My antenna in 93 850 broke off at the fender. I removed the nut on the fender and it appears the brass collar is well stuck in the tube. The last section of my antenna has not been going down for many years, with all the salt we get here. It appears that I will have to remove the antenna tube from the motor housing so I can pull the tube down from the fender. I presume I will have to open up the motor for the antenna, which I will likely have to do anyway as the plastic cable broke as well and does not protrude from the tube. Any tips on how to handle this problem. Thanks much

Just get a new one (about $16) and do a complete new mast replacement. Easy.

One of the first things I did to my '93 when I bought it was replace the antenna mast. Got the replacement mast kit from IPD, it was very easy to do and the kit includes instructions. Remove the inner trim panels in the trunk and you'll see how to get the motor assembly out, it's pretty straight forward. Theres a bolt or two that hold it in and the drain tubing that runs out the bottom and the wiring. Once out you'll see that the mast is held into the motor housing by a small set screw. Once you remove that you can remove the mast and draw out the plastic gearing. Replacement is the reverse, but you need to carefully feed the gearing back in and its real stiff. Don't force it or you will strip it, takes a little finesse and patience. Once you're all done its a good idea to occassionally wipe the mast down with a clean cloth thats wet with lithium grease or some other lube thats not effected by temperture. This will keep it clean and operating smoothly.

Try this: Have someone in the car turn on the radio, while you are positioned by the antenna. As the antenna motor stats turning, grab the portion of the antenna and keep a stedy pressure upwards. Make sure the nut is out. If you are able to take the antenna and the plastic gear out you are ready for replacement of the mast. Now, you have to make sure that all of the plastic flexible gear came out. Measure its lenght against the new part to make sure.
If it hasn't come totally out, you may try to turn the radio of, and then on again. If nothing happens, there is good chance that ashort section of the flexible gear is inside the mechanism and you will have to take the plastic cover over the mechanism to remove that portion. As your antenna has not worked well for long, there is a good chance it has accumulated a lot of dirt inside. If you are willing to remove the whole thing, observe that on the lower end of the set up there is a plastic flexible pipe that goes from the mechanism bottom to the side of the lower part of the fender.This thing purpose is to conduct water that enters the antenna mast out of the mechanism and out of the car. Make sure it is not obstructed. You may want to take a look at volvospeed.com, in the Bay 13 section. Thre you will find good instructions on the mast replacement. Remember that in order to reack the mechanism, you will have to remove some plastic fasteners on the carpeting at the top left side of your trunk and also above the access to the back of the left rear lights. To remove these fasteners all you have to do is to turn them 90 degrees with a screw driver and pull them out. Good Luck!

thanks for your help. I had to take the motor apart to get the plastic gearing out. For some reason- maybe the fact 93 was the first for the 850, the antenna mast would not go into the top of the aluminum tube. I had to push it up from the bottom, which made it difficult to feed the plastic tubing into the motor and reconnect all the parts. It's working now though, so hopefully that's the end of that story.
cheers