drivers window is slow going down....

[PhilipJCaputo]

I just noticed this yesterday.... and the temperature has been much colder than I've ever had the car in. (like in the 30s and not the the 50s)


So, when I start to put the drivers window down, it starts out slow, and you can hear the motor groaning, but as more of the window gets inside the door, it speeds up and the motor sounds fine.

When I go to roll the window back up, the motor has no problems at all, no slowness, no groaning, it just goes right back up.


any ideas??

can I pull a motor from a rear window, and put it up front??

[tim]

Before doing anything drastic, I'd get some gummi flege or equivalent, and lubricate the window molding. When they really die, they go down quick and don't come back up easily at all.

[632 Regal]

Take your door panel off AFTER you pick yourself up some of them white plastic window sliders. You may have a broken one, maybe not but if your going to open the door you want to replace the old ones. Clean the slide track good and use some new light weight grease (petroleum jelly?) and take a good look around all the tracks. DOnt wait till you kill the motor to check this out.

The sliders are at the bmw dealer for like 80¢ each.

[bimmerd00d]

mine did this, jeff is right. the plastic slideres are waht's going out, plus the lube.

[DueyT]

I just did this last week. I pulled the clips totally out of the regulator tracks, cleaned the tracks and the glass slider channels throroughly, then gave a nicethin coating of wht.lithium grease in the regulator tracks and as Jeff notes, I also made sure to lube the glass rail with a thin coating of petroleum jelly. Works much better, especially in the colder weather...


Cheers,
Duey

[PhilipJCaputo]

Awsome! if I get some freetime in the next few days I'll give it a shot!

until then I just won't use the window (that much)

[Rob Edwards]

What a timely post- I noticed EXACTLY the same driver's door window slowing down on my beast over the last few weeks in the cold snap here in SoCal. Of course, I ignored it until today when I pushed the window button and the glass slowly moved down and then there was a loud POP and the window fell at an angle in the door. I guess the glass decided to protect the window motor fuse by pulling out of the track. Fortunately the glass is intact.....
So- I'm at work and don't have the Bentley's here, so does anyone know how the glass is mounted in the channel? Is it glued in place? My civic had little brackets glued to the glass that then bolted on the regulator track. Just trying to figure out how seriously I've %*&$*%# myself, and what to think about getting at the stealer this afternoon before taking the door apart tomorrow. Thanks!

[DueyT]

Rob, there are two screws to undo on the door panel:

#1 - little black plastic plug hiding one in the opening lever (#2 Philips screwdriver IIRC)

#2 - pop (pry) out the mirror adjust switch, there's a 25mm (25-ish, I think) Torx hiding behind the switch.

Now pop the clips around the panel, pull out slightly, detach the door lever cable from the lever, and you can take a look.

You will likely see that one (or both) of the plastic slider clips attached to the scissor arms of the regulator have broken. It's just a question of getting new ones (plastic regulator clips) from the stealer, or whomever...then reversing the whole process.

Worst case, is the the glass has actually slipped out of one of the aluminum clips that actually attaches to the glass (usually bonded with some of the same high-modulus urethane sealant used on stationary window glass) and the upper ends of the window regulator's scissor arms...then you'd have to rebond the glass into that clip. *yuck* PITA...

Cheers,
Duey

[Rob Edwards]

Guys-

Thanks for all the help- got it all apart ( FWIW it's a T-20 screw on my car)-one of the old sliders had popped off and broken. I went to my local stealer ($8.15 EACH for sliders - the bastards....) and got a new pair as well as some lithium grease. The slider channels were pretty gooey with old hardened grease, so I cleaned all that out. The first time I put it back together, the window would go up half way then bind. I scratched my head for a while, then pulled the upper inner weatherstrip from the door so I could see down in the anterior part of the door. Turns out when the window popped off the sliders, it fell all the way down in the door and the front part of the glass had come out of the front track. Once I got the glass back in both tracks, it went back together and worked just fine. Of course, my battery is at least 5 years old and I killed it testing the motor with the ignition on over the course of an hour. It's on the charger right now...... :p

[632 Regal]

holey retirement, just looked at my receipt and I paid 83¢ each so I picked up 8.