Well here we go again.
As I don't have time to strip out the stereo and start fiddling with wires I have decided the first thing to do is check the aerial is ok.
With this in mind I took a few pics and made some notes.
Its not hard, just make sure you don't lose any bits, there are some tiny pieces that might drop out.
Once you've disconnected it and removed it, you'll start with this
The easy way to make sure your mast isn't siezed or stuck is to take out the motor which is basically two bolts, on the top.
Note which way the TOYOTA stamp is facing, if you re-assemble it the other way the motor will be going up and down in the wrong directions
Note that there is a small metal connector under one of the bolts, to get this out the way you need to remove the grey metal frame completely.
This is just 3 screws, one holds a black earth wire to the corner of the plastic.
Also the two motor bolts go into small nuts that may drop out if you're not careful.
Right.
.
.
if you've managed to get the motor off in one easy step then well done, cos it sometimes sticks and only the brass casing comes off.
BE CAREFUL
- there is a tiny ball bearing on the end of the motor and it might fall out.
If your motor is out now, you can extend the mast by pulling it, but keep hold of the black portion and stop it from coming out of the assembly, its a bit of a pain to get the plastic strip back in.
You should now have this:
I had to take some of the internals out of the gear area so those extra bits you can see will not be part of the mess you are dealing with
.
.
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read on
You can now WD-40, grease, clean, whatever you have
- do it to your mast and keep it nice and clean.
If your mast won't come up then it might be siezed by dirt, or your gears are broken/jammed, or the motor is seized by rust/water/rain.
So, next
(messy) step.
Put your motor bolts back in for now.
Remove the 8mm nut and remove the centre spindle.
Take the screws out of the black plastic.
You will need to prise the cover off with a flat screwdriver, as it is glued down with that black gluey crap they put on your doors to hold the plastic sheeting.
Once you've taken the cover off you'll see this:
Take the large strip-housing
(on the left, the big circular yellow thing) and slowly remove it, the strip might pop out and splat you with grease, tough luck! Uncoil the plastic strip so you can get to the metal plate underneath.
Pick that out with your dirty fingernails and you will see a large plastic cog and a little one, looking like this:
Take out the small gear cog
(as I have done in the pic).
You should now be able to remove the motor assembly completely when you take your bolts out again.
The mast is now free to move up and down.
You can take it out and extend it fully, or leave it in place and extend it.
Clean it, grease it, whatever.
The tricky part is putting it together, although its not that hard if you think what you're doing.
I am going to assume you have taken the mast and plastic strip out to clean them.
First, leave out the motor.
Now, put your gear cog back in.
Leave the mast extended and the plastic strip will be protruding from the base of the blacksection by about 9 inches.
Slide the plastic strip into the aluminium shaft, it will probably stick a few times but eventually it will poke back into the main gear area of the aerial.
Once you can see it coming, push so it goes half way round the area so the end is coming back upwards towards the motor.
Put the metal plate back in position, and slide more of the aerial down.
It will poke out at the side of the metal plate, you can now place the large round yellow strip housing back in place.
The strip will advance and be guided into the housing as you push the aerial down, and the pressure will build on the housing so this is the time to put the other half of the black casing back in place, and use the spindle nut and bolt to secure it.
Right! You can now push the aerial full down with no risk of it popping out or all over your garage
/ bedroom
/ kitchen
/ etc.
Clean your hands, and you can now
- as long as you hold the black portion of the mast in place
- extend and clean it again if you wish.
If you can feel jamming or hesitation as your aerial goes up and down then you may have broken teeth or grit and dirt in the plastic gears.
If your twig movement is smooth, put the screws back into the black casing and slide the aerial all the way in.
Now, check your motor.
If its loose and you can rotate it by hand then its very likely fine, a bit of resistance due to magnets is good.
If its solid as a rock and rusty to boot then your motor is knackered
If its fine, you can wiggle your working motor back into position on the assembly and put the bolts/nuts back.
Screw the grey frame back on and your double-checked aerial is now ready to re-install in your boot, remembering the all-important rain-drainage pipe.
Next post: Looking at the wiring behind the stereo
