Lube for power antenna? (long)

[Tony Lum <tlum@ascor-inc.com>]

Ron,

The best lube for power antennas is: NONE!  All the lubricants and gunk
you spray on the antenna justs collects dirt which goes inside and
creates friction.  I've rebuilt about 5 audi antennas (bosch, fubar etc)
and find that removing the crap with isopropyl alcohol works the best.
Of course to do a really thorough job, you must remove the antenna
completely.  Open it up and clean out the years of gunk, dirt, and old
grease that got in there via the telescoping element.  With any luck,
you'll be able to restore it to like new (this takes about 4-5 hours of
detailed work).  BTW, the motor almost never is the problem.  Neither is
the automatic control.  Once took me a week just to clean the crap out
of one antenna.  With the antenna removed, I kept collapsing it and
pulling it out again.  Each time a bunch of dirt come out at the joints,
you wipe it off and start again.  Don't forget to clean and re-attach
the drain hose.  AND if its a Hirschorn type made in China, just throw
it away-the mechanical design of the mast is poor.

Of course you can sh*t can the old one, and buy a new one for about $80.

HTH,

Tony
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Tony Lum
Fremont, California, U.S.A
mailto:tlum@flash.net

Audi Owner/Operator/Mechanic ;-)

1987 5000S  Turbo Quattro
1985 4000CS Quattro
1980 5000S  Sedan

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