Drove my 2002 SC430 through carwash with antenna up and bent antenna so that it will not retract all the way. Extends o.k. and works fine, but stays up about 10 inches when retracted. Can I replace antenna mast without getting into motor? Walt

 

Yes, there are several threads on this forum with instructions as to how to do it. If you do a search on antennas or antenna replacement, you'll likely find a bunch.

 

That is a very common problem with a very easy solution. Just buy one of these and google "SC430 antenna mast replacement"
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...+mast&_sacat=0

 

O.K. I puchased a new antenna mast and followed the easy intructions on removing the bent mast. Everything worked fine except the toothed white cord would not disengage from the motor. It seems to extend all the way out but not disengage while pulling very hard. It goes back in to where it was before when turning off radio... have tried this four times... do not pull too hard to avoid breaking off white toothed cord. Any ideas?

 

Wow! Researched prio posts and tried four or five sure fixes, none of which worked...except the last one. with radio in AM and key turned to Ascessary, the antenna rose but, as before, would not disengage from motor. Disconnected battery and Presto, the cord came loose. Connected battery (negative side) positioned cord into motor, and had wife turn off the ignition, and new cord was drawn back down into motor. Thanks to Daryl and Harold for their suggestions to research the prior posts. As a bonus, the CD player component of the audio system, which displayed an Error 3 message for the past year despite the pounding, disconnecting the battery, etc., now works and allowed me to eject all six CDs.

 

Glad that you got it up and running again. Feels good, doesn't it?