Replacement Antenna Mast
 

After 21 years of up/down abuse, the plastic winder in my antenna broke. Dreading this day, knowing that the replacement mast has been NLA (no longer available) for years, I started looking for a compatible replacement.

After buying what was supposed to be a direct fit mast from eBay, which turned out to be not even remotely close, I decided it was time to do some R&D.

Started looking at other Mazda mast knowing that they have a tendency to issue new part numbers for the same parts with minor cosmetic changes. I found one that looked promising in the 99-05 Miata mast, called Ray at Malloy and ordered one. Low and behold it is an exact replacement, with the exception of the tip being polished instead of black. Part# B05A-66-A30 and there a bunch of them in stock.

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1416597002

Miata mast with the FD antenna insulator installed Part # FD01-66-A9Z

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1416597002

Here it is installed, decided to replace the outer mount and nut also Part # FD01-66-A9Y .

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1416597002

And up

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1416597002

For less than $100 everything is brand new and I actually like the shiny bit better.

Ray at Malloy still has the original mast available doesn't he? I bought one not long ago.

This is excellent! Thanks for the information. I replaced my mast a couple of years ago and they were still available, but if they are truly NLA, then now we have an alternative.

the FD mast was FD01-66-A3X which went to a 0000-81-A902, both of which are NLA. sometimes there is a date, but not in this case, i don't think its been that long though.

it is nice that something else works!

Wow, great find! Thanks for finding that and sharing!

Yeah, the stock masts WILL break and die at some point. It's good to know there's a replacement part for a maintenance item like this.

Dale

Ray was as happy as I was that I found this part. He has people calling all the time looking for the FD mast and had nothing to sell them.

Awesome find. Hate it when an antenna goes out.

that is the classic Mazda thing. if you want it, they won't sell it to you! (and then complain you're not making enough money)

For info, B05A-66-A30 is the part number for antenna's fitted to all FD's from March 1st 1997 onwards.

I agree, they do look better in chrome. Pic below of my S8 (with the black tip for comparison):

Now that surprises me that Mazda did not have the old part number superseded with this new number when they ran out of the black ones.

I know that if I call up to order a gas tank that the newer S8 version is what we get.

After mine broke for the second time, I went antenna less.

The hole was filled in with welded steel and repainted. Looks so clean now.

thanks, my antenna just starting not going up and making a terrible grinding sound..

You will need to remove the broken plastic from inside the winder mechanism.

Same here, does look 100% better I did it one step further and shaved off the rear side bottom lights too.

Thanks much for this thread, had just attempted to buy the original part and was told it was NLA. Then tried to buy the complete antenna assembly... same NLA status.

After Elaine sent me a link to this thread in response to my query (thanks to Ray Crowe for sending me to Banzai), I returned to our local Mazda dealer's parts department. They had the Miata part in stock, not even a special order. And it cost less than the original part I had to buy back in 2009 when it broke the first time! :ylsuper:

Finished the "fix" today, but another problem popped up (no pun intended). The new antenna pole raises with no problem, but turning off the radio does not usually fully retract it. Sometimes, yes, but usually it stalls partway down... yet the mechanism does not seem to be at fault. Seems more like an electrical failure which is intermittent; like a broken wire, or bad connection somewhere between the radio and the antenna. Car is back together since I have no intention of taking the antenna unit apart again. It's lubed with white Lithium grease, and everything rotates easily. Have no idea what the cause of the current problem is.

[Edit: Looked in my "1994 Body Electrical Troubleshooting Manual" yesterday (after putting all the trim back on) and noted in the illustration of the power antenna assembly that there is a relay inside; not mentioned in the regular workshop manual. Now I suspect that might be the culprit causing intermittent "down" operation, since I checked out the wiring and it looked OK while I still had access. Not about to remove all that trim again for a while... maybe later.]

Nice find. Added to the FAQ

The mast looks like the ones used in FC. Does anyone know if the FD and FC use the same mast?

:icon_tup:

FC and FD are not hte same.

May also be a badly worn gear that's slipping sometimes or a tired motor

Thanks for your input. Motor seems OK, and I don't remember noticing the internal gear being worn, but I could easily have missed that. For some reason the mast when extended can sometimes be smoothly retracted manually with power off, sometimes not.

Another possibility is the bottom tip of the nylon "rack" jamming against the inside of its storage drum only when trying to retract, but that's just speculation. Someday I may tear the car apart again and will try to find the problem, but not in the near future.

Just order a new original FD mast, last one in stock here in Canadaland from Mazda Canada. Guess I got lucky! 60 loonies

There may some laying around at random dealers, but the FD mast is NLA.

Having to replace my power antenna drive again. Interestingly, the OEM lasted twenty years, the replacement about 3 and literally next to NO use. Oh well.


Point is, I took the part numbers Banzai had supplied in this thread and ordered a new one from my dealer. John Beach, the parts manager who has been at the Wichita store for about 35 years was impressed that someone had been able to cross-reference a working part.


Guys, things like this is one of the BEST elements of this forum!


Thanks to all.