Odd window and door issue
 

Ever since I've bought my car I've had an odd issue where the window will roll up properly sometimes, other times it's like the glass moves out of the track and it skips out. It rolls up straight, but it's the side track it seems to have an issue with. So it seems. Soon as I roll it back down it goes back in the track and it's fine.

If I take the door panel off, it'll roll up properly, every single time.

Soon as I put the door panel back on, it won't.

The hell?

Also, the lock intermittently works (manual door locks). Sometimes I can lock the door and even when it's "locked" I can use the handle and it'll open, as if I never locked it. Other times, it won't and locks properly.

The hell #2?

It hasn't really bothered me, but I may be trading the car, and I'd like to fix these things before the car potentially goes. Any ideas? It does look like for some reason someone has repaired the door for whatever reason. On the right side, the track doesn't seem like the window is "all the way in" until it starts to go up. Then (under pressure) it works fine. It's strange.

I tried lubricating the latching mechanism, which seems to have no bearing on the lock/no lock situation.

Yeah, weird. I'm assuming you're talking about the 911. From your description of the window movement, I'm not exactly sure I can picture it. When you say "track" I'm assuming you're talking about the channel the window slides up & down in in the window frame. Sounds like you'll have to do some detective investigation. Have you taken a rod of some kind & moved it up & down in the channel with the window down to try to feel any irregularities? Are there any wear/scuff marks on the inside of the door panel that might be associated with it? Have you tried pressing at different points on the steel panel of the door while moving the window up & down to see if anything is rubbing or might be interfering with the window movement & causing it? Have you cranked the window up & down while holding it with your fingers on the other hand to feel anything that happens as the window "skips out?" I'd take the door handle off and remove the lock cylinder to inspect & it's movement. It's a pretty simple thing & easy to figure out. I know mostly about '60s to '73 locks & have nbever disassembled an '82, but sometimes those really small springs in the lock cylinder get corroded up, break, whatever & don't cause the lock tabs to work properly. If you take the cylinder out (& never have done it before) take care you don't let the tabs fall out of the cylinder since they are in the order they need be to work with your key. Somebody else will probably post who knows more than I do with the right solutions. Good luck.

Correct. The 911, sorry. I always forget to clarify the vehicle in here. It's an 82' 911 SC.

The guides you speak of, there are 2 of them. One on the left, one on the right. It's almost like the glass isn't 100% sitting in the track on the right side (this is the driver side door).

Sometimes when it's rolled up, the little channel it slides up, the glass actually seems to not guide in it all the way up (almost as if the window is too thin on one side) and then it ends up with the window past the rubber seal and it doesn't seal up.

If I push on the window slightly with my finger as I roll it up, it sits in the track/guide just fine and goes up. I thought that was pretty odd. I took the entire panel off and relubed all the guides and it seems better. In fact, with the door panel off it doesn't even do it. So i'm not sure what could be putting pressure on it to cause this when the door panel is on.

I can upload a youtube video tomorrow of it and the behavior so it's easier to understand. I'm horrible at describing things through text form. I could more easily demonstrate it with a picture or video. It's fairly strange.

As to the lock, I found another thread of a member with a near identical issue. The issue doesn't seem to be contingent on whether or not I lock it from the outside. I can use the lock from the inside of the car and I can still go around and open the door with the handle. I saw a mechanism on his door that got separated from a popped off circlip, so I'll take it off again tomorrow to see if my issue is the same.

Frustrating. I mean it's not the end of the world to me, I've lived with it for so long it's eh... and the car has an alarm, so if someone opens then door when it doesn't lock it goes off anyway. But still, the next owner may not want that lol.

Have you checked the window regulator to see if it's torqued out of shape somewhere & the arms are operating OK? Could be corrosion or misalignment causing a pivot to bind up.

Couple of thoughts. Going by memory from the last time I was inside my doors. The glass should be set in the channels (front and rear) deep enough it won't fall out.

Is the glass attached securely to the lifter rail?

Are the vertical sections of the window frame loose or mis-adjusted? Both middle and rear bolt in high and low. The glass should be captive in the channel but if the verticals are out of alignment or loose at the bottom I could see enough room low for the glass to try and jump out of the tracks.

J

Hmmm I haven't checked that. It was getting dark out so I put the panel back together. I'll pull it apart again tomorrow and check it out.

The lifter rail, yes, it looks fine there. In fact, someone has used some sort of silicone sealant to make sure it didn't budge. I wonder if they are out of alignment. I'll take a look in the morning.

Thanks for the assistance!

Check that the frame , front and rear are still attached to the door inside. The rear one is a hex bolt you can see after removing a plug below the door catch at the bottom.

The front one is arrached via another hex bolt on a bracket that hex bolts to the door, mid bottom front.(You'll need to remove all the trim etc......)

It is quite possible that the lower fasteners front and back have come loose, which allows the the tracks to spread apart which then leaves the glass to 'fall out' or lose its way!

Found the window issue. The track on the left side had so much play that when the window would go down, it would slant to one side and pop out. I'm not sure why but it looks like it's missing something, I shimmed it with a simple washer and put it back together, now it's normal and feels great. Lubed the tracks while I was at it and it feels smooth like butter.

Now the issue with the door lock. There is a small plate that when you pull the handle, it rides on this other plate. What I'm noticing is that if I lock the door, the first plate moves to an angle. Then, if I pull the handle it still pulls on plate #2. The odd thing is that plate #2 seems to be a tad loose. if i ever so slightly push it down (unlocked) it still opens the door. If I push it down ever so slightly (when locked) the door will not open, operating as intended.

I also noticed, there is a mechanism that when the door locks, has a small hole in it, like for a spring. But I see no other holes, or areas for another mechanism to have a rod, so I'm baffled whether or not it's missing something. I wonder if maybe one of the springs is just worn out on the thing. Going to see if there is a way to repair it.

Ok, nowhere for a spring to fit on said plate. It definitely has some awkward forward/backward play and seems a tad loose. :-/ thinking it may require taking it apart and replacing some old springs.

Unless there is an adjustment (which I can't see if there is one) that allows the 2 plates to move more. The difference is literally MAYBE an entire millimeter.

Sort of looks like this...

------V--- plate 1, moves regardless of locked, unlocked. Rotates when locked/unlocked. When locked, rotates down, meets with plate 2.
-------^---- plate 2, should only move when door unlocked, doesn't rotate. But has some play in it (which I'm not sure yet if that's normal or not).

When you pull the handle, the 2 edges of the plates move with each other. If it's locked, the first plate sort of rotates, and the edge shouldn't meet the other. But it rubs eeeeever so slightly. I feel like if the lock adjusted a tad more (it seems like there must be something to adjust where it stops?) then it wouldn't be an issue.

Here's a picture from another thread

The yellow outlined piece in this posters thread is the piece (i think) giving me grief. If I pull the tab the yellow arrow is pointing at(without the red circle, the one on the left), it moves the opposite side down, or forward and the handle moves freely when locked, keeping the door from being opened (as it should be). It has a little play. Again, not sure if that's normal. On the other side, could it be that the piece that moves it at the top needs to rotate more?
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1180532482.jpg

Lubricated all the gizzards and the lock is working now. Appears something in there was hanging up. Appears that upon pulling the handle, it makes a little click, slides off and doesn't move the 2nd plate. Which it is now doing. It still is sticking a hair once on a blue moon, but I used some white lithium grease and some penetrating oil and it's night and day better.

Window fixed, lock fixed. Now that all the little stuff is getting fixed, it's going to make me not want to get rid of this car at all lol.

I'm like that. When I know something inside & out, I'm reluctant to let it go for fear of not knowing exactly what's going on with the replacement.

I had part of the upper steering wheel coming apart too, so I stitched it up today. I'm happy with the results.
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...psf72c76ac.jpg