240D antenna replacement

Replacing electric antenna is so easy it is rediculous not to do it. Go to ebay and search for the Hirschman... get the generic one. I bought mine from this guy...

He really is a great guy with great help.You can save even more buy using live.com to search and click on the ebay link that said 25% off... for cashback that you will get back in 60 days. Up to $200 back for each transaction... 12 max.

I have a 1979 240D and am having problems with poor FM reception and was told by the people who installed my car stereo that I need to replace the mast.The existing mast is not electric and there is no switch on the dash for a power antenna. Does that mean that this car didn't have one? Was it an option?

If there was an original mast that was not electric, do you know where I can find a replacement? And, finally, would it be difficult to retrofit to a power antenna?

Thanks for any advice.

First thing first... In the trunk by the antenna area, pull out the trunk side cover, is your electric antenna there? If not, is there wires hanging around there? If yes, the car did have an electrical antenna.

It is not hard to hook up, electric antenna either... all you need is one wire from radio (blue wire on aftermarket radio)... that is positive... bring that back all the way to the trunk and hook it up to antenna.

It is best to get another fused positive wire to the antenna for the motor. The ground is basically the car sheetmetal. That's it.

That MB switch for raising and lowering antenna is kinda dumb to modern radio. Old radio's leave antenna up even when listening to tape... or CD... but today's radio will lower them down when listening to CD automatically.

That guy GLG will tell you how to do it all. I bought two units from him. Also, these universal antenna are super super super long, they pick up even the weakest radio station clearly or stay on that station real long time if you are travelling interstate. I love this antenna!

On my current car... the W124, the factory mast was super short even for typical MB. This had cellular option... but in my area, the reception really stink. With the new antenna, zero problem.

Thanks, that's really helpful. I yanked out the old power antenna. As I was getting into the guts of the motor, before disconnecting the wiring harness, the motor started going. The switch on the dash wouldn't turn it off - in any of the positions. So I'm thinking that even if I got another power antenna I'd have to deal with an electrical problem. And I'm perfectly happy lowering the antenna by hand when I go through a car wash. But now that the antenna is out I see how easy it is to replace.

I take it the actually screw-in connector to the antenna is a universal one and that any antenna will accomodate that cable and screw-plug, yes?

Thanks!

Peter

Yes... antenna adapter is common and standard. Just mix and match the adapters to make it work.

Generally speaking, you don't need to replace the entire antenne unit, unless motor or gear is broken.

You simply loosen the nut on the antenna whip and let the motor drive out the whip with cable and all. The new whip is installed with the reverse procedure, i.e. have the radio on, stick the whip cable into the gear, have someone to turn off the radio and the motor will pull in the cable and whip. Finally, tighten the not.

It's so easy and cheap. 30 USD by the dealer (in Denmark at least) and 5 minutes of work. Not worth a sticking antenna at all.

There is two versions out though (Hirchmann and Wisi), so bring the old whip with you, when you by.

But of course, get the electical problem fixed first. Most probably it is the connector pins oxidised. Just clean them with very fine grain sanding paper.

Jens ha scritto:

If I can add just a small hint: protect the parts treated with sand paper with a light veil of contact grease... to avoid oxidation (or simply rust) for the future.

Thanks. Crutchfield has the antenna but it has a Motorola plug. I've been trying to locate the correct adapter. Most of the online dealers don't go back to 1982. I think the Metra 40-VW16 works, at least it looks right. One of the dealers is going to contact Metra and check.

Alternately, since I've got an aftermarket radio in the car that must accept a Motorola is I could just run the cable directly to the radio. Does anyone know the "route" that the cable takes from truck to dash? If it's just through the back seat, under the rug, etc, it can't be that difficult.

Peter

Just go to Radio Shack and see what they have there. Or your local car stereo shop.