The antenna on my 96 corvette doesn't work. It stays up all the time. If I dont fix it quick than it will be matter of time for one of my kids start playing with it and I think we know what will happen with it. Radio works fine but antenna won't go down. Is there an easy solution?

 

Lube it up and push it down see if it come back up. Do you hear the motor running? If the motors good you can replace the mast from ebay for $20 but they built the car around it.

 

I try to push it down but it only goes down about 6 inches and than I'm afraid to break it. If I remember correctly the motor runs when turning the radio on. I will double check tomorrow.

 

Try to lube it. I would put wd40, and push it down piece by piece Wirh hands. Could be stucked due little bit of corrosion.

There's shouldn't be risk of damage by pushing it in. i would make it turnig off radio and key on, so motor will recall mast in

 

The mast can be changed from the outside easily by removing the one nut on top of the bezel. But if the nylon gear/cable doesn't come out with the mast, you'll have to take the motor apart anyway. This is IF the motor is running when you turn off the radio, but the shaft doesn't move. Sometimes you can have someone turn the radio off and assist the antenna down while the motor is running and break it loose.

 

So I've lubricated the antenna and try to push it down but no luck, and yes motor is running, I can hear it when turning the radio on and off. I guess this would be an indication of bad mast?

 

So which nut are you referring to? See picture, is that the nut you are talking about?

 

Most likely.
You can try to buy a new mast, selled at about 40$, since that if you try to remove the old one most likely it will be stucked in and you will have to get it out with a vice grip, and after that no re-use will be possible.

Anyway try to remove nut before, and gently pull out mast by hand maybe it came out.

 

It's the nut you can see from the top that is sunken into the rubber bezel. The rubber bezel can be pulled out if you can't get to the nut easily. Be careful not to tear it. The nut is round with two slightly flattened sides. My mast replacement came with a socket to remove that nut. Once it is removed, you can pull the antenna out through the top and hope that the nylon cable comes with it. Note when you pull it out which way the teeth are facing on the cable and put the new in the same way. You'll need someone to help you by turning the radio on, wait for the motor to stop, then feed the nylon cable in with the teeth facing the same way they came out ( I think it was toward side of the car). Don't let your fingers get caught up in the teeth. It will pull in, hopfully, when your helper turns the radio off. It may not go all the way down on the first try, but start the nut back on and turn the radio off and on a few times to let it run up and down and it will eventually center and go all the way up and down. Tighten the nut, not too tight. Hand tight.
If the nylon cable doesn't pull out, or only a small part of it, you will have to get the rest out before you can install the That would involve removing the antenna, seperating the case, removing the cable, reassembling the case, then follow the instructions above to install the new one.

 

 

Do I need to pull rubber bezel up? Does it comes out easily or is there something holding it down, I just don't want to rip it apart?
I do appreciate all the great instructions and info on this topic.

 

It pulls up on my 94 I had to take the ant out under the rear hatch trim is the connections hook something to it to pull things back. No way my bezal was comming out with out messing up.

 

You shouldn't have need to remove bezel in order to get out nut.
Just all you need IMO is special tool with new mast provided

 

So I guess that special tool that comes with mast slides over the bezel?

 

Inside the bezel.

 

Yep inside bezel around nut, is something like a deep socket

 

The bezel is only a rubber plug that is pressed down to seal the hole. It doesn't need to come out at all. Just removing the nut will allow the mast to come out. If you pull that rubber bezel out, it will be easier to get the nut off, but be careful not to tear it. They cost 16 bucks. I changed mine without removing the rubber. but it may have been easier to pull it out.The only purpose of that top nut is to stop the antenna from coming out when it extends. The antenna stop hits the nut and triggers the motor to stop. Once again, IF the cable is not broken, you only need to remove the one nut around the antenna shaft.

 

What we're calling a bezel is more like a rubber grommet. It has a groove all the way around it that fits into the hole when pressed down.

 

Where do I find best deal for antenna mast replacement. I found couple but they are $70.

 

Try ebay, or Google, or any of the Corvette vendors. Here's one that looks like good quality:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CORVETTE-Pow...o8ASYQ&vxp=mtr