Window motor cables too short.

[stevieg8571]

Evening all

I'm in the middle of replacing my passenger door slider/butterfly clip
Then new slider's fitted & central rail refitted, but now the two cables are about an inch apart so I can only get the lower one to engage with the slider. I can pull them a little closer together, but still nowhere near enough to engage them both.
They were left loose after the butterfly clip broke around 10 days ago and it's possible the window switch was pushed whilst they were like this.
I'm trying to remove the motor to see if I can connect them with the whole assembly out of the car and then refit the whole thing. Will this do the trick or is there something I'm missing, and how is the motor unplugged (push on or a clip)?

This is easily the most awkward job that I've done on my elan so far!
Thanks, Steve

[Andy_J]

I think you need to remove the cable from the 2 pullies top and bottom to get enough slack in the regulator cable to fit the clip that goes behind the butterfly clip

[stevieg8571]

Thanks for the reply Andy
Do you mean don't put the cable in the rollers at the top & bottom of the centre rail?
Is this with the whole assembly still in the door or removed?

[stevieg8571]

Even with both cables pulled tight and the springs compressed, I can barely get the R/H cable to touch the block.
I'm assuming it was routed correctly before the previous slider broke, so why should this not reach?

Here's a photo showing it.

[petezipp]

yep its a real nightmare.
It should go on if you make sure the cable is tight on the drum and not crossed up,
Then take up the slack in the two springs ( I used a clamp i think),

I also replaced the pieces of plastic in the slides with cut bits of PVC tubing. Takes a lot of slop out.
Good luck

[stevieg8571]

Thanks Peter.

I'm hoping me and the guy next door will be able to pull them together enough to make them fit the guide, as I really don't want to have to open up the regulator, although I'm thinking the cables may have got tangled up whilst they were slack...fingers crossed!

[Rice crispy]

Have a look for messages from Specky on here about this as i know he has fixed the cables many times. Also you do need to make sure they aren't crossed in the regulator as they won't work under tension when you get them into the slider or if they do they make nasty noises

david

[Andy_J]

Hi Steve - Yes I do mean take the cable off the top and bottom rollers/pullies, you should then have the slack to get the cables into the plastic slider. you can then slip the cable back over the pullies/rollers by compressing the springs. This method worked for me, getting the cable of the last pulley/roller was pretty tight though

[stevieg8571]

All's sorted now, thanks guys. I had to remove the regulator cover were the cables had become crossed over.
Thankfully it didn't unravel, so I regreased it all, put it all back together, seated both cables in the guide, put one cable on its roller, then carefully prised the other onto its roller. This is a very tight fit and there's a chance you'll brake the plastic roller, so take care.

The window's moving as it should now, and it's been adjusted and speaker screws tightened too, just got to get it through the MOT this dinnertime, fingers crossed.

Thanks for the help fellas.
If anyone knows the North West dump wants a hand with this job, just let me know.

[Rob P]

Need to get around to looking at the Passenger side window which is having issues so will remember this kind offer once I have a bash and hit the usual problems

Glad to hear you got yours sorted
Where are you taking the car for it's MOT, is there anyone local who specialises in M100, nearest I know is Pheonix Motorsport in Accrington

[stevieg8571]

Apologies for my last sentence, I'm using my phone and sometimes store too much faith in the predictive text it seems.

It should've read; if anyone in the North West wants a hand doing this job just let me know.