Miata Mailing List: January 1997, Message #22
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   From: (none)

Subject: Re: Frozen Antenna Woes

   Date: (none)



At 04:55 PM 12/31/96 -0500, Rob Benzie wrote:

>My electric antenna gets stuck as it rises.

>Any suggested lubricants or remedies for this. (No dirty puns, please.)



Well, the real culprit is, of course, frozen water in the antenna.

So... I'd suggest getting it nice and warm (insert dirty pun here) 

(a hair dryer would work nicely), then put a towel under it, and 

squirt a bunch of WD-40 in it.  The WD stands for Water Dispersal

(or something like that), and it'll help chase out the water from

the working bits.

If you want to be really thorough (and potentially quite messy),

raise the antenna, put a bunch more WD-40 in the antenna base,

and lower it again.



I believe that graphite based lubricants are probably best for re-

lubricating the (cough) shaft afterwards.



I had sort of the opposite situation a few weeks ago - the snow &

sleet froze all over the antenna as I drove.  When I shut the car

down, I heard this AMAZING noise as the antenna retracted, ice 

breaking and crunching all the way.



Parenthetically yours,

Philip (aka Gryphon)