broken window winder mechanism

[Vince Pepper]

Opened the electric drivers side window this morning and there was a clonk and the window dropped alarmingly into the door, have taken the door panel off and there are bits bits hanging off in the bottom, how the hell do you get at anything in such a confined space

[Mothman]

Hi Vince,
has the metal strip that grips the glass rotted away? If so you will need to replace it, it is a Citroen item and can still be obtained. I suspect Malcolm will be able to give you the part no. You will also require the thin strip of rubber which you place on the base of the glass before clipping on the metal runner. If you dont add the rubber, the glass will just pop out in a week or so.
My mate Tim and i had some fun replacing both front windows on his wife's BX recently. You can get in there and remove everything but there was a small amount of cursing and best done with 2 people, one to hold the glass whilst the other struggles with the mechanism.
Have fun.

Andy

[Gibbo2286]

And take great care there are some very sharp edges in there.

[RxBX]

Hi Vince,
has the metal strip that grips the glass rotted away? If so you will need to replace it, it is a Citroën item and can still be obtained. I suspect Malcolm will be able to give you the part no. You will also require the thin strip of rubber which you place on the base of the glass before clipping on the metal runner. If you dont add the rubber, the glass will just pop out in a week or so.
My mate Tim and i had some fun replacing both front windows on his wife's BX recently. You can get in there and remove everything but there was a small amount of cursing and best done with 2 people, one to hold the glass whilst the other struggles with the mechanism.
Have fun.

Andy

No need to wait :- Citroën part number 95 633 346

Opened the electric drivers side window this morning and there was a clonk and the window dropped alarmingly into the door, have taken the door panel off and there are bits bits hanging off in the bottom, how the hell do you get at anything in such a confined space

Vince I suggest you read thro' THIS thread (And the the other links within it) so that you are enlightened with the task ahead, along with its possible dangers

I hope you have better luck than 'Toddao' with his first attempt !



.

[Jayboy]

Just replaced mine yesterday. About £30 for a pair of runners from the stealers but I only needed one in the end. Reused the old seal happily.

It was very counter-intuitive whacking the new runner on to the bottom of the glass with a massive hammer! Should last though, the replacement runners are supplied in aluminium

[Vince Pepper]

Thanks guys for the info I have managed to get the window back up for the time being and will tackle it at the weekend, if I can get the bits by then.

[tim]

The main problem with the two windows Andy mentions was with the 'scissors' bit of the mechanism. The two parts are pressed together and held in place by what I can best decribe as a collar which is part of the casting. As the parts are made out of monkey metal, the collar gradually wears away until it just disappears or drops off in two small pieces. Once this happens, the two pieces are held together purely by luck and gravity; eventually they will separate and your widow will collapse. The only cure I can see is to replace the scissors mechanism complete.... hope they are still available.

[Wooscary]

I still have nightmares about trying to repair the mech on a Passat, the day before driving to Norway.

It never did get fixed in my ownership...

[Mothman]

The only cure I can see is to replace the scissors mechanism complete.... hope they are still available.

I have a few of these Tim, only they seem to be of a black 'gun' metal colour, not the usual 'monkey' metal you mentioned. They look pretty similar and are in quite good nick. Next time you are around, perhaps we should compare them, they all have a motor attached. My TZD drivers side i feel has this problem where the metal thingy has worn away and the electrics of the window are a little 'jumpy'..

Andy

[Defender110]

The window winder mechanism is known as a 'window regulator' when you are trying to source another.

[Jayboy]

There was one on eBay the other day....

Sorry, I assumed the runners had rotted out, that is. The most common reason for failure in my experience.

Has anybody ever managed to remove a regulator unit from the front door? Seems impossible to me!

[Mothman]

Yes, just unscrew everything. All the nuts and screws just come undone and you have a complete bare door inside and out.And out it does come if you think about it. Whats the problem? If you cant get it out, just keep trying, it will come out complete if you work on it.
They did get it in .
Andy

[Tim Leech]

Ive probably swopped 6 window mechanisms over from old to new doors, its quite easy, just strip the door of everything else first to give you room.

[tim]

Just done four of the sods so here's my ideas for doing 'em. 1) remove door panel complete. 2) remove rubber trim on outside of window, it slides forwards but won't lever off easily so don't try. 3) get a helper to hold the window, though if you have some clamps with plastic jaws this would probably work. 4) undo the three nuts holding the motor and remove it, this is all that stops the window from dropping. undo the nuts that hold the mechanism in place. The two at the rear hold the small secondary runner, get yer hand in and remove it. push the studs through the holes, the whole mechanism should then come off inside the door. Your helper can remove the window as you detach the nylon rollers from the upper channel.
You can then remove the mechanism from the door. How? there's an aperture at the bottom rear of the door and it will easily come out through there with a bit of persuasion. You can then carry out whatever repairs you need and service the moving parts, oiling and greasing etc. I just sanded, kurusted and painted my top channels as I've learnt from experience that if ignored these can rust to nothing.....
Every time I've taken out one, the spring has fallen out. It can go in either way but I have no guide as to which is right - I guessed yesterday, but the window had a lot of slop at the top so I reversed the spring so that the tag was at the bottom, and this improved matters a lot, so either this is 'correct' or the spring had settled itself in over the years and only liked being in one position. The windows now move twice as fast and won't fall to bits until the pressed collar wears out.

[Mothman]

Proper job bud. Sounds like you have it to a 'T'.

Andy