Hi everyone,

Just need a little help. My electric Antenna on my KJ verada crapped itself on me last friday and after taking it out I discovered that the plastic rope that is attached to the mast has snapped thus making the antenna unable to extend fully.

So in haste to repair this part I purchased the mast with new rope from the Mitsu dealer. Now after taking apart the little black box that contains the gears, motor and the roep to retract into I find it painstakingly hard to put the new rope and mast in. This is hindered by the cogged wheel inside the box thats held in position with a spring thus rendering it impossible to turn and to pull in the rope.

After a few attempts I successfully managed to push the whole thing in. Then I go and plug the antenna in to see if my work was a success the motor comes to life and winds the rope out and pushing out the rope completely and it keeps spinning away.

I've run out of ideas how to put it back in. So my question is.. Is there anyone in here know how to put the rope and mast back on? Do I need to take it back to mitsubishi to get this fixed?

Any ideas would be helpful and greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

-Refit the aerial motor assy, minus any broken cord etc, with the aerial nut off.

-Have somebody turn the radio on, which in turn causes the plastic gear to wind up, all the way

-After 30 seconds or so, once you hear the motor has stopped, insert the cord into the aerial hole and push with slight force, till it can't go further

-Now, have someone switch the car off. This will turn the radio off, causing the gear to spin in, grabbing the cord. "Jiggle" the cord around if it doesn't grab straight away.

-Let the motor pull the mast all the way in, refit the aerial nut, and all should be ok!

:D :D :D

Cheers for that MitsuMad!!!!! :bowdown:

It worked!!!! I'll have to shout you a few rounds of beer!!!!

Much Appreciated mate.... :thumbsup: Awesome stuff!!!

Not a problem mate, I'm glad I could be of assistance!
Oh, and I'll take you up on the beer offer :)

Oh, and I'll take you up on the beer offer :)

No worries on that... I'll keep an eye on when theres a meet and I'll pop around to shout you the beers. :D

Thanks again!

Out of interest how much did you pay for the mast and cord thingo? On my KS the mast is bent so obvisouly wont retract. I went to supercheap today and looked in the book, and looked for the mast replacement, however this is for an aeropro antenna to fit this car, so Im not sure if this would fit??? (I havent tried it yet) They were $32 at supercheap but were out of stock, so I went around the corner to audiocom and got one for $40. I was assuming the mitsu part would be more expensive ???

Another question, ho do you oil the mast? It keeps clicking into place now.

and another question, what is the most common reason to get the mast bent? Its well inside the body and needs some very low obstruction to get it bent. Also my feeling - with the mast on the vehicle looks more ugly :rant:

I would says low overhaning trees usually buggers them up, and as theyre electric, mine has two options, for full or half height. Although mine is bent and not working, at full height they go quite high I think, quite a bit over the roof. As for being ugly, I think the whole reason for having an electric antenna is that when you are using it, it goes high for good reception, with the option of lowering ti half way if you dont need the full length, and when its not beign used, it retracted completely into the car so you dont see it.

something to look at is on the 3rd gens because the aerial is at the rear of the car they collect a lot of dirt. so when cleaning the car turn the radio on and wipe the dirt off it and spray some wd40 on a rag and wipe it over. dirt is the killer in most cases.

Out of interest how much did you pay for the mast and cord thingo? On my KS the mast is bent so obvisouly wont retract. I went to supercheap today and looked in the book, and looked for the mast replacement, however this is for an aeropro antenna to fit this car, so Im not sure if this would fit??? (I havent tried it yet) They were $32 at supercheap but were out of stock, so I went around the corner to audiocom and got one for $40. I was assuming the mitsu part would be more expensive ???

Well I rang around a few places and eventually ended up at John Hughs Parts on Welshpool Rd in Kewdale. This is WA btw.

The wreckers was going to charge me $75 for the whole electric antenna unit. Then when I rang up John Hughs they qouted me $95. I thought sweet 20 bucks more and get whole new unit. How wrong I was!! It was just the mast and rope for $95!!!!!! :shock:
Freakin genuine parts!!!! Yeh so if you want to save your hard earned dough I would suggest Supercheap Autos. Provided the plug is universal and able to fit the magnas. Not quite sure on the generic electric antennas.


Another question, ho do you oil the mast? It keeps clicking into place now.

Hmmm now you've gotten me worried.... I didn't oil the mast... Just let the motor pull it in like MitsuMad taught me to... Maybe I should of as my old mast had black grease on the bottom half of it.

I managed to do something similar to my aerial today by going thru the first cycle of a car wash whilst listening to the news... not the antenna doesn't extend or retract fully... would the instructions near the start of the post re changing the mast still apply here? My local Supercheap Auto has a (supposedly) compatible mast for $39.95, but there's one they have discounted for $30 since the packaging has been opened (everything is still in there by the looks). I intend to replace the mast and then fit in an inline override switch since I wouldn't expect to be needing the aerial up 99% of the time.

Is it normal for the antenna to bounce when it reaches the top and also when it fully retracts?
When it gets to the top it pulls back in about and inch or so. then noisily shoots back up to full height. Likewise when retracting it goes all the way down, then shoots up a little and then pops all the way down again.

Does TJ Advance antenna have half mast position?

Before my "accident" the antenna extended and retracted smoothly without any noise other than the sound of the motor whirring. My TJ Advance antenna doesn't seem to have a half-mast position, there isn't any radio setting that i've found that would allow you to customize the extend/retract time either.

is the electric antenna unit the same on all the 3rd gen wagons/sedans

Sounds a bit strange, maybe the antenna is bent slightly which stops it from moving smoothly. Not sure about 3rd gens, but on my 2nd gen verada, I bought a replacement mast that you can get for $32 at supercheap, that is supposed to be a replacement mast for the car, but only if you have the airpro electric motor thing. The antenna kept coming out onto the ground because it was too small, so i got the retainer thing on the antenna and slid it inside the old reatainer and glued it in place. Now it works and fits perfect, and if i need another replacement, I just slip the modifired retainer off and put it on the new cheap replacement and all is good.

Ollie

its easy to do - the fix kits about $100 only- and takes 10 minutes!