So I bought a new antenna mast to replace the one that came w/ the car (cuz it ceased up). Installation was fairly easy and quick, but here's the problem. Whenever I turn on the car/radio, and the antenna starts working its way up, it gets stuck in the first stage (out of 3). So I always have to jump out of the car and give it a tug to get it to extend completely. I got so tired of this that I finally took it all apart to figure out what the hell it's getting caught on.

So here's the mystery. The antenna mast is new, so it offers no resistance (from years of smudge/crud build-up like the old one) when extending and retracting. So I assumed it must be the motor, maybe it's weak, and can't extend the mast all the way. But to test it, I cut off the plastic belt off the old mast, tied a couple string knots on one end (just in case it gets stuck and I can't get it out of the hole), and fed it into the antenna hole. The motor took the belt in, and when I turned the radio back on, it pushed the belt all the way back up w/ ease, meaning that the motor is just fine.

So then I looked more closely at the new mast to find out where it's getting stuck. And then I discovered that the belt (which now naturally curls due to the shape it gets coiled into in the motor) gets caught on the edge of the round plastic mast base w/ its numerous teeth. So then I thought, hmm...I could shave the inside of that plastic base to smooth out the edge so that the belt's teeth have nothing to get caught on. So I busted out the X-acto and went to work. I smoothed it out such that now the belt's teeth weren't getting caught on the lip of the white plastic base. I thought for sure this would solve the problem. But it's still getting stuck in the first stage!!?! WTF?!?!

I'm ready to push this POS off a cliff dammit! Anyone got some words of wisdom from driving me insane??

 

I ripped the antennae off one week after I got my car.
it started acting weird and I didn't even bother trying to fix it, too many headaches and not even worth it
all music and radio I need is on my iphone!

plus, that antennae makes the car look so dated, like the cassette holder inside the car, which I also ripped out haha

 

Rip that out, it belongs back in the 80s.

 

No way, I love my antenna!! And I disagree about it making the car look dated. If anything, it makes it look more upscale, especially since it's a power antenna (and angled back for aerodynamics!). I'll fix the issue one way or another!~

 

Well, I believe that even recent SLK models have short antennas on the rear fender. Well at least the one parked next to mine where I live has one