WINDOW JAMMING

[Darren]

[quote author=Rob_Ibbo link=board=doors;num=1092638983;start=15#19 date=09/15/04 at 14:49:10]The rear channel has 2 sliders mounted to glass via a metal strip glued to glass & one bolt,this comes unglued.<br>front channel also has 2 sliders mounted on glass via an 8mm &12mm plastic boss.1 screw holds boss to glass another screw slider to boss. Being plastic the thread strips .[/quote]<br><br>Here you go & to back up Rob's post :-<br><br>Front 'bobbins' (you can't actually see them as they're under the sliders i.e they're the 'spacers for want of a better word) :-<br><br><br><br><br>& Rear 'bobbins' :-<br><br><br><br>Darren<br>~~~~~

[ab2cv]

Thanks for all the info and pics guys. I've just been doing a bit of reading on the Lotus service notes and also found the link to stripping down a door. It looks a lot more complicated than I was hoping (well, I guess anything is more complicated than a 2CV  :)) so I guess I'll just need to pluck up the courage sometime and go for it.<br><br>Alan

[John_W]

Alan,<br>Stripping the door down is not too bad. Just take your time, don't force anything, and make sure you've really unscrewed ALL the screws and bolts. Also buy some spare orange clips for the door lock (Vauxhall - see parts x-ref section).<br><br>Where it gets more difficult is when you actually get to the glass and motor. It may take two people for some bits of glass-fiddling. Good luck.<br><br>John  ;)

[mark]

Alan, my left window stopped working this week, same as you described.  No apparent reason.  since the locking mechanism on the same door also stopped working in the last two weeks, it seems like a good time to have a look-see inside the door.  I spent the better part of two days stripping down the door, pulling out the window, sliders, motor, door latch etc cleaning/relubing everything and reassembling it.  Door lock is broken and needs to be replaced.  The window works now, but don't know what the problem was.  this job was so vintage Lotus - half the time spent marvelling at how anyone could engineer something like our doors with such stupidity, and the other half spent cursing the day I decided that owning a Lotus would be fun.  [smiley=darkside.gif] Oh yes, and the really funny part - I have to do it all over again when the new door latch comes in.  [smiley=Bondage.gif]  

[ab2cv]

OK, so it's only taken me about 5 months to get round to looking at the drivers electric window, but I finally stripped my door down at the weekend.<br><br>On first inspection, everything looked ok (didnt see any broken bits) so i greased up the guides - but the window still gets jammed coming back up (stops abruptly with a sort of 'crunching' noise)<br><br>However, on raking about the bottom of the door i found this:- <br><br><br><br>sitting directly below the front guide. (apologies for the fuzzy pic, i couldn't get my camera to focus on it). <br><br>Anyone recognise the part (know what it is and where it has broken off from) ?<br><br>Thanks<br>Alan

[ab2cv]

I got the regulator out at the weekend and things are a lot worse than I thought. The metal cable had become frayed and was jamming up the mechanism - quite messy.<br><br>I'm guessing that this is not a replaceable part due to the crimped metal bits at the ends of the cables. Do I need a whole new window regulator?<br><br>Lastly, if I do replace the regulator, are there any other problems I need to check for that may have caused this problem to occur? (the front and rear sliders seem to be ok - just a couple of rubber bits {pictured above} that seem to have come from somewhere - only other breakage I could find was on the white platic butterfly thing and I've got a new one of those to replace it anyway)<br><br>Cheers<br>Alan

[quiksilva]

alan<br>had very similar to you a month back and forgot to post what i found, basically in my case the 3 or 4mm bolts what clamp the plastic runners to the window had come adrift, now mine was jamming at the back of the window when asked to go up but was because of the front slider bolt falling out causing that channel to snag. back in now with a blob of threadlok to be sure  :)

[WillB]

<br>If anyone manages to re-tension their window lift motors when the plastic bits break I'd be interested to hear how you've done it.<br><br>I've got the plastic parts to repair but getting the tension back in seems very difficult..........

[Enright]

I had a similar problem earlier in the week.
Rod invited me round and spent the entire evening showing me how it all works and fixing it. Top bloke or wot?  :D So it's only fair to pass on what he taught me:

I thought that the problem was that the rear bobbins were sticking, but it turned out that the centre plastic slider was worn. This was solved by removing the entire motor and centre runner assembly, replacing the centre slider, and re-lubing all 3 runners.
If you have a camera phone or digital camera then I'd recommend taking photos of each of the screws before you remove them. There are a lot and it's easy to forget which ones came from where.
From memory, there are 3 at the front of the door (in the area that is hidden by the contour of the dash), 7 along the base (possibly hidden by a strip of carpet), 1 behind the door handle, 2 behind the plastic fascia around the door handle, possibly 2 or 3 behind the elbow height trim panel, and one behind the door lock push-button. The last one is the nastiest because the little red insert in the door lock is a right pig to pull out, and often breaks.

Once inside the door, the centre and rear trim panels must be removed, as well as the speaker at the front. The trim panels are secured by little plastic plugs with a centre core. Push the centre core partially out so that they can be pushed back in when you come to re-fit the panels.

Then you can remove the 3x10mm nuts that hold the motor to the door, and the 1 at the top and bottom of the centre runner.

There is a clip that you have to pull off the outer side of the window. After that the window can push off the plastic slider. An aerosol can is handy for holding the window up out of your way.

Now, with a bit (ok a lot) of jiggling, the entire motor and runner assembly can be removed through the centre hole in the door. The motor must be rotated so that it passes over the top of a bracket that shields the motor's multiplug.

Rod recommended brake cleaner spray to gid rid of the old gunk in the channels, and then a spray lubricant and possibly vaseline to re-lubracate it. He wasn't a big fan of WD40 as it dries sticky. I think Silkolene graphited penetrating spray would be ideal - it's used to lubricate motorcycle cable controls.

Removing the cables from the slider is really a 2 person job. You need to compress both the upper AND lower springs that give the cables their tension, and at the same time lever one of the cables free of either the upper or lower pulley. It's a right pain, second only to the trauma of getting them back on again!

You could possibly try stretching the springs slightly to keep the tension for when the unit is rebuilt, but it's still no fun, even with 2 people. You need to locate the cables in the new slider before trying to stretch them round the pulleys. Stretching them round the pulleys is achieved again by compressing the springs on the cables by one person, while the other aligns the cables properly.

Once the cables are free, bending the upper stopper tab out of the way should allow the slider to be removed and replaced. After that it's just the old "re-fitting is the reverse of removal" routine, with one exception: it's a really good idea to get a tube of clear silicone sealant and squidge it round the trime panels before re-fitting them. It cures lots of rattling issues (and a source of potential leaks too).

Hope this helps.  ;)

[Low Profile]

Just witnessed all of the symptoms above, I found that the steel wire had come found its way of the bottom guide spool! This meant that the window would go down ok, but when it was going back up, at about half way the angle of the wire rope was too great and it was tightening up like a bow string!

This leads me on to my problem. I am led to believe that to get enough slack to get the rope back round the spool I need to take off the plastic gismo that the rope attaches to and is in turn fixed to the window itself! Does anyone have any tips to get the bolt/cap head out and do you what size it is!


And here’s a tip for you guys!


WHILE LOOKING FOR PROBLEMS WITH YOUR WINDOWS DO NOT HAVE YOUR FINGER SPANING THE GLASS AND THE PROMINENT STRIP OF DOOR SKIN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DOOR WHILE OPERATING THE SWITCH!!!!


IT ACTS LIKE A GUILOTEEN AND TRUST ME IT HURTS LIKE HELL!!!

[evert]

Last weekend my window did not want to close anymore.....
So dismantled the door as described by LEC member, great (good oppertunity to mount improved front speakers!).
I found that the window mechanism worked well but it was detached from the glass (the one hole at the bottom centre). The "butterfly" kind of clip was loose, the "locking forc thing" is broken. I could mount the window back to the slider and now it works, but I fear that when I do not replace the butterfly kind of clip it might happen again.

Any suggestions?

Should I completely remove the window assembly for further investigations?

[John_W]

evert,
Now that you've had the door apart, and you know it's not that difficult, I suggest you get a new butterfly ordered from SJ or Lotus (it's on their current sale list) and fit it. While you're in there have a good look around for any other things which have fallen off (check the bottom of the door for bits) and order them up if needed.

If you just need to replace the butterfly it's pretty easy to do (I think you have to take out the motor but that's no big deal). While you're there you're probably as well replacing the slider on the centre channel (which is connected to the motor) onto which the butterfly fits, as it's probably broken, so order that too.

If you find you have to replace any of the nylon runners at the front or rear of the window, that's a bigger job, however if the window's working OK you'll probably get away with just replacing the butterfly.

John

[evert]

Just got the parts in today (butterfly clips, rubber doorseal outside, damned expensive 122 Euro's excl. our VAT which is 19%). Brought the car to a repairshop to do some respray on the door and 2 other area's. Found that the other parts of the window mechanism are ok. Never had a car which door construction is so complicated like this!

Anyway, I also took the opert. to install 5.25 inch speakers from Phase linear. Substantial more bass compared to 4 inch ones.

[evert]

Just got the parts in today (butterfly clips, rubber doorseal outside, damned expensive 122 Euro's excl. our VAT which is 19%). Brought the car to a repairshop to do some respray on the door and 2 other area's. Found that the other parts of the window mechanism are ok. Never had a car which door construction is so complicated like this!

Anyway, I also took the opert. to install 5.25 inch speakers from Phase linear. Substantial more bass compared to 4 inch ones.