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How To Fix A Drooping Car Window

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JayP71 is OVER Jeep ownership, as least right now.
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
When doing this with an older car I've found that it is worth it to buy a package of the little trim clips for the door.
You're dealing with old, brittle plastic that will disentigrate if you look at it cross eyed. Better to have a handfull of clips there than have to:

1. drive to the parts store with various door parts in the back seat. Those parts are watching you, waiting for the chance to fall between the seat and the trunk when you're not looking.

or

2. Say 'screw it' and put the door back together with half the clips missing and listen to the damn thing rattle. Eventually you'll snap and take the door apart again and something ELSE breaks and the cycle repeats.
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damnelantra™
03/12/09

@JayP71: i did that to my jetta. lost 3 clips. so i went down to the garden shop and bought this sheet of foam criss-cross something. and taped it to the pressure points.

problem solved!
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sickofitall985
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
wow I have to say I am a bit disappointed in this article. First of all that fucking adhesive is terrible. It is not meant to bond glass back into the casters on the regulator. Having worked as a manager at a glass shop for over 2 years It comes down to two things; you need setting tape or urethane adhesive (the same thing that you use to glue in a windshield. Use that goop and it will work for a few weeks, then if the weather goes to anything but fair weather, you will have the same problems prior to the fix. On top of this there is no prepping the channel, there is no information on using any sort of primer. This is junk. I would not follow this IMO.
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Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet
03/11/09

@sickofitall985: Glad you made the point. Those windows are generally a friction fit. So old fabric electrical tape might do the trick, or using something else that can generate sufficient friction when you jam the glass back into the carrier might get the job done. But the real tape is cheap enough, if a little obscure for the weekend mechanic to get.

I'm a big fan of Goop, especially Household Goop. But taking the door apart to make the repair is enough of a pain that you want the work to last. I'd look at some heavy duty construction adhesives, or some tenacious elastomerics. Hell, side mirror setting mastic is probably about right for this job, or a foam backed double stick tape - except the tape is probably a little too thick, unless your carrier is blown out....
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MushyHeirloom
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
I take it your door map pockets have shattered into thousands of irredeemable pieces, too?
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John Krewson
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
Also, you should mention that the door speaker magnet does a great job of holding the hardware/fasteners/tools while you work.
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HurtsSoGood
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
Ah, the Volvo 240. I had one. Mine had an actual place for the speaker to go, but the only on on the planet that would fit that hole was the original POS OEM speaker that looked like it came from a 70s vintage Panasonic cassette tape recorder. I couldn't find a replacement that would fit, so I had to make do with as many of the original screw holes as would line up with the K-Mart speaker I ended up buying to replace it.
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Alfisted
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
We see a lot of this repair here in Missouri and I can tell you you're doing it all wrong. Your list of supplies doesn't include the two most important items - duct tape and saran wrap.
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Novaload
03/11/09

@Alfisted: And beer. Where's the beer?
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damnelantra™
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
oh matt, thank you for rejuvenating the and you will know us by the trail of parts series.

even if it is under a pseudonym
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the good dr zero
03/11/09

@damnelantra™: But where are the magical blue gloves?

Or were they a unique Bumbeck touch.
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damnelantra™
03/11/09

@the good dr zero: i believe diddles ate them before he was trained
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Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face.
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
I'd like to add that depending on the make, model and year of your vehicle, you may also need:

Torx driver or Allen wrench for the window crank retaining screw.

Clip removal tool for vehicles that don't use the screw method of window crank attachment (You can use a piece of stiff wire with a little hook on the end, but the proper tool is only about $4 and the fishing with a hook method can be en exercise in futility).

If you're replacing a broken window, rather than fixing a droopy one, you may also find that the glass is secured to the track with pins that actually go through the bottom of the glass. My advice in this scenario would be to have a glass shop do the work and hope they charge you less, because you did the disassembly rather than more, beacuse you tried and failed.
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rkwadd
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
A note on safety: DIY door panel work on cars with side airbags is a very bad idea. The airbags deploy based on feedback from pressure sensors sealed in the doors, and taking the panels off can screw up the sensors.
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Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face.
03/11/09

@rkwadd: Thanks for reminding me why I vowed a long time ago to never buy a car with more than two front-impact bags, and to avoid those if possible.
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Serious Mopar Jones- Incurable
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
Not really fair to demonstrate this process on a Volvo 240, you'll give people an inflated sense of hope. Volvo was the undisputed king of functional, easily removed/reinstalled clips of all kinds. The first repair I ever made to my '84 was actually the replacement of the scissor-doohickey (frozen with rust). Took a half-hour tops to pull apart, replace, put back together. My '78 & '84 240s were the all-around easiest cars to work on I'd owned since my Dart.
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mechimike
03/11/09

@Slantsick, with Infinite Improbability Drive: You should try a Volvo 122 (Amazon). Thing's so easy to fix you can practically wave a screwdriver near the offending parts and they repair themselves.
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brownsin07
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
My rear driver's side window on my 98 Jetta just stopped going up on its own. Sure it goes down when I press the button but I have to slide it back up with one hand outside and one inside. As I drive around hitting bumps it slowly creeps down. I think I'm going to take it to a garage since it sounds like its still on its track but the motor is no good.
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wrappedinbacon
03/11/09

@brownsin07:

My 97 suffered the same issue right before it dropped and refused to hold itself upright like a 3 a.m. drunk. I asked the mechanic that was changing my clutch about the windows and he referred to the regulators as "peanut butter" and $100 each to replace.

I forsee the use of a lumber modification in your future.
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Ash78, cube farmer
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
Oh, man...I thought those were dirt and grease smudge's on your dad's shirt. Now I realize they're whales and sharks.

Thanks to the camera's autofocus, which seems to favor the shirt over the adhesive.
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FЯeeMan
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
Hardigree, I'm guessing you've got the Steve Martin thing going... about 26 y.o. and all that gray hair...
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engineerd
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window

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engineerd
03/11/09

@engineerd the Preview-free edition: I blame the lack of a Preview function for the double post and now it is all rolled up and nobody will see my genius.
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Jo Schmo
03/11/09

@engineerd the Preview-free edition: they won't give us EDIT and now they have taken away preview. What did we do to anger the gods? Not enough Megan Fox? GIVE US PREVIEW BACK!!!
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engineerd
03/11/09

@Jo Schmo, Pauljones evil and opposite twin: Maybe if we keep calling the hamsters "gods" they will look kindly on us and give it back.
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Jo Schmo
03/11/09

@engineerd the Preview-free edition: I can't update anything on my profile I must have really pissed someone off.
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Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face.
03/11/09

@Jo Schmo, Pauljones evil and opposite twin: I wonder if that has to do with the fact that you can no longer click on someone's avatar at their profile page and get there "member since" info?
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Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face.
03/11/09

@Mike the Dog: There = their. If I had the preview feature, I would probably have caught that.
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Jo Schmo
03/11/09

@Mike the Dog: F*cking hamster always messin up our preview sh*t!
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Ash78, cube farmer
03/11/09

In reply to How To Fix A Drooping Car Window
Power windows on newer cars aren't terrible. I've done a couple have been surprised at how easy it was.

The hardest part is all the brittle, cheapo plastic fasteners that tend to break upon their first use.

Motors and regulators are pretty easy. Probably even easier than messing with adhesives above.
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mechimike
03/11/09

@Ash78: Repaired the power window on a Kia of a stranger I met one time camping, using just the random tools I had with me, laying on the ground. It was easy enough, but the darn thing was just so cheesy- metal bits that bent with light pressure from my hand. I got it working OK, but I told her she'd probably need to get the mechanism replaced next time she could. Darn thing wasn't 5 years old.
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