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Hi, all.
Well, I knew this would happen eventually and now it did. My power antenna kicked the bucket. Almost since new the mast would quit coming out after a few weeks of being clean and then I installed a down switch to keep the mast down when I don't need it, so I sort of hid the problem. Now it seems the motor won't move at all. I had the car at the dealer's for unrelated issues and when I got the car back the antenna motor didn't budge. Naturally, I told them about it and they said they checked and there's power at the motor, but the motor is toast because the mast was in bad shape and wore it out over time. Now, I am not sure if I buy this, but it is plausible. For lately I have not been driving the car much (too much fun riding the motorcycle) and the antenna mast was down and had no exercise for a while. Anyway, the dealer quoted something like $360 parts and labor, which I naturally did not agree to. Regardless of whether it is dealer's doing or just time came for the motor to die on its own, I do not want to replace this silly vulnerable system with the same kind only new. I mean these power antennas are a pain. I really don't feel like having a maintenance item every week to clean and lube the mast - I have a life. So, I am wondering if anyone in my frame of mind and situation has replaced the stock antenna with a non-retractable unit that looks fairly natural on the car. I really like those flexible stubbies that VWs have. I know you can probably buy this kind of a flex antenna somewhere. I am wondering if anyone has a particularly good unit in mind. Again, I want it to be simple and functional and look as if it was designed for that rear fender spot. If anyone knows of such a product, please let me know as I am really sick of this so called "convenience feature".
Many thanks in advance!
--
Vladimir. '98 S70 base, 5-speed manual - his, '93 945 - hers,
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Vladimir,
A new antenna from FCP Groton is about $95. A new mast is about $20. And you shouldn't have to clean it very often, just when you drive in salty conditions. Then just wipe it with a dry cloth, if it gets 'sticky' use some silicone cleaner.
It is easy to replace the mast yourself. Don't let a dealer charge you for his time. It only takes an hour if you don't know what you are doing.
Klaus
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98 V70Rawd(101Kmi), 95 854T(85K mi), 88 245(165K mi)
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Klaus, I know that replacing the antenna is not difficult and I know that it doesn't have to cost as much as the dealer is asking, BUT, my point is that I do not wish to feed ANY money into what I consider a poor design choice. I really don't listen to the radio that often, but occasionally I'll listen to the news, so I would like my reception to be good, but I am not willing to put up with the temperamental power antenna unit, I would rather have either a non-retractable flexible stubby or a manually retractable or on a non-retractable whip antenna. I think that would serve my needs just fine. I do not need another electrical gadget in that car that gets hungry for money every now and again. As far as I am concerned it is not wotrth it. So, I want to replace the power unit with non-power unit, that's all. It's mostly on the principle than cost savings. As for the replacement mast, I think it may be too late for that, as the motor really does look dead (no noise at all from there). If I were to replace the mast when it stopped functioning properly, I would have had to do it in the first year I owned the car and I don't know how many time after that. As it is, I just let it go, but I did clean and lube it pretty regularly (which also ticked me off as an additional maintanace item that I thought was totally without merit).
So, now I am looking into various options of non-powered antennae. But, I do want to leave the car looking natural and not have that "aftermarket" look.
Regards.
--
Vladimir. '98 S70 base, 5-speed manual - his, '93 945 - hers,
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posted by
someone claiming to be Rob A
on
Sun Oct 24 22:12 CST 2004 [ RELATED]
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Vladimir,
When I bought my Dutch specification S70 earlier this year it had the original non-retractable antenna. It's about 3 foot high, mat black if memory serves and, being the original part, looks just fine. You unscrew it to go through a car wash.
Anyway I ended up installing a VW electrical antenna that I picked up at a flea market, so I don't use the old antenna. It's just that shipping from Holland might be costly, but let me know if you think this would help.
HTH,
R
'99 S70 2.0 NA 241Kkm
'89 745 378KKm
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Rob, if you are willing to part with it, that actually sounds pretty good seeing how I am up against a $360 replacement here. Can you tell me approximately what it'll cost to ship the antenna from Holland to US (Maryland, zip 20886)? Also, can you give me the part number of the antenna? With the part number I may be able to find it here perhaps... It's really sad that certain "features" are forced upon us here in the North-American market. The replacement mast alone for these retractable antennae is about US$40. It may be all I really need, not the entire assembly with the motor, but even at $40, I think it is not right to feed money into a badly thought out idea. I really like how wagons have the antenna built into one of the rear windows - that's great! I wish sedans had something like that using a windshield. Not sure what led to this particular design choice, but I am not too crazy about it. So, IMO, a nice non-retractable mast is ok. I can handle unscrewing it before a car wash (I mostly wash the car myself anyway). Is it easy to unscrew for the car wash or do you need tools?
Again, thanks a lot for the offer; I may take you up on it! I will even offer you my antenna down switch if you want for your retractable. It is a Volvo part and fits perfectly into one of the spots on the dash. It has a proper Volvo wiring harness to plug your radio into - a very useful upgrade. Let me know.
Best regards
--
Vladimir. '98 S70 base, 5-speed manual - his, '93 945 - hers,
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posted by
someone claiming to be Rob A
on
Tue Oct 26 00:20 CST 2004 [ RELATED]
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Vladimir,
I will check within the next few days.
Can you give me an email so that we do not take up the forum's bandwith with this?
Regards,
R
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Hi, Rob. Thanks! My email address is included in every message I post since I have an account with BrickBoard and post while I am logged in. If you look at the top of the message next to my name there is an icon of an envelope. If you click that, you'll access my email address.
Thanks again!
--
Vladimir. '98 S70 base, 5-speed manual - his, '93 945 - hers,
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