Issue with passenger side electric window

Hi,

I had a problem yesterday in which the passenger window went all the way down but then would not come back up again. I called the AA who came out and put a plastic sheet over the window. You can hear the motor still turning as normal, just the window does not move.

I contacted a garage who said:-

"yes I can fix it, it may need a new window regulator, I think they are quite expensive a couple of hundred pounds I paid for a focus one so probably close to that plus about an hours labour (£60 per hour)"

I spoke to a couple of friends, one of whom suggested that is may have fallen off it's runners and one who said it may be the cable lift mechanism.

So I have 2 questions.

1. Does anyone know without seeing the problem what the most likely explanation is?

2. I am a complete novice, but is this something I could possibly fix without paying £260?

I would really appreciate any help.

Thanks
David

It may be the plastic part which holds the window to the runner, which also makes the window go up and down, may have broken away from the motor cable.

Have a look at this http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=11861 to start with. I did a mini guide on how to repair a similar problem, without have to pay loads of money for new parts!

topmansparkie said:

It may be the plastic part which holds the window to the runner, which also makes the window go up and down, may have broken away from the motor cable.

Have a look at this http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=11861 to start with. I did a mini guide on how to repair a similar problem, without have to pay loads of money for new parts!

Click to expand...

Thanks for this!

I will remove the door trim and have a look inside to see if there is damage to the green plastic bit or anywhere else.
I guess from here maybe I can move the window up manually as at the moment there is only a plastic sheet covering it and I cant get to the window as it's all the way down.

Will try this when I get back tonight - thanks for the help

Get the door skin off and see what you need, it should be obvious when you can see in.

If the motor is still spinning and doesn't reach the bottom of travel its slightly more serious than if it bumps out, but they're both not hundreds of pounds either way.

Don't wind it up if you can avoid it, if its fallen off the runner and the glass is down but the mechanism is moving you may damage it by moving it without it all being in place properly.

Once you know give me a call, I've got everything on the shelf.

Ian G said:

Get the door skin off and see what you need, it should be obvious when you can see in.

If the motor is still spinning and doesn't reach the bottom of travel its slightly more serious than if it bumps out, but they're both not hundreds of pounds either way.

Don't wind it up if you can avoid it, if its fallen off the runner and the glass is down but the mechanism is moving you may damage it by moving it without it all being in place properly.

Once you know give me a call, I've got everything on the shelf.

Click to expand...

Ah, I hadn't seen your post before going out just a second ago to have a look. I have taken the interior off and I can see the green plastic piece. I have to admit I really can't see what's going wrong (I know nothing about cars) and because I had to remove the plastic covering the window, I couldn't leave it like that so I manually pushed the window back up to the top.
I can confirm that it still works going down just not back up.

I have a friend coming over later who might know how to locate the problem, once I find out I will let you know.

Thanks for the help
David

topmansparkie said:

It may be the plastic part which holds the window to the runner, which also makes the window go up and down, may have broken away from the motor cable.

Have a look at this http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=11861 to start with. I did a mini guide on how to repair a similar problem, without have to pay loads of money for new parts!

Click to expand...

Ok I have been through this a bit more thoroughly now. Taped up the windows and disconnected the windows from the green plastic bit.
When I move it down, the first thing I noticed was that there was a chewed up piece of plastic that fell into the door well.
Also the green plastic bit seemed to be in not very good condition.

Then I noticed that it did actually go back up again. I was able to move it up and down with no problems. Connected back and un-taped the window and it still wouldn't go up. I repeated this again and the same thing happened.
I don't have a small piece of metal to try putting this in place, but is it not strange that without the window being there everything appears to be working ok?

Thanks
David

Maybe it works without the window as there is hardly any weight to lift up... putting the window back on makes it too heavy to lift.... can you see if the little crimped part on the cable goes through the green plastic and out the other side...??

At this point, I am only assuming the cable pulls through the green plastic part.
Maybe you could tape the window up and remove it from the green part, then wind it down. Try and hold on to the green part when winding it up (or try and clamp it still some how). Then you should see if the cable is pulling through it.

I didn't actually have a bit of metal, I just found something I could take a hacksaw to!! :twisted:

The Stella is flowing nicely at the moment, so I hope this makes sense.... :lol:

topmansparkie said:

Maybe it works without the window as there is hardly any weight to lift up... putting the window back on makes it too heavy to lift.... can you see if the little crimped part on the cable goes through the green plastic and out the other side...??

At this point, I am only assuming the cable pulls through the green plastic part.
Maybe you could tape the window up and remove it from the green part, then wind it down. Try and hold on to the green part when winding it up (or try and clamp it still some how). Then you should see if the cable is pulling through it.

I didn't actually have a bit of metal, I just found something I could take a hacksaw to!! :twisted:

The Stella is flowing nicely at the moment, so I hope this makes sense.... :lol:

Click to expand...

Yep, makes sense even with the stella

I had another good look and yes that is exactly what is happening, the weight of the window was pushing it through the gap in the green plastic. I have put a short flat headed screw through the rear of the plastic section, where you put you piece of metal and then glued it all together and voila!! it works! I appreciate that this is probably a fairly temporary fix and I may need to get the new part in the future, but for now my window is functioning

Thank you so much for your help, it's saved me what otherwise could be a fortune at the garage. Hope I can pass this info onto someone else who has similar issues.

Thank you!!!!!

That's good news... glad you've sorted it (even temporarily). The little piece of metal I put in to fix mine was still there and working over a year later!

I can definitely recommend Ian G for any parts. He's served me well so far, so maybe you could give a shout to see it he can sort you out for a more permanent fix. k:

My 2 penneth - My drivers side window also wouldn't go up only down so stripped the door and drilled out the 2 rivets (about 10 seconds drilling on each). Opened up the t20 Toro screws on the motor housing and there lie the problem - cable mangled so I am now going to ponder over whether to buy a cable or whole new mechanism. What was handy is that when the window is pushed into the fully closed position I was able to put 2 long screws into the window fixings and the window is closed perfectly just had a rummidge in my screws box and found what I needed so it buys me some time to ponder hmmmmmmmmmm :grin: hope this helps someone with a headache! Dav k:

i got a used window mechanism from ebay £20, very easy to fit, 3 nuts and 2 rivets, works a treat now, the cable had come out the regulator on my which made the cable slack