seizing of the bottom moter bearing. I have cleaned it out, unseized the bearing, painted the corroded can with "Hammerite" and it works again although the rods/tubes are not perfectly straight (try getting it out of the boot with it 1/2 up!) and still might take a couple of shots to fully retract. Trickiest bit is reassembling the motor but you probably won't need to do that if it is still working at this moment. CRC or WD 40 are great products - after you've painted!

[Turner, Phill W]

The groaning might be related to the antenna itself and not the motor. The
antenna has a long plastic ratchet strap that winds into the motor.. mine
started groaning because the end of the strap had snapped off.

A simple purchase of a new antenna (the antenna comes with the plastic ratchet
strip attached)... a simple job to pull out the motor (making sure to remove all
broken bits of the old strap) and feed in the new antenna with a bit of light
grease to prevent ware.

Phill