2 questions

[bugsas99]

my radio antenna is stuck up and won't go back down you can hear the motor running trying to get it to go down. also has anyone ever heard of putting a trailer hitch on aurora or do they even make trailer hitches for aurora

[ugsrich]

Sounds to me like the flexible nylon shaft that drives the mast up and retracts the mast, has broken. The shaft is inside the mast and is connected to a spool that it is wound on. This is all part of the motor housing assembly. You may be able to manually push the mast back down but depending on where the nylon shaft broke it may not go all the way in. I'll check my '95 service manual to validate my assumptions and amend my commentary as required.

I had this problem on another GM vehicle several years ago. Attempting to repair the unit is most likely unreasonable. You will probably need to replace it. I doubt that there have been any substantive changes to the design that would easily allow for repair of the unit.

I'm curious: Does the drive motor stop running when you turn the automobile off?

Question #2:
I have no experience pulling trailers. I would not relegate The Aurora to such a task...

[oldsdad]

Yes they do make a trailer hitch for the 95 - 99 auroras class 2 is $150 here is a site that has them
http://bagecompany.hypermart.net/
Sounds like the nylon rack has broken they produce a weak area in the rack so after x number of cycles it breaks = cash flow for replacement.

[ugsrich]

Looks as if I have concurrence on the nylon shaft/rack breaking. I do not concur with the inference of a conspiracy regarding failure. Clearly, the engineers know, within a reasonable tolerance, how many cycles the nylon rack will endure. At the same time the engineers know how much it will cost to purchase materials, produce the pieces, and assemble the pieces. The marketing department has a target price at which they want to sell the automobile to us and they would like to price the vehicle competitively.

Given the nature of R E A L I T Y and the availability of the miracle material commonly known as Unobtanium, reasonable compromises are made. I estimate that over the course of the 9 years I’ve owned my Aurora the antenna has been extended/retracted more than 9000 times on the hottest of days to the coldest iciest winters in St. Louis. I figure that in the scope of failures (and I’ve not had one with this antenna…yet) that's not too bad considering variance in operating conditions that include among other things annual temperature differences that can exceed 100 degrees F. Could it last forever? Sure (well almost)! What are you willing to pay?