yeah i've never looked inside one of those thingies but it sounds like there are some plastic gears or a plastic rack and pinion in there and when the antenna gets to hard to move (cold weather) the gears start grinding. eventually the gears get all chewed up an there is no chance of it moving the antenna.

 

yeah i've never looked inside one of those thingies but it sounds like there are some plastic gears or a plastic rack and pinion in there and when the antenna gets to hard to move (cold weather) the gears start grinding. eventually the gears get all chewed up an there is no chance of it moving the antenna.

 

I always wondered if something like this was possible, and I guess it is. Thanks in advance, could you post how you did it or pm me?

 

I just went to auto parts store and found a small switch, the only thing it really needs to be is small enough and the type that just snaps in.
(should look like this)


Pop out one of those little squares from you console and make a big enough square hole for the switch to fit in. Just drill a hole or two that are as wide as the switch and square it off with a razor blade, the flange of the switch should cover up the rough edge. Its bettter to make it a little small at first and then open it up to get it just right.

I used a 4 foot piece of speaker and on one end I wired one wire to each pole of the switch (polarity doesn't matter). Find the antenna wire on the back of the stereo (blue/white, i think) and cut it. Splice each cut end to each wire coming from the switch (again, polarity doesn't matter) and you are done.

 

When the worm gear in my antenna broke it stayed up. I yanked the whole assembly and replaced it w/an amplified fuba.