Slow window fix
 

My power windows have been slow and grabby for about 10 years. Passenger side motor finally failed, so I decided to refurbish both sides.

Passenger side had a stiff main pivot in the regulator, and one of its arms was out of the window's track. Didn't get pics of that since it was nothing special. But I did take pics of the driver's side since it had a failure of the spring tensioner. I've seen this happen in other people's posts when searching this topic. The motor has to struggle a bit getting the window up without the spring assist (kind of like garage doors).

The peg that holds that spring coil is some kind of non-ferrous pot metal that was peened into the slot in the middle of the regulator. Strange because it's holding a lot of tension, especially with the window down.
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So I used a combination of a stainless button head bolt and a coupler nut to recreate the peg. Loctite red makes it semipermanent. Had to use a button head for the low clearance between the regulator's arms.
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Cut to size and painted the cut end for rust protection. There, spring tension restored.
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Irony in the slow window fix
 

The combination of corroded, chunked up window felts and stiff, malpositioned regulator killed the passenger side window motor. I didn't want to spend nearly $200 for a new stock motor (Sorry Wayne), so I took a chance on another cheaper Bosch window motor I found on eBay. It's listed for some Mercedes sedans from the '90's, but it looks nearly identical to the Porsche motor, including the right number of teeth on the gear. And it's only $65.
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Upon closer inspection, the castings are not identical. The mounting holes in the gear case (attaching the assembly to the window regulator) are taller in the replacement motor, and the male plug is on the wrong side of the motor. So I merely switched the actual motor from the newer unit to the old stock gearcase. Perfect fit, and the pinion gear turns smoothly.
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The irony fixing the slow, struggling window occurs because the replacement motor is not as fast as the stock unit. Now I'm not even sure that this replacement motor is a genuine Bosch product versus a Chinese knock-off. But it's running smoothly, and at a third the cost of the real deal, I can live with a slightly slower but healthy and smoothly functional power window. I was satisfied enough with the passenger window motor fix that I bought another motor to prophylactically replace the driver's side as well.

Nice job Nader...it's always satisfying when you successfully utilize a cheaper and compatible replacement part. :cool:

One question, it appears from your photos that the spring tensioner, having lost its pot metal post, would have only rotated ~20 degrees until it rested on the far mounting post. Would that have caused significant loss in spring tension?

Steve

I worked on my Window regulator today as well. Are replacing the felt? How do you do that?

Steve, if you look at the very first picture you'll see it closer to 100 degrees of travel before reaching the post. The spring tension at that far post's point was minimal. And that picture of me holding the spring in the second photo is about as far as I could push it myself. Those last few centimeters of spring movement are really strong.

Ace, the outer felt is held to the door frame with metal snaps. You can pry them out with a pick or small slotted screwdriver. The inner felt is a rubber channel that slides over the inner sill. Here's a pic of the driver's side felt, which was in much better condition than the passenger side, which crumbled into a pile of rust flakes during disassembly.
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I learned that a misaligned window frame may be another hindrance to smooth window operation, if it's putting undue pressure on the window glass. You can realign the window frame by loosening the bolts that hold it to the door. Here's a couple that hide under black rubber plugs. There's another down low on this side, and a couple more on the other (forward) side, as well as a couple accessed through the uncovered door panel. You can figure it out when you get everything apart. I loosened the bolts, then slid the window up and down and closed the door a few times to further loosen and knock everything into place. It may not be the right way, but it seemed to work for me.
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Yanks for the info.

How tough is it to replace the squeegee rubber part on the outside part of the window. Is it just held bt pressure? Is removal just prying it out? Where should the window be when I do it?

There are metal clips that are pushed down into the top of the door.
Pry it up. Doesn't matter what position the window is in.

This is a great post, I now can fully understand why I found this piece floating around inside my door when replacing the speakers, and it also explains why the window moves so slowly!!

Can you tell me what size screw and coupler you used? I wanna swing by the hardware store on to grab these parts while I still have the door panels off.

Any tricks or anything to removing that whole assembly? I can't even see the spring, so I'm assuming this all has to come out to fix it.

Thanks!

I found one of those in my door years ago but it was not broken. I guess I'll need to put it back!

Apparently, this happens to the mighty 959s as well.

I used a 6mm screw and coupler. No reason you can't go with 1/4" if metric is harder to find. To remove the regulator, you have to first remove the window motor. And tape the window in the up position once you've detached the regulator from the window's bottom track. Or else it'll slide down and get in the way. Be patient in wiggling out the regulator. It's awkward with the parts dangling and stuff getting caught on the door innards.

Good luck.

My Compliments, Been meaning to tackle this on my passenger side window. SmileWavy

What causes these problems are, Old felts,dry filthy regulators & frames out of adjustment & bent. Pull the frame out check for bends,clean all the tar & gue out of the channels. Replace the felts,clean the regulator & lube it,i use Aero Shell 5 & LPS 3. Make sure the window rail attached to the bottom of the glass hasn't moved or loose. Disassemble the motor,clean the gearbox & relube & clean the commutator with a fine scotch pad & check the brushes. If the brushes are worn,trash the motor. I have use this procedure on all my 911's,works every time . If its a clients car do all of the above,except you must replace the motor.

Good stuff. My passenger window has been slow so I opened it up and found this peg lying in the bottom of the door. I guess I know my next project. I'll order the window channel felt and do this next weekend... Way too nice today! Thanks!

One small tip is if you replace the door frame mount bolts make sure they are exactly the same length as the factory bolts. If they are a few mm longer they push on the door channel felt runners and you jam up the window operation giving you, slow windows. Great thread.

Great thread!

The passenger window on my 87 Carrera coupe moves much slower than the driver's side window. Is this most likely a motor issue?

When I roll down the driver's side window an inch or two something rattles inside the door. This only happens after the window has been lowered a few inches. Any thoughts on this mystery?

Thanks.

My passenger side window was slow and I cleaned up the felts which helped somewhat. Its still slower than the drivers side though. Is there a reason why the passenger side seems to suffer more than the drivers side?

Window Regulator...
 

Talk about timing... I was just ready to install my new re-upholstered door panels after replacing the door arresters when I read this post. I had cleaned out the bottom of my doors and found these parts, but couldn't figure out where they came from. Unfortunately now I know... So another "while I was there project".

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This might help...'82 SC coupe with agonizingly slow passenger window.
1. The book really doesn't show when to remove/install the motor. I did it with the reg in the bottom of the door.
2. I put a new felt guide in the frame - don't glue the side pieces, only the top. I used 3M black weatherstrip cement.
3. Don't forget to grease the drive gear on the new motor.
4. Don't forget to align the frame for clearance to the body before you shut the door.
5. Grease the regulator wheels and their channels - be very careful that no grease gets on the weatherstrip inside the top of the door - you will never get it off the glass. Work clean, and wear latex gloves! When you slide the glass back into the door, be sure that it is spotless!

And, yes, in a "race" between the driver and passenger window, even with all the new parts in the right side, it's still about one second slower, bottom to top, than the left side.
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After reading this post and finding out that the coil spring post on both doors of my car had fallen out I removed the driver's side this afternoon. I looked up the regulator removal in Bentleys, but they didn't say to remove the "L" bracket on the forward lower window channel so you can remove the regulator.

I bought a 1/4-20 coupling nut and I already had a S.S. button head bolt of the same size. If the hole isn't big enough in the regulator plate I'll drill it out for the 1/4-20 bolt.

I'll follow up after completing the work...

I bet it's one of the window regulator's support arms malpositioned, not gliding by its wheel in the channel bracket that runs along the bottom of the window glass. I found that to be the case for one of my windows.

I suspect it's because the passenger window is used less, so the motor's grease may harden and pivot points in the regulator may stiffen. Or maybe the guy on the assembly line for passenger door/window assembly back in the Eighties was less than stellar :).

Peter Z., that "Used 911 Story" was your book? I need to thank you for that. I bought it back in 1999 in preparation for buying my current car. I read it several times and followed your advice, and ended up with a great car (window issues aside), so thanks for the help in making a good decision.

I completed the new spring post per Nader's original post. Removing the regulator and installing the post was a piece of cake, but attaching the motor to the regulator through the door panel access hole was a giant PITA. The windows work great, however the stop adjustment is no longer centered in the adjustment hole? Fortunately the drive's side open and closed setting is perfect, but the passenger window goes down a tad too far. To get at the adjustment i think I'll take my die grinder to get access to the stop adjustment rail.

I assume I didn't clock the motor with the regulator correctly, however I still don't know how you would make that decision? I felt blessed just getting the motor reattached to the regulator, let alone the relative position to each other.

Maybe someone can add to this so the next guy has it easier. Bentley's is no help! Oh, the 1/4-20 coupling bolt works perfect. I turned off about 1/4"-3/8" off of one end.

Is there a trick to getting he motor shaft into the drive part of the motor? I separated the two parts of the motor easily, but getting them back together just isn't happening. The parts hang up on the shaft/drive gear about 1/4 inch short of the two parts being fully together. Do I need to turn the outer portion of the drive gear (the part that meshes with the regulator)?

Yes, I would twist that pinion gear in either direction as you slide the motor casing into the gear casing. Then connect it to a 12 volt source to make sure it operates smoothly before placing it in the door.

I'll try it. Two other questions:

How the heck did you get the regulator so shiny!?!

What's the trick to getting the spring end rotated around to implement your coupler nut solution? I've tried a couple of clamps, but the end of the spring jumps off of the clamp, and I'm thinking I'm going to damage the regulator, my fingers, or both...

Fasten the coupler nut in place first. Use Loctite. Then bring the spring end around and over the coupler nut by hand. The spring tension shouldn't be so strong that you require tools. One of the earlier pictures shows me holding the spring end in place by hand. You can probably lever it in place with a screwdriver if you had to.

Shiny regulators come by luck.

A big thanks to Nader for the great pictures, instructions and this thread. I had my regulator out to re-grease things and I didn't even notice that the spring didn't have any tension until I saw this thread. Fortunately I hadn't reinstalled the door panel yet so I pulled the regulator again and fixed the spring using this thread as a guide. Thanks again!

Another thanks to the OP. I am putting my car back together after having it repainted. I rolled the window up today to put my door handles back in and hear a click from a piece of metal hitting the bottom of my door. Guess what it was. I don't know if it was dumb luck that it failed while the door panels were still off but I'm glad it happened now rather than later.

It's funny, I was browsing threads about the window regulator yesterday trying to find out how to adjust the up travel of the window and found this. Then today, the piece drops out.

Slow replacement motor ... maybe not.
TLDR; Be careful if you rotate the motor to reposition the connector.

I recently replaced my driver side window motor with a Dansk replacement. As delivered, the connector is opposite side on the Porsche motor. Like others, I got the idea... just partially pull off the motor and rotate it to match the original motor configuration.
But, before install, I thought I'd test. Well....

Evidently, the motor housing is not perfectly symmetric. The housing itself, or mounting bolt positions, or something.
With the motor in the as-delivered orientation, it spins quickly, just like the Porsche motor.
With the motor rotated 180 deg, to relocate the connector, it is slow. More importantly, the bushing well gets hot. This tells me it does not align correctly and has too much friction.

So, if you modify it, test it. Any slowness might be caused by the modification. As-is, there is plenty of wire to connect to the inside location. There might be more risk of mechanical interference, so be careful routing, but it's OK.
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great resource. Thanks for posting. I need to do the same for both windows

BTW, if you do the 1/4-20 barrel-nut coupler repair, evaluate a 1/2" or 3/4" carriage bolt instead of the button head. Minor filing of the square carriage and it fits the slot nicely.

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