Does anyone know how to remove the antenna mast? Mine will go up but not back down unless you push it. The motor runs trying to get it down but I believe the nylon gearing inside the mast is stripped. I found a replacement mast on ebay for 20 bucks but I cant figure out how to unscrew the mast without taking the whole antenna out. Help.

 

By the way it is a 93 es300.

 

i believe you do have to take apart the antenna assembly. its all greasy inside of there so you should wear gloves. once you open it up though, you'll be able to figure out how it feeds in. and while you're at it, it'll be a good idea to check how the plastic teeth are on the main gear (main circular one)....actually maybe you should check that first before ordering from ebay.

 

No, it is really, really, easy to replace the mast. Undo the screw notched piece on the top (on the outside of the car), I had to use special pliers. Once the piece is off turn on the radio and the mast comes up, just pull it out. Put in the new mast and turn the radio off, it pulls it in, you may have to turn it off and on a few times to get it all the way in. Once it goes down all the way put the screw piece back on. I asked the dealer and they told me how to do it. I got my mast at the dealer, it was $60+ dollars.

badams

 

What kind of special plyers are those? I tried every kind of screwdriver and could not get that nut to budge. Where did you get these pliers? The mast is on ebay for around 20 bucks. The mast will go back down if when I turn off the car I run and push on it a little. It seems like then it catches and pulls it down.

 

I used needle nose pliers but the very end has been bent to a 70 degree angle (I got them from "Snap-on"). They shouldn't be too hard to find, you may even be able to use regular needle nose pliers from above. I'd wrap something soft around the area though, like a towel. I almost dug the pliers into my paint. I also really had to crank on it pretty hard to get it loose and to continue to spin it with the pliers, it wouldn't budge using just my fingers, even after I had it loose.

I'm sure the guys at the Lexus dealer have something designed to do it. It only took me about 10 minutes with my bent pliers though.

badams

 

2 things:
1) I agree with meZoom! It seems that the teeth on the gears are stripped. Just replacing the mast probably will not solve the problem for you.
2) If you really want to get a proper tool to remove the nut on the outside, you could look for a tool called the antenna nut socket or antenna nut wrench. Each socket is around 10 bucks, or around 30 bucks for a whole set. But I don't know if this is a good investment unless you do a lot of antenna repairs.

 

The gear inside the antenna section is a pretty sturdy plastic gear whereas the teeth on the mast section are flimsy and remind me of the old "Evil Knievel Stunt Cycle Set" toy where you insert the plastic thing with the teeth pull real hard, the wheel on the motorcycle spins and takes off. I know my Evil Knievel Stunt Cycle plastic thing used to get stripped as well as the antenna on my ES300. I'd pull out the mast and look.

I'd say it was a safe bet it isn't the gear inside the antenna motor but the teeth on the mast section.

You may ask a repair shop (or the dealer) if you can use their antenna tool. I know Pep Boys will loan tools, but I'd be surprised if they had an antenna tool.

badams