ridiqls

My driver's side window was misaligned by 1/2" and would not adjust no matter what and when you roll up the window, it would bind inwards towards the cabin and get stuck. Well I opened up the window and found this.




Window wasn't rolling up properly on the vertical track because of this.

You can get a cheap stick welder and use 1/16" 6013 to weld it up without blowing a hole through it. Don't breath in the zinc from the galvanization, use a fan and respirator.




That way you don't have to pull the regulator, drill out the rivets, pull the motor with it, pull the glass and then replace the entire glass by shopping through the junkyard.

Use a tiny C-clamp to hold it in place while you weld.


Once it was welded up, I realized what the CAUSE of the problem was. With the driver's side window "Auto Down" function, it would continue to push the window down until it felt resistance and then stop. But it would slowly bend this metal piece into the bottom of the door panel over and over using the Auto down function. This would bend the metal and eventually cause it to break.

I reinforced the welds again and then used a very small 1/2" tall wooden square and secured it right under the black rubber (3rd pic above, middle of the picture and on the bottom). That way the window hits the wooden bump stop I made and stops when using the Auto down function rather than having direct metal to fiberglass contact and bending the mount.


Then adjust everything to close the gaps

BTC

This thread isn't actually that old, so I'm going to put this here.

I replaced the motor on my driver's side window sometime last year and it seemed to be working "great" for a while. The last time I was able to drive my car, which was mid July of this year, I rolled the window all the way down and when I went to roll it back up it was binding after it got about 1/4-1/3 of the way up and was off kilter. The window was titled towards the front of the car when I was rolling it up, meaning the rear of the window was higher than the front. I just rolled it back down and left it that way. I didn't have time to remove the door panel to check out what might be wrong, but for some reason I'm expecting the worst, meaning something is broken. I'm hoping one of the adjustments has simply come loose, but I'm not sure how likely that might be, or whether that would even result in what I'm observing.

If anyone has any speculative insight into what could potentially be wrong, I would love to hear it. I'm hoping it's something fairly simple, but the pessimist in me is anticipating that something is broken. It seems like parts could be difficult, if not impossible, to come by.

Injuneer

Rob/Shoebox has a lot of good info on window adjustments.

Adjust Door Window

BTC

Thank you. I had taken a look at Rob's site. He's also a got a video, which I literally just found, on his site under the window motor R&R section. I'm not sure how I had never managed to see that video, but I saw it referenced on another forum while researching window stuff. It seems to illustrate pretty well exactly how the regulator and window interact.

I'm hoping it's something as simple as one of the adjustment things coming loose, but I guess it could potentially be a few things, none of which I'm looking forward to dealing with. I'm not sure if an adjustment came loose that it would prevent the window from going up. I won't really know what's going on until the end of this month or early September when I'm back in Ky.

Do you, or does anyone, have a recommendation for a good Windows compatible borescope?

ray42

BTC,

A window mechanism may be pop-riveted in some places, and bolted in other places. I would recommend that you have a good auto-glass or body shop have a look, and get some estimates. Those guys had everything needed (including experience) and replaced my drivers' door window motor/track/mechanism while I waited. It was surprisingly affordable, fast, and painless. Now the window works like new.

Amazon has lots of borescopes, typically costing US$35~$45. The camera connects via USB, just bring your own laptop or tablet. A smart phone may work, but you will want the larger screen, not a phone. Get a borescope that is waterproof, with a focus option, and with LED lights at the business end, so you can see into dark places. A 3 to 5 yard (meter) long cable is about right for most jobs. Most borescope cables are flexible, not stiff, so you will need to secure the end to a "guide" made of coat-hanger wire or similar, to get into remote places. Power comes through the USB connection, so nothing else is needed.
.

BTC

I believe I have identified what is going on with my driver's side window. I'm not entirely sure what my options are at this point, but I was at least able to get the window rolled up. Does anyone know whether that little metal piece attached to the window is supposed to have some play in it? It's loose and moves around. I believe it's by design, but my brother thinks it is supposed to be "fixed". I have no idea how the plastic roller attaches to the little metal arm. I also don't believe any of these parts are readily available for purchase anymore. I assume the plastic roller would be identical to the rollers on the window regulator. You can still buy regulators, but that seems like a waste just to try to harvest a roller. I believe Dorman used to make a replacement roller, 74408, but that appears to have been discontinued. I would think there has to be something out there that would work. I'm guessing this situation isn't terribly uncommon.


The roller that is attached to the window, and rides in the rear vertical channel/guide, is broken.

The roller that is attached to the window, and rides in the rear vertical channel/guide, is broken.

The roller that is attached to the window, and rides in the rear vertical channel/guide, is broken.

The roller that is attached to the window, and rides in the rear vertical channel/guide, is broken.

FirstYrLS1Z

Couple threads from a different car forum site. A fix for a similar but differently caused problem.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...dow-guide.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...dow-guide.html

BTC

Thanks for the threads. This seems to be a fairly common issue and it would be really nice if parts were still available, but I guess that comes with the territory after 20+ years. I recently worked with a guy that is a Ford Model A enthusiast and I'm sure that's a much, much, much worse situation when it comes to parts, maintenance etc.

I'm attaching another pic I took over Christmas that may help illustrate exactly what's going on with my driver's side window. I'm starting to believe that the little arm the broken roller attaches too is supposed to be stationary and have no play. I'm thinking I could maybe JB Weld the roller back together and maybe even JB Weld the roller arm so that it doesn't move. Assuming I don't just decide to leave the window up forever, I'm sure any solution is going to be a PITA.

Driver's Side Broken Rear Guide Roller

squarehead

Are any of the failed parts in the Window Regulator? I bought two of the window regulator kits from Summit Racing a few years ago and they worked well. They are still available.

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...rd=RNB-741-886

BTC

I'm not sure if this is what you are asking, but I believe the roller that is broken on my window is part of what's referred to as the sash channel, which attaches to the bottom of the window via bolts/rivets, and is not part of the regulator itself. This roller moves vertically in the rear channel and I believe its primary purpose is to prevent the window from moving front to back/back to front.

It's possible, perhaps even likely, that the roller on the sash is identical to the rollers used on the regulator, but I'm not certain. The sash no longer appears to be available for purchase, so barring a trip to a junkyard to get a used sash something would have to be rigged up. I believe Dorman used to make a replacement roller, but it's been discontinued. There are various approaches documented on the web. I think the biggest issues are finding something that works and the hassle.

Shoebox's video shows the sash channel. You can't actually see the roller I'm referring to, but it's on the backside of the piece on the far right,

If you recently changed your regulators, you probably know what I'm talking about as the regulator also utilizes the sash channel.

squarehead

Hi Bill,

I was looking at the photos of the regulator and I am pretty sure that the wheels are part of the regulator and there are two channels that they roll in: one is attached to the bottom of the glass and the other is fixed in the door panel. The pivot point that the motor is attached to stays fixed but the other three points will remain parallel as the motor rotates the driven arm up or down. I did my regulators back about 8 years ago so the exact details are a little foggy. Since you have the good way to look into the door take another look after seeing the photos on the 741-886 window regulator and motor page. That is the one for the drivers side and the the 887 is for the passenger.

The motor they sell with the regulator is not the greatest however. I had to replace the motor on the drivers side about five years later. I bought a Delco unit and used the trick off Shoebox's web page to replace the motor alone; fast and has worked very well since.

BTC

Hi squarehead,

Quoting may not be necessary given the glacierly pace of posting these days, but what the heck. I'm also not sure that glacierly is a word.

The window regulator does have rollers on it and as far as I can tell it has three. I believe the window assembly as a whole has four rollers, the fourth being part of the sash channel, which is the roller that is broken on my car. If you look at the very first picture in this thread, the roller would be towards the bottom right corner of the picture. You can't actually see the roller, but you can the "arm' the roller is attached to and part of the rear guide channel, which is a vertical guide. I believe the fourth picture I posted shows one of the rollers attached to the regulator and you can see the broken sash channel roller below it, as well as the rear channel that roller utilizes.

Check out Shoebox's video and I think it will become clear.