Antenna Not Working
 

One day, when I turned off my stock radio, the antenna didn't go down, but the sound was made as if it was trying... is there a way to see whats up? It almost sonds like its offtrack... it is easy to fix?

the plastic toothed cord inside the mast is probably broken. happens all the time. you can get a replacement mast from mazda which is much cheaper than replacing the whole motor assembly.

thats prob a few bucks right?

the mast is cheap...its the work thats a pain. some have said you can thread the mast back in through the top..I had no luck with that. Plus, if you dont get all the plastic out of the housing, then you'll wreck the new mast too.

I bought a new heavy duty motor from crutchfield ($79 I think) and it bolted right up. Plus the mast was black which is cool for my red and black car :)

Its a real pain to replace the motor...basically you have to remove everything in the trunk (fd). I did a write up on how to do it as did a few others. Takes a long time.

I must be gifted, lucky or both.:D
Mine did not go down either and all I had to do is replace the mast and thread it thru the top. Was not expensive, for a change.
I can see having dificulty in working in such a small space to remove the atenna motor, that must be a B..ch.
If you hear it, then most likely the motor is good and all you got to replace is the mast. No need to remove the motor if the strip is not broken.
Also you need someone to turn the radio on and off.
It will help alot.