There are lots of reasons why a window will separate from the track it sits on and, if you have a newer car with complex electric systems, you're probably better off taking it to a mechanic if you're not entirely sure what you're doing. For drivers of older cars, the underlying cause is often a weakness with the adhesive holding the window in place. As it ages, the adhesive loses its adhesiveness and elasticity. Roll a window down too fast or let something get in the way and the window will separate.

In our case, the truly hideous sound system installed in our 1986 Volvo 245 was the culprit. The speaker in the front passenger's side was too large for the window and the speaker's magnet was pushing against the glass when the window was in the down position. All of the glass in the car is original, which makes the adhesive holding the driver's side window in place almost as old as I am.

Combine the two and you end up with a window separated from the track and sitting unevenly in the doorframe. If you don't drive in cold or wet weather and keep your car in the garage constantly, this isn't a big deal. If you want to actually enjoy your car but don't want to take it to a mechanic, you can do the job yourself on the cheap if there's no serious damage.

Step One: Remove The Door Trim And Accessories

Old cars are great because you can actually take them apart without special tools or strangely-shaped bits. Assuming you have a normal older car, here are the tools you'll need:

• Phillips-Head Screwdriver
• Stubby Flat-Head Screwdriver
• Binder Clip
• Heavy Grease
• Automotive Amazing Goop
• Glass Cleaner
• Towel

The order with which you'll remove the pieces of your door depends on what is or isn't there. We've already removed the door pockets on the car because, on this particular model, they tend to fall off anyways. If you've got them, they're typically what comes off first. Appraise the order in which everything was put on the door and work backwards.

In this case, we started with the arm rests. Take your stubby flat-head and remove the small trim buttons covering the screws. Set them aside to a tray or another safe place where you can keep them in order without knocking them over. A dash also works. Remove the screws and place them on the side. Many arm rests have a special lock connected to the door handle so you may need to angle the handle up before removing it.

Next, disconnect the crank for the window (assuming you don't have power windows). On the Volvo, there's a small trim piece covering the screw connecting the crank to the door. Remove the crank and set aside the trim surrounding the base of the crank.

If you have an in-door speaker you may want to remove it before you take the door trim off so you don't rip any of the wires off. If you're careful you could theoretically disconnect them after taking the internal piece off, but we don't recommend this. If you've got a cover, take it off and unscrew the speaker. Carefully separate it from the door and the disconnect the two wires at the base of the magnet, making sure to remember which wire connects to which contact (they should be different sizes on older car, but better safe than sorry). Set aside.

The final piece to remove, on most cars, is the lock cover. This should screw straight off.

Making sure your window is in a down position, just in case, remove any latches and screws holding the door panel in place. In the case of our Volvo, there are numerous clasps and fasteners to detach. We slowly take them off one-by-one, working carefully not to rip any off. If you end up with a stuck clip try gently prying it out by using your flathead or the proper trim removal tool if you're Mr. Moneybags to get pressure beneath the clip.

Lift the inner door panel at the base and set it aside in a dry, clean place.

Step Two: Prep Insulation And Identify Problem

Pull back any plastic sheeting or foam insulation and clip it to the top of the door using a smooth-sided clip like a clothespin or a binder clip. Reconnect your crank (don't worry about screwing it in) and see if the window is disconnected from the track. Carefully roll up the window and roll it down and see if the window is connected or disconnected. If it's connected but still droops, you've got a broken track and may need to seek professional help or, if you're skilled enough, try to replace it yourself.

Most likely, the window is merely separated from the track. As suspected, this is the case with the Volvo's window. We can roll the window up and the track catches the window and puts in place (mostly). When we roll it down the window leans and catches on the door while the track continues to roll into the door. Roll the window back up and, if it holds in place securely, leave it there for the next two steps.

Step Three: Grease Any Dry Moving Parts

While you've already got the door off, identify any moving parts that may be dry. This car sat in a dry and dusty part of West Texas and is therefore bereft of most grease and moisture. A little dab on moving metal parts and a couple of screw holes that appear to have a hint of rust will help you avoid other problems down-the road.

Step Four: Re-Adhese The Track

A look into our wagon's window track reveals a cracked and rough surface with little of anything resembling glue or tape. This is actually a good thing as most sealant adhesives work better on non-smooth surfaces. After quickly cleaning out any dirt or grime from the track, take your bottle of adhesive (in this case, Automotive Goop) and run it carefully along the track. If you've got a small nozzle this makes the process easier. We don't, so we carefully work the bottle through the gap in the door. Try to fill the track about halfway with the adhesive so it doesn't all fall out when you place the window inside of it.

Most of these products require you let the glue sit for a few minutes before sitting the window inside of it. Use this time to wash your hands before you get goop, grease and other gunk on the window.

Step Five: Drop The Window In The Track

It helps to have two people working on this job, with one person holding the window level with the door low enough to view the track as it reconnects with the base. The other person can then guide the track upwards with the crank, firmly applying pressure, while the window fits into the track. If any of the adhesive leaks out try snagging it early with a towel so you don't have to go back with acetone later to remove it. When you roll the window up, make sure it lines up evenly with the door and sits in the window gasket. If there's a slight difference, as there is with our Volvo, try angling the door in the correct direction while raising the tray.

Clean any adhesive off and push the window all the way to the top so it's held-in-place at each portion of the gasket. If it looks good, leave it alone for a while. Most adhesives only need a few hours to dry, but it's best to give it more time than less.

Step Six: Reconnect The Panel And Pieces

If everything looks good, reconnect the door and all the accessories (handles, cranks, et cetera) in a reverse order being careful to make sure you don't end up with any extra screws are parts. Since you've been touching the window with your dirty hands, you may also want to clean it.

Step Seven: Wait... Enjoy

Once again, don't play with the window until you're sure it's set. It would be a major bummer to go through all this work and then have to redo it because you couldn't wait to roll down the window. Once everything is set, if you've done the job right you'll have a working window again, all for a couple of hours of work and less than $10 in parts.

Bonus Step: Fix The Speaker

Because the hideous, eventually-to-be-replaced speaker was pushing against the window we decided to do a quick fix. Before reattaching the speaker we added a few washers between the back of the frame and the door. It's a good, temporary way to avoid repeating the same problem while we contemplate what to do with the door speakers.

The Vehicle Identification Number program was initiated in 1980 as a way to standardize the serial numbers on cars. Cars built before 1981 don't prescribe to a universal standard and therefore require manufacturer-specific information to decode. The entire VIN process was created to assure people don't pretend one car is another.

Knowing how to decode a VIN is an easy way to make sure you're not ripped off by either buying a vehicle pretending to be something it isn't, like a stock Mustang dressed up to be a special edition Cobra, or purchasing a car with a salvage or rebuilt title. But how to do it? The folks at DriverSide.com helped out by giving us some details which we've now expounded upon below:

Step One: Find The VIN

The vast majority of new cars have the VIN located under the front of the windshield, typically made visible through a small, clear square within the tinted area. Depending on the year and price of the car you're looking at, what's there will vary from a nicely stamped piece of metal to a cheap plastic piece bolted onto the dash. For special models or expensive sports cars there may be a special VIN plate located in the door sill or on the dash.

Once you find the VIN the fun begins!

Step Two: Breaking Down The VIN

As you can see in the graphic above, the VIN is broken down into six parts:

Make/Model: (Digits 1-3) This breaks out the make, model and manufacturer of the vehicle.

Vehicle Features: (Digits 4-8) These digits identify the various features of the specific model.

Verifying #: (Digit 9) Using a complex mathematical formula this number determines whether or not the information has been faked.

Model Year: (Digit 10) This number or letter describes the year the MY for the car.

Assembly Plant: (Digit 11) This single digit identifies the assembly plant.

Sequence Of Model Production: (Digit 12-17) These digits indicate the order in which the vehicle left the assembly line.

NOTE: A VIN will never include the letters I, O or Q because of their similarity to the numbers "1" and "0" though, seriously, who confuses a Q with a 0?

Step 3: Decoding The Make

We're going to use the VIN: 1ZVHT82H485113456 from the photo above as the sample VIN we work from. By the end, we'll know a lot about this "mystery" vehicle.

Our first decoding challenge is to figure out who made this vehicle, found in the digits: 1ZV

The first digit in the make code will always be the country of manufacture. There are numerous country codes, but the general ones are:

• USA: 1, 4 or 5
• Canada: 2
• Mexico: 3
• Japan: J
• Korea: K
• England: S
• Germany: W
• Italy: Z
• Sweden: Y
• Australia: 6
• France: V
• Brazil: 9

• Looking at our code it's clear we're dealing with an American car or a foreign car built in America.

  When we add the next two digits to the equation we figure out who the company is that makes it. The full three digit code is called the "World Manufacturer Identifier" and will tell us the company behind the car. Rather than just handing an "F" to Ford or a "G" to GM, the layout gets more detailed. For instance, "1GC" is Chevy trucks and "1G1" is Chevy passenger cars. You can cross reference the WMI with this list of common WMIs

  It turns out "1ZV" is the code for AutoAlliance International, which is a company building cars for both Mazda and Ford. This means are car is either a Ford or Mazda product.

  
  

  Step 4: Decoding The Vehicle Features

  More than just telling you what the model of a car is, this section often describes the type of engine and platform the car is using. How this is used is based on the country and company, though most companies selling cars in North America have similar formats. Since we know it's a Ford or Mazda it's fairly easy to decode what HT82H means.

  The first digit, H, is a safety code and indicates the car has front and side airbags. Other digits include "B" for the use of active belts but no airbags. The letters "L" and "F" or "K" indicate different generations of airbags.

  Digits 5-7, in this case T82, tell us what kind of vehicle this is. Using this handy guide to Ford VINs we know Ford uses "T8_" to indicate a Mustang coupe. Even more exciting, it's a either a Mustang Bullitt, Coupe GT or Coupe Shelby GT. If someone is trying to sell you a Mustang and claims it's a "GT" hardtop but it has "T80" they're lying to you.

  

  The most important digit, if you're trying to determine what engine the car has, is this eighth one. In this case, the digit H indicates we have a car with Ford's 4.6-Liter modular V8. If the digit was an "N" it would indicate a V6 and we'd know something was fishy. If the code was an "S" we'd know we had a Coupe Shelby GT on our hands.

  
  

  Step 5: Using The Check Digit

  
  Most companies use the ninth digit, always a number, as a check digit. Using a complex mathmatical equation, they can decide if the value of multiplying all of the numbers and letters in the VIN besides the 9th digit, when divided by 11, has a remainder equal to the check digit.

  If you're a total math nerd you can follow these instructions. If you're a little lazier, you can use this calculator to determine if your check digit is correct. Ours is correct, so we know either the VIN plate is legit or, at least, the creator is really good at math.

  
  

  Step 6: Determining The Model Year

  
  Since 1980, different countries have used slight variations of model years, but there's a generally accepted format most companies use for the 10th digit. If the car was built between 2001 and 2009 the digits "0-8" which means our vehicle's 8 is telling us it's a 2008 MY vehicle.

  If the car was built between 1980 and 2000 the code is goign to be "A-Y" sequentially excluding the three letters not found in any VIN. For example, a car built in 1994 would have the code "R" and a car from 2000 has the digit "Y" on its VIN plate. Starting in 2010, cars reset with the letter "A" for most companies.

  
  

  Step 7: Decoding Where It Was Built

  
  The 11th digit is for identifying where the vehicle was made. There's no set standard for this, so you need to consult a list of the company's manufacturing facilities and VIN codes. These are almost all up on Wikipedia. For instance, here's a page with a list of Ford factories. This tells us the 5 in our VIN matches up to the AutoAlliance plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, which makes sense given the first three digits.

  
  

  Step 8: The Sequence Of Model Production

  
  The final six digits indicate how far along into production the vehicle was built but, because some companies make a lot of a certain model, this isn't necessarily a number. In the case of our Mustang, the digit is a number: 113456.

  For most car owners, this number isn't very significant. For special models, such as limited edition Corvettes or end-of-production vehicles, this can be the best way to determine if the vehicle is what it purports to be. Most Mustangs are produced on the same assembly line so, in this case, we can't determine anything special about the car.

  
  

  Step 9: Compare What The Number Shows To Your Vehicle

  
  
  When we zoom out it's clear the car is a 2008 Ford Mustang Bullitt. Compare this to what is shown in the VIN number it appears our car checks out.

  For more information about the VIN number check out DriverSide.com

  [Supporting Info: Mustang Attitude, CarSpace, Wikipedia, MotiveMag]

  Photo Credit: Serious Wheels, dwaycar]