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Well, 15 years and 231K on the OEM mast isn't bad....but it should have gone for 300+K....here's why:
When I took the old one out (that's another story....it was pretty well corroded in place, but PBlaster helped) sure enough a piece of the rack was broken off inside...typical failure mode. But, when I disassembled the reel...the pinion in the antenna assembly (the pinion grabs the rack on the mast) was caked solid with mud/dirt/grease. There was NO way the rack and the pinion gears could mesh with all that kaka on it. Had to clean it before the new rack would go in.
Soooooooooo, one could argue that one should disassemble and clean/lubricate the rack and pinion antenna assembly every 10 years or so...and of course every time one has to replace a mast assembly.
BTW...the $11 mast I got from FCPGroton.com wouldn't fit...the mast ia about .010" too large and won't compress to fit...it will start, but it can't be pushed/pressed/tapped down without damaging the sleeve...I got it about halfway down and the sleeve tore/crumpled (I was using a washer and a crescent wrench and a hammer to tap it down. OTOH...the $35 volvo OEM part fit perfectly. There's a moral to the story here, but I'm not sure what it is...I'm not one to blindly go for OEM/dealer parts...but in this case it would have worked out cheaper. Perhaps if I had replaced the entire assembly with an aftermarket Harada (those masts seem to work well on aftermarket Harada antennas) the FCPGroton mast would have worked. So check whatever mast you try to put in and DON'T even think about trying to force it...if it doesn't go in easy it's the wrong part.
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