Aerial wont go up, motor trying

Technical Area Electrics & ICE
1
  1. My model of MX-5 is: __2004 mk2.5 euphonic
  2. I’m based near: __bedfordshire
  3. I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: __aerial issues

So my aerial has been a bit hit and miss for a while now with whether its going to go up or not, today its decided it isnt going to do its job at all. I can hear the motor going but it refuses to go up. The aerial did go up this morning so i dont think its jammed/stuck.

I have never tinkered with electrics on the car before other then changing bulbs so i have no real experience with where to even start looking. If anyone has any ideas/a check list/idiots guide i can use to find the problem, i would be massively greatful.

2

Sorry to hear this.
Having refurbished many of these i would suggest that the mast action is stiff for whatever reason, perhaps a bent mast or maybe there is corrosion or dirt requiring extra power to raise the mast. The aerial motor is up to this, to a point but at this level the lowest denominator/failure point is the nylon primary cog that runs off the motor drive. The metal motor drive has likely stripped the interlinking teeth of the primary cog and now there is little or no drive getting to the aerial mast.
Conclusion…your aerial needs stripping and rebuilding with repair and replacement parts.

3

Teeth on the aerial likely stripped. New aerial mast (MX5parts etc) required. I think its the same process as for the Mk1; been a while, but I think remove the chrome finisher (I used some needle nosed pliers in the two “holes”. Remove, and with an assistant turning the radio on/off, you should be able to remove the aerial, hopefully with the plastic aerial track, or bits of it, attachd:

Instructions for Mk1, Mk2 will be much the same:

https://www.miata.net/garage/power_antenna_repair.html

Bizarrely, I replaced a mast last in 2000, when it was, I guess, 8 years old, and its been good ever since.

4

Thank you both, i will give this ago over the next few weeks and see if that works. It makes sense and i dont know if its ever been replaced so its done well to make it this far. I will update once i have tried replacing.

5

If you need any advice or parts, private message me.
I will say that the MK2 aerial is not the same quality and does not necessarily fail in the same way as the MK1. To summarise the MK1 has a shorter, thicker aerial mast and is a much better design.
Unfortunately you are stuck with the MK2 electric aerial; no biggy:-)

6

I refurbished my own one, teeth on the plastic had gone. Really easy to do and there are You Tube tutorials on it, took 10mins (max) to get the aerial out and aout 15-20mins to refurb it