Electric window woes

[red-rado 0]

My passenger side electric window is very slow. The window wont actually wind to the top un aided, it stops about half an inch short. Also, it will wind down via the button on the passenger side but not up again. The driver side button has to be used.

 

I took the door card off today and sprayed copious amounts of WD40 around inside. This has loosened things up a bit but its still very slow and weak.

 

I noticed some dodgy wiring whilst i was there. Does anyone know what this could be?

 

Also I noticed a thick pipe that came from what i presume is the motor and didnt connect to anything else. Should this be connected somewhere?

 

My electric mirrors do not work either, but im not too worried about this.

[ProdigalSon 1]

I noticed some dodgy wiring whilst i was there. Does anyone know what this could be?

Looks like some nasty bodge job :( I wouldn't be surprised if you found several loose window relays behind the dash trim on both sides (searches for pic as example...)

 

Also I noticed a thick pipe that came from what i presume is the motor and didnt connect to anything else. Should this be connected somewhere?

That looks like the vacuum pipe for the central locking... Should connect up both doors and the boot to the central locking pump.

[red-rado 0]

The central locking works perfectly all round. Why would the pipe for the CL connect to the window motor?

[boost monkey 0]

No, that pipe is too big. It's the internal door rain drain pipe. Won't connect to anything dude, the water just runs down the pipe and out of the holes in the bottom of the door. :salute:

[red-rado 0]

Ahh, excellent. Cheers for clearing that up, i can take that off the list of possible problems now :)

 

Does anyone know of a way i can test the ouput of the motor?

[Dec 1]

Ahh, that's one of the dealer fit elec window mechs that were fitted to some very early rados!

 

The fat pipe you have there is actually for the motor cable to 'retract' into when the window is lowered! (so should be left lying along the bottom of the door)

 

The wiring is like that on the two other models I've seen, so it's not a bodge by the owners, it's a 'bodge' by the vw dealers themselves. Just make sure all the connections are well insulated, as there isn't much that can be done to tidy it up a whole lot. :roll:

 

No matter how hard we tried to grease the mechs etc on one of those kits, there was no way the motor was going to move the window any faster. The motors all have VW part numbers, but the parts were discontinued when we asked about them.

 

I stripped the kit out my my rado and replaced it with a standard window mech form a slightly later car. Involves taking the mechs out of both doors. Swapping the entire window + central locking loom(s), all the switches are also different, and the proper window control module needs to be fitted behind the rear doorcard.

 

This also tidies up the fusebox, as those dealer window kits wire the relay directly into the fusebox! :wink:

[gsbellew 0]

The red pipe is for the wire that pulls / pushes the window to travel down, your car has a retrofit kit by electric life installed not a factory setup, which explains the dodgy looking wiring too.

 

Its possible that the window is not running true in the window channels, you can adjust it by loosening the 10mm bolt that holds the glass to the regulator, play around with settings till it runs freely.

[red-rado 0]

Mines a 1990 (G reg) so probably does fall under that catagory. The drivers side window isnt too bad (all be it a little notchy when rolling down.)

 

I'll try the adjustment tomorrow. Thanks for the info guys :notworthy:

[Dec 1]

Its possible that the window is not running true in the window channels, you can adjust it by loosening the 10mm bolt that holds the glass to the regulator, play around with settings till it runs freely.

 

Aye, that's definitely worth a go! It's very difficult to get those windows lined up correctly as they don't have the leveling arms taht the proper window mechs have to keep the window from going off line! :?

[ProdigalSon 1]

Ahh, that's one of the dealer fit elec window mechs that were fitted to some very early rados!

 

The wiring is like that on the two other models I've seen, so it's not a bodge by the owners, it's a 'bodge' by the vw dealers themselves.

:shock: Wow, that's nasty for a dealer install! :gag: :confused4: Didn't know that early C's had to have dealer retrofits of elec windows... oh well, live and learn! :lol:

[ProdigalSon 1]

The fat pipe you have there is actually for the motor cable to 'retract' into when the window is lowered! (so should be left lying along the bottom of the door)

Yep, that makes perfect sense when looking closely :salute:

 

Prodigal 0 - 2 Dec! :roll:

[boost monkey 0]

Ahhhh yes, that makes more sense :nuts:

[davidwort 0]

Ahh, that's one of the dealer fit elec window mechs that were fitted to some very early rados!

 

... the proper window control module needs to be fitted behind the rear doorcard.

 

...those dealer window kits wire the relay directly into the fusebox! :wink:

 

yep, as fitted up to the start of 1991 by dealers to 16v cars that didn't come with electric windows as standard from the factory for UK cars up to that date.

You don't actually need the control module, the later motors and mechs will work using the VAG looking (but differently wired) switches, easily identifiable as having direct soldered connections as opposed to the contol box switches that have a detatchable multi-plug.

They are live all the time though as you say, due to being wired to a permanent live from the fusebox, handy sometimes, but if you want one-touch controls you'll need to wire in the control box and appropriate loom to both doors.