Retractable aerial RIP

ChewyLuey

Hi All

The retractable aerial in my volvo s40 appears to be dead. On one occasion about a month back it didn't come up when i turned the radio on. I got out of the car and "persuaded" it a bit and it worked next time I turned on the radio. After that for a few weeks it was making a louder than usual noise when going up/down. And then one day it stopped working again and has been stuck in the down position since.

- The motor which you could hear working when the radio was switched on before no longer makes any noise

- Don't think its a fuse bacuae the fuse for the aerial also has other purposes and nothing else in the car is malfunctioning.

Any other troubleshooting steps I can take ? What is the most likely cause of this problem and what damage am i looking at ?

Cheers

patrickc

i had to get the new aeral bit that's about 20 , if your anyway good with cars you'l fit it, you have to open up the cover and put it in that way. However sounds more like your motor is gone, again very easy to fit and I can imagine it will cost about 70/100 to replace.

ChewyLuey

Any good online source for parts ?

patrickc

I've found the local volvo dealer was cheaper than any online parts by the time you factor postage and all.. perhaps try partsgateway.co.uk and see what prices they give you back.

ChewyLuey

The local dealer here down South is not the best or cheapest. Would leave you feeling sick as a perrott
Might go to Naughtons in Tralee who are very helpful.

Is this something a non-dealer mechanics could do or will it be much of a much-ness as regards price by the time hes got the part off the main dealer and fitted it ?

patrickc

I'm not sure to be honest ring both dealers and see what they charge for the motor.. it should only cost 20/30 to get fitted, it doesnt take long tbh. When I got my aerial replaced I saw how the motor was put in and it didn't take ten minutes to take in and out..

ChewyLuey

Bump

Dades

If you can get in to see where the motor is (probably through the side panel of your boot) check to see if any wires are loose.

My aerial recently stopped going up and down although there was some motor action going on. Turned out the "earth" wire had simply dropped away from the metal bracket where it was earthed. The aerial itself might use a bit of WD40.

I remember on my old Audi I used to have to jump out after switching off the ignition and push down the aerial to get her moving.

Good luck...

patrickc

ChewyLuey wrote:

Bump

???