Antenna drive belt replacement

["William R. Dieter" <dieter@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I had the classic antenna jamming problem and let it go to long.  (I did
take the mast out and give it a good cleaning once.)  The antenna looked
ok for a while because all but one segment of the mast worked find. 
Eventually the antenna stopped going up and down altogether, but I could
still hear the electric drive motor  running.  Apparently, the jammed
mast caused the internal belt that connects the electric motor to the
gears that drive the antenna to break.  I bought a replacement mast, but
I had trouble finding a replacement belt.  Several places said they do
not carry anything inside the antenna case.  

The original belt had "Gates" and a part number on it so I went to the
gates rubber company web site <http://www.gates.com/> and downloaded the
PDF file of their catalog.  I could not find the part number printed on
the belt in the catalog, but did I find a belt that was about the same
length and had similar width and the same number of teeth (part
#48MXL019).  

Gates directed me to a local industrial supplier who sold me one.  You
probably want to try the distributor locator on Gates's web site first,
but the only distributor I could find only handled "automotive" parts
and could not (or would not) order the belt.  I ended up emailing Gates
for help and they directed my to a local industrial supplier who ordered
the belt for me.  The belt cost $2.11 and shipping cost $3.65 :-) 
That's better than ~$100 for a new unit, though... 

My antenna has the mast with the toothed nylon cord.  I have since seen
diagrams of the internals for my antenna and for the kind with the
smooth cord.  The smooth corded internals are different, so the belt I
used probably will not work for you.  If you are unsure just count the
teeth, measure the lenght and width, and look it up in the Gates
catalog.

BTW, what do you use to lubricate your antenna and how often do you do
it?  One web site I read suggested doing it at least once every two
weeks.  I had been using silicone spray lubricant, but did not do it
very often; maybe every month or two...

Bill. 
1990 325i

------------------------------