Adjusting R129 windows?

[Doodle]

I guess this is more bodywork than electrical....

The left hand window on our SL500 is making a lovely creaking sound on it's way up, the motor is having to work quite hard, and occasionally it will actually stop. I took the door apart today, checked and lubricated the runners as they were quite dry, which has improved matters slightly (it no longer stops halfway up), but it is still making a creaking noise halfway along its motion.

It seems to be pushing fairly hard against the outside door seal (both windows have light scratching, which seems to have been causing by grit and other crap in the seals in the past, now removed), but I'm not sure if/how to adjust the window to lower the pressure and ease the raising.

There appears to be some sort of adjusters at the bottom of the door, but I can't actually get them to shift without risking wrecking the head of the adjustment bolt (which seems to be about 4mm, and as yet I can't find a suitable spanner...molegrips don't have enough grip with the amount of torque required to shift the adjuster).

Any ideas lads (and ladies)? Given that the window moves fine throughout the rest of it's travel, only hitting the tight spot about halfway up, I can't see how any adjustment at the bottom is going to help, when it seems I should be moving the top over slightly..

 

[GregE240]

Spray a bit of WD40 down the runners either side of the window. That should ease the running. A friend has the same car with the same problem, and this fixes it.

Cheers,
Greg

 

[Doodle]

Do you mean the inside/outside seals at the top of the door, or the runners that the mechanism moves on? The runners are well lubed (that was my first suspicion, they were very dry and this has improved so that the window no longer stops mid-travel).

Might try removing the window from the runner this weekend, and then just running the mechanism up and down, I'm wondering if it is the window catching on something, or if it is that the runners are bent slightly, and need a little "adjustment"

 

[GregE240]

Sorry, I meant the runners.....a spray down the edges of the window to ease the movement of the window up/down the runners.

I'd be surprised if the runners were bent.....what would cause that?

I would doubt it was the inside/outside seals that was causing the problem.

Let me know how you get on. Maybe the hinges in the runner mechanism, if there are any?

Cheers,
Greg

 

[Mambo]

Don't know if this will help but its worth a shot.

My brother had the same problem on his '98 Golf; windows went half way up and then stopped. He used to use the WD40 trick for a while but it became a bit of a PITA every time he wanted to close the windows!

When he looked in to what was causing the problem it seemed that the guide down the side of the window had become worn. It is supposed to be a velvety sort of texture which the glass should just slide over. What had happened over time is that the velvety surface had worn down to rubber and this was 'gripping' the window on its way up causing the problem.


Cant remember how much replacements were but they weren't expensive. Worth a look.....

 

[Doodle]

Ta muchly for that pointer...

Hopefully, if the weather holds, I should have 3 days this weekend to pull it apart and work out what on earth is going on, and at least isolate which part of the system is causing the problem...will report back accordingly for future reference.

 

[glojo]

I am not suggesting that lubricating the runners will work or not, I am though suggesting that WD40 is NOT the ideal lubricant. I would suggest a silicone based lubricant that will not disolve all the lubricaton that is already in place.

WD40 is a very good short term instant maintanance product, but it disolves very quickly and will then need re-doing.

John

 

[Doodle]

Well, last weekend's diagnosis session revealed that it has little or nothing to do with the window.

The slowness seems to be caused by a change in angle on the runners causing extra pressure on the sliders, and putting the motor under more load.

I wasn't about to go 'adjusting' the runners, but a full stripdown, clean and regreasing of the runners and sliders seemed to help massively. It still slows, but nowhere near as badly as before, and the horrible creaking noise is gone.

 

[guydewdney]

try adjustring it:-

www.dewdney.co.uk/guy/129windows.pdf

Guy