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First job done - got the driver's door power window working!


Dinsdale

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Hi! I just introduced myself as a noob and thought I'd post this in case it might be of help to anyone. The car in question is a 1991 Buick Regal coupe.

 

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Make sure you don't inhale any fumes whilst melting the plastic if you do this! I was doing this outdoors and caught a very small whiff, and it instantly felt VERY BAD! I got a fan to blow the fumes away from me at speed.

 

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Edited by Dinsdale
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I got a bit carried away :)......how does this come off....and this? So I had the whole assembly in bits, and the gear wheel plastic looked workable.

 

I checked parts prices around the web. A cheap rotor costing $15 from the States (just checking, didn't buy!) would set me back another $60 for sending. A front suspension ball joint costs $30 to send!

 

I wrote that "I got the window working". Whether it's "fixed" or not remains to be seen, but I'm optimistic. The melted plastic hardened up nicely, and the worm drive is pretty much in contact with maybe three teeth at any time in the cycle, so I figure there's some support going on between teeth as it drives.

Edited by Dinsdale
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An afterthought.....

 

The black thing set in the large gear wheel seen in the lower photo of my original post is a rubber impact cushion, designed to make the starting of the window movement smoother. It is driven by two metal dogs (just bent-down bits of metal connected to the external steel gear wheel seen in the top photo in my OP).

 

If your window starts moving with a clunk and you can't find any issues with the window channels etc, it could be that this piece of rubber has disintegrated, allowing the drive dogs to hit the plastic gear wheel. The condition of mine was okay so I put it back in. It has lost some of its integrity but not enough to have warranted making up a replacement.

 

I plan to inform my friend that she should use the driver's window only when necessary, and never to run it all the way down, to reduce further wear on internal components.

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On a separate note, what would cause slow power windows?

 

Starting at the end :), I think the only way to figure out your own window mechanism is to take it to pieces and see what's going on. I have a mechanism which I haven't been able to find a picture of on the web. It's a simple arm with a curved range of teeth which are driven directly by the motor....no cables or suchlike. I think it's a wonderful design, kinda minimalist and effective.

 

Back to the beginning.....

 

The motor armature spindle could be sticking in it's bottom bush, cables could be corroded due to split protective coverings, the wheel in the channel attached to the bottom of the window could be off its pin or getting fouled by other means, etc etc.

 

Dismantling assemblies involves an level of risk. One could ruin something which was okay before the fiddling began. I've learned a lot by breaking stuff accidentally. Every job I've ever done has added something to my pool of knowledge, and after forty years of meddling I've developed an instinct on how to proceed. The most important aspect, I feel, is knowing when to stop, or not to start. Everything has its limits, including a person, and if one never meddles and takes a chance at times there's no way to even begin to understand limitation.

 

We could write a song:

 

Rip it out, screw it up, start again and pray :).

 

 

And whatever we do, especially on a car, sometimes getting lucky plays a big part.

Edited by Dinsdale
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