I bought a replacement power antenna mast off of eBay. I took the old broken mast out and also pulled the motor to make sure there was none of the white plastic geared extender in it. I didn't see any when I pulled the covers off to see the main gear. I put the motor back in the car and fed the mast down following the Mazdatrix instructions. It fed down fine.

The problem occurred when I turned the radio back on. The antenna fed out and then kept going and ended up ejecting the mast. I did not forget the mounting sleeve (66-A9Z0-HE02). The sleeve was put on the mast and fed down with the mast.

The metal portion of the replacement mast is a little shorter than what was in the car.

Is the locating sleeve suppose to lock into the motor portion of the antenna to prevent the mast from ejecting?

Do I just need to trim the white plastic extending piece so the motor can't push the antenna as far? I am concerned that if I do this I would probably have to trim it so that it disengages the antenna motor gear at full extension to prevent it from extending further. In this case I don't know if it would still always automatically re-engage to pull the antenna down, or if the antenna would always need a push to get it started.

 

Tell us about who you bought it from and the part number. If you got the one I did then its the wrong one. And if you got it from the same guy then he will tell you it is the right one according to his application chart, but its wrong. I told him it does not fit, so he knows. He will not refund the shipping, either way.

I assume you put the retaining "nut" on.

And since you put the sleeve on, then the antenna itself is too small a diameter. The sleeve is what stops the mast from exiting the vehicle. The base of the antenna shoud not be able to go past the sleeve.

 

Stick a wire hanger in there

 

Not being helpful.................

 

I bought it from seller antenna_x on ebay. There is no part number on the packaging.

The antenna already had a thin sleeve on it. I put the sleeve from the old antenna over the sleeve that was on the antenna. Without using both sleeves, the original Mazda sleeve would just slide off the end of the antenna. So, the two sleeves are nested or in other words there are two layers of sleeves. Also, without the new sleeve the old sleeve would be a loose fit, using both sleeves seems to provide a decent assembly.

One thing that didn't make the most sense to me from the Mazdatrix instructions is that I believe the antenna motor assembly is fully installed into the vehicle and then the mast fed in. Since the mast can feed in freely from the top, what keeps it from being ejected? Should the nut that you use snap ring pliers or needle nose pliers to spin off from the top be installed after the mast is fed in to capture the sleeve?

I can try and get some pictures of the antenna if that would help.

 

You bought the antenna mast off Ebay.

You used the Mazdatrix instructions.

Nothing seemed quite right.


Saved a little money did we?

 

I have it working now. Just needed to trap the sleeve below the outer retaining nut that uses a snap ring pliers to remove.

I did do this leaving the wing on. I popped the first plug on the wing and saw that the phillips drive on the screw was a rusty mess and I couldn't remove it. So, with the antenna motor removed, I grounded the motor and fed the mast in by turning the radio off and on. I then installed the antenna motor in the car and tightened the top retaining nut.

Thanks tom0261 for the help. I misinterpreted "Remount the assembly into the car (mast is not in yet), and plug the antenna and electrical connections back in" from Mazdatrix that the top retaining nut should be put on at that time.