or should it stick up a foot or so ? Mine extends quite high when the radio is on, but still sticks up a foot or more when the car is off

 

My '04 retracts all the way.

 

Does your antenna motor assembly make any strange noises at the upper limit of travel? ( like a slipping or ticking)
The "timing" between mast and drive spool may have been upset. Has there been any mast replacement or other work in the past?

 

Not retracting fully is either a bent mast section or left over piece of cable within the motor after a mast replacement.

 

+1 on Gaterino's comments. As I recall a dirty antenna can be a suspect too.

John

 

I'm thinking that the previous owner was a bit of a twit. He said that the car only had a cassette player but it does in fact have the cd changer in the boot. A close inspection of the aerial indicated that it had been bent badly once before and someone tried to straighten it ....guess I'll need to replace it eventually.

 

Turn the radio on to extend the antenna then spray the antenna with WD40 and work it up and down the antenna then wipe it clean and the repeat the process. After you do that 2 or 3 times turn the radio off to retract the antenna and help it retract without bending it. Do this a few times wiping it clean between operations. Often dirt will cause it from retracting property. See if this helps the operation.

Gus
www.jagrepair.com

 

Will try it but I think it was badly bent and then poorly straightened. I expect I will have to replace it

 

If it has a noticeable kink at any mast section, replace it before it breaks the nylon cable within the motor. The first week I owned mine, I disconnected the power lead to it. I listen to CD's and Pandora only.

 

 

mine was bent and would not retract fully when I bought the car. I got a replacement ($15) and figured out how to put things together (there is at least one good youtube vidoe that shows most of how to do this). The antenna now goes up and retracts fully.
I enjoy the sound of the road so much that I rarely listen to the radio :-)

 

I drive with the top down when I can , but almost always have the radio on. Thanks for all the replies folks