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55 power antenna

Started by gerald ross, November 10, 2005, 09:43:31 AM

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gerald ross

please advise: the power antenna on my 55 is inoperative.  its stuck at about half mast and theres no sign of life: not even any clicking when i try to operate it, no movement when i manually try to lower it.  should i attempt to repair it or just replace it?  and  if replacement is in order, with what and from where?
thanks,
jerry

Bruce Reynolds # 18992

Gday Gerald,

Anything is repairable.

Having said that, the parts from older cars are even more repairable than the modern stuff.

I repaired my broken aerial on my 60 CDV, and even had to use a lot of parts from a 57 aerial to complete the job.

Make sure that you have the Workshop Manual, as it will explain in great detail the operations, maintenance and repairing of it.

But, with no noise coming from the motor, before you strip it down, or even take it from the car, try and see if it will work via jumper leads directly from the battery.   It may be that there is a problem with the operating switch in the radio, or a broken wire to the motor.

Bruce,
The Tassie Devil(le),
60 CDV

Ralph Williams, CLC # 18472

Jerry--

Assuming your car has not been retrofit with an electric antenna, stock antennas in 55 were vacuum operated.  You may simply have a disconnected vacuum hose.  The antenna has hoses connected to both the top and bottom of the cylinder.  These hoses, in turn are connected to a vacuum switch on top of the radio operated by pushing or pulling on the right radio knob.  There is a third vacuum hose which runs from a vacuum feed on the firewall below the wiper motor to the vacuum switch on the radio.  

Id check the hoses for leaks and to be sure theyre connected.  Unfortunately, the only way Ive found to access the vacuum connections on the radio are to remove the radio or remove the dash pad.  Ive done both.  I thought the dash pad was easier to remove than the radio.

Also, I need to point out that the stock vacuum antenna doesnt fully retract.  At its lowest position, the antenna sticks up 12 to 14 inches.  This is the way it came from the factory.  Try pulling yours up.  If you hear a Whooshing sound, youll know its a vacuum antenna.  If it doesnt pull up, then it will need to be rebuilt.

Following is a source for rebuilding:

Klaus Wojak
241 Hanging Rock Dr.
Banner Elk, NC  28604
Phone:  (828) 898-9338 (1-6 p.m. eastern time)

Klaus rebuilt my antenna--its perfect.

One other pointer...  In order to remove the antenna from the car, you have to first remove the antenna mast.  To do this, push the mast all the way down and simply unscrew it from the piston by rotating the mast counter clockwise.  This may not be so simple...  My mast was so corroded where it met the piston that it wouldnt unscrew.  I had to cut the mast to remove the antenna from the car.  My original mast was badly pitted and had lost most of its chrome anyway.  Klaus fixed me up with a new mast as a part of the rebuilding process.

Hope this helps.

Ralph
55 60S
59 SDV

 

jerry

thanks for the guidance.  ill give it a shot.
jerry

John Morris

Your 55 antenna is vacuum, not electric. You will never hear a click. I recommend checking and replacing the rubber vacuum hose, very easy. Also lube the mast and polish it with scotchbrite WITH oil. You may have a working antenna again for a buck. These antennas go for hundreds on ebay so dont run out and buy one yet! John.

jerry

update and further question:  we managed to operate the antenna by hooking vacuum up to the hose and it worked well.  however, wehn the reconnected to the radio it didnt wwork.  so, now that the problem has been narrowed down to the radio end of the circuit, does anyone have advice on how to proceed from here?
thanks,
jerry

Ralph Williams, CLC #18472

Jerry--

Check to be sure you have vacuum at the radio antenna switch (the middle hose).  If you dont have vacuum, replace the hose and see if that works.

For that matter, it would probably be a good idea to be sure you dont have leaks in any of the three hoses.

If you do have vacuum at the antenna switch, or if replacing the hose(s) didnt help, try spraying WD-40 into all three ports on the switch and work the switch back and forth several times.  I did this with my switch and it worked much more smoothly.

Ralph
55 60S
59 SDV