Slow electric window ... likely causes?

[jeffbottman]

Seeking advice on this 'uplifting' topic. My passenger side window is about 50% as fast as driver side going up, about 80% going down. Have lubricated the channel on the front side of the window.

What is most likely the cause of a slow window, in your experience?

[Bob Kontak]

Eff the channels. Grease the big honkin' gear sprocket through the little holes. Not much grease.

If I am lyin' I am dyin'.

[McLaren-TAG]

The pin that holds the helper spring is sitting somewhere in the bottom of the door.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by McLaren-TAG

The pin that holds the helper spring is sitting somewhere in the bottom of the door.

My comment is based on my 81 with original innards. If the 86 is different then I need to zip it.

[SCrescue]

Originally Posted by jeffbottman

Seeking advice on this 'uplifting' topic. My passenger side window is about 50% as fast as driver side going up, about 80% going down. Have lubricated the channel on the front side of the window.

What is most likely the cause of a slow window, in your experience?

jeff,

I disassembled both doors on my '84 a few years ago during a re-spray to replace all of the window seals and clean and lube the window regulators and tracks. What I noticed on my car is that the motors have a nylon button that rides against the side of the regulator sector gear as the windows move up or down. The original grease that was applied to the button had dried and hardened to the point that it created a friction surface, which effectively slows the movement of the windows. It's not enough to just add fresh grease to the button and gear, the old hardened grease needs to be removed to see real improvement. It's quite a bit of work to disassemble and then reassemble the doors to do this, but it's likely what needs to be done. Hope this helps.

[Dpmulvan]

Originally Posted by McLaren-TAG

The pin that holds the helper spring is sitting somewhere in the bottom of the door.

I agree, after years of being under tension they break off there's a few posts on repairs that work rather well..

[mike635]

One more thing to consider - sometimes the switches go bad. I took my doors apart and greased all of the items/locations mentioned in the previous posts and still had a slow window on the drivers side. I replaced the switch and it resolved the issue.

Like many German automotive switches, you can take these apart and clean the contacts but it's not easy. I tried it after installing my new one (figured I had nothing to lose) and found that it worked about as good as the new switch. The tricky part is prying the switch apart without breaking the plastic but it can be done.

[Paulporsche]

It could be the glass channels. The fuzziness wears off them over time, exposing the bare rubber which tends to grab the glass as it passes through.