Aerial not extending, but clicking

[CR929]

Hey folks, got another MK2 issue here, this time with the aerial. Have an aftermarket stereo but has been working for a while and has stopped recently. Managed to dumb it down to (perhaps) the motor, but was looking for extra advice before I order a replacement. In essence, I can hear it click on and off when the stereo turns on and off, and there is -11.6/11.6 V over the motor controls (the blue and black wires from the relay) but the motor is not moving.

Again, judging by the fact it stopped suddenly (and the fact the stereo turned off and is now periodically doing so until I soft reset it through the button inside the head unit), I presume the motor decided to kick the bucket and I need a replacement? Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[jeff]

https://mr2oc.co.uk/know-your-2/mk2/mk2 ... erial.html

[CR929]

Thanks for the article, this was the first I've found and looked at (and used to disassemble the aerial). However, it only works with mechanical issues, not electrical. My fuses are all fine, and the relay clicks, but the article only touches on the mechanical side of the motor. The assembly is mechanically sound.

To add, when I stick a multimeter in the motor control pins, the relay clicks once and stays there for a while with the voltage applied. When the motor is connected, it clicks in a rapid succession multiple times and does nothing.

[TonyleFrog]

Are you sure the motor is not turning? The more common problem is the plastic gear/rack going south.
https://mr2oc.co.uk/forum/topic.html?p= ... l#p1787177

[S81933]

I agree with Tony. Mine did the same a while ago, was replaced with no issues and now it's doing it again, won't retract fully. It is the plastic rack.

[CR929]

Well, looks like I'm looking at a replacement either way... I think it's the motor since when it's connected the relay clicks in short sequence instead of sending a steady 12V (like it does when the motor is disconnected), so my theory is that it detects an electrical fault. Were there a mechanical fault in gearing I'd wager it would still try to send the up signal with nothing going on. I tried pushing the rack by hand with no success (mostly due to the massive amount of lubricant on my hands...) but I'll try pliers, could very well be stuck too.

I've taken a look at the topic linked above and either way it's either an aftermarket one or stripping an old one for parts. I cannot find the motor anywhere, even by part number, so... Looks like Ben has them for the spoilered rev. 1 for 50 quid, not too much.

[CR929]

Okay, we're making progress... I've opened it up and it actually started rotating. I have a sneaking suspicion that previous clicks were connected with the fact that the motor stalled immediately upon startup so the antenna didn't actually move. Now it extends and retracts fully 50% of the time, with the other half either not extending or not retracting fully. I have a feeling that there's way too much gunk in there as i can physically see the antenna slip when extending, so I'll probably give the main gear and the tail of the aerial a good wipe this week (hopefully tomorrow if it doesn't rain) and we'll see how it goes.

Was about to just go buy a full aftermarket set and quite happy I didn't.

The stereo turned out to be the battery dying (died completely mid Feb, no issues since replacing) so that's out of the question too.

[jimi]

Give it a good clean and lubricate the mast, possible try and "assist" it to extend, once it been operated a few times it may well be OK.