Antenna Grinding when Retracted
#16
Moderator
Whip needed replacement as it got bent. The sound is due to motor.
Salim
Salim
#18
Lexus Champion
Folks, I think that I have found a way to stop the antenna grinding for good.
I have switched from white lithium grease to my bicycle chain Teflon lube on the antenna since the Teflon lube is thinner. I had to get the antenna up and down 15 times because the Teflon lube brought up so much black soot and gunk from down under. I wiped the antenna clean each time until no more crap was coming up.
Now besides a faint whirring sound from the motor, there's absolutely no grinding. It's been like this for about a month now. Thought that I should share this with my fellow RX300 owners.
I have switched from white lithium grease to my bicycle chain Teflon lube on the antenna since the Teflon lube is thinner. I had to get the antenna up and down 15 times because the Teflon lube brought up so much black soot and gunk from down under. I wiped the antenna clean each time until no more crap was coming up.
Now besides a faint whirring sound from the motor, there's absolutely no grinding. It's been like this for about a month now. Thought that I should share this with my fellow RX300 owners.
#20
Driver School Candidate
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: WA
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I cleaned ours with WD40 and then waxed it with a good auto wax containing silicone. Corrected problem for a month or so and I repeated process.
#21
Lexus Test Driver
I don't know if this will help -- I have some noise from my antenna, and I don't think it extends completely, but it retracts completely. The dealer looked at it today -- said cable is broken inside motor and ideally needs replacement (I imagine antenna and cable together) but that motor would need to be disassembled to get broken piece of cable out. I saw some instructions searching the forums, so I may give it a try.
Last edited by trhs75; 10-16-07 at 08:50 PM.
#23
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Location: WA
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hay it's fixed !!! That tip about bicycle chain lube really did the trick! I'm not certain what the contents are but it's very thin. The antanna barfed up a bunch of black gook when I ran it up and down and up and down and up and down a bunch of time. I would run it up and down about 10 times, clean and relube; and do it again. I ran it up about 1/2 and down a bunch too since the bottom end is where the grinding happened. It's smooooooth now!
#24
Moderator
Proof is in the pudding.
Any one knows how the bicycle grease will interact with nylon/plastic?
Salim
Any one knows how the bicycle grease will interact with nylon/plastic?
Salim
#25
Bicycle lube has to interact with nylon and plastic on a bicycle, so I'm confident it will be OK. For example, you've got the plastic of the rear deraillier pulleys (or the pulley dust seals on seal-bearing ones).
#27
Lexus Champion
Any brand of teflon lube will do fine. I got the cheap bike shop brand. I have the dry formulation since I don't ride my bike in rain, but I am thinking about buying the wet formulation for the winter.
Last edited by HarrierAWD; 10-31-07 at 09:16 PM.
#29
Driver School Candidate
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: California
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Great tip. About a year ago I remember hearing the grinding and then shortly afterwards the nylon cable broke . I recently began to hear it again and I was fearing another mast/cable replacement but i'll try this trick. Thanks again!
#30