Sometimes I HATE my J30!! (long)

[carlos_knology]

Ok, 1995 J30. Why are these damn power windows so problematic!! I've never had a car with power windows that were as flaky as these.

The front-passenger power window motor has been replaced as well as TWO window regulators. The passenger-rear window regulator has been replaced as WELL as the power window motor. The driver-front window regulator has been replaced once. All by me. These damn regulators are not what you call cheap. Especially the power window motors.

Today, I went to roll down the front-passenger window and it won't move (this the one with the two regulators replaced as well as the motor).

I took the door apart and cannot get the window to move at all. I don't think it's the motor b/c I hear it click every time I hit the switch to attempt to roll the window down.

The question is, how do I remove it now that it won't roll down at all?! The two times I replaced the window regulator, the window rolled down and I could detach the glass from the regulator. Now that it won't roll down at all, I cannot get to the screws that attach the glass to the regulator.

Has this happened to anyone in else in here? How did you go about removing the regulator and motor if the window won't roll down. I'm wondering if I need to cut the regulator cable (the cable that looks like a bicycle brake cable) to let the window come down some.

I'm at a loss. I'm so mad at this problem. I have babied this car but these damn windows are driving me crazy. I feel like I'm driving a GM or Ford product. I can't get over how crappy these components are. I'm afraid to use the sunroof in fear that it will too quit working. This crap is getting so old. I'm tired of spending between $75-$300 bucks a year per window to keep them working!!!

The kicker is that I HARDLY ever roll the windows down. It stays hot enough here that I usually need to use the AC.

Any suggestions?!

[carlos_knology]

Sorry for the rant. I was so pissed at this window issue last night.

The dilemma gets weirder. This morning, I got in the car, hit the window switch. Window rolls down like it was new. Now I'm really stumped.

Carlos

[Mayhem_J30]

Did it roll back up too? That's the problem I've been having on the I30. Goes down just not up and some days it works just fine...??? I once tried to clean and regrease all the tracks but that didn't seem to help at all.

[carlos_knology]

It's working as good as new. It should, the window motor and regulator have been replaced.

Now, it rolls up and down fine. I can't figure out how it got stuck last night. It was stuck in the up position (closed). Would not budge. I took the door panel off and I could hear the motor trying. I touched the motor and it was getting warm so I know it was getting power.

It's like the regulator got stuck somehow. I'm wondering if the warm weather yesterday (I'm in Georgia) had something to do with it (something expanded). This morning it was about 30 degrees.

I'm stumped right now.

[carlos_knology]

Ok, I'm thinking something temperature related is affecting this window. Just got back from lunch. The car was quite warm sitting in the sun.

Window would not go down. I could hear the motor clicking but no go. I guess something's wrong with the regulator (again). This would be the third window regulator.

Do any of you think it could be the motor? So far, here's the temperature connection, warm weather, no window operation (only affects the front passenger window). Cold morning, window works just fine.

I'm speculating the heat is making something expand. My dilemma is figuring out if the problem is the motor or the regulator.

Any ideas from the J30 gurus?

Carlos

[Q451990]

Get some freeze spray from an electronics supplier. You might be able to use it to cool down the motor and regulator at different points to see where the problem is...

Heath

[Eswift]

i might be wrong, but i would check the window switch outputs with a multimeter. humidity might be getting in there and momentarily grounding something that shouldne be or preventing a good connection. had a problem like that in an old 300zx.

[Eswift]

could be from something as simple as rain getting in the cracks of the door when the door is opened during a cloudburst.

[greg_atlanta]

Electrical relays are the #1 J30 bug. They go bad gradually, don't just stop working.

My power lock relay is going bad on my '92 Q, but only fails once every few weeks.

[carlos_knology]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll try the freeze spray thing. About the relays.

Is there a relay for the power window?!

[Q451990]

The flip side is that you can wait until it's cold and use a hair dryer to find what's wrong...

Heath

[carlos_knology]

Well, it appears that the window quite working for good and my temperature hunch wasn't correct. I can't get it to work, hot or cold.

Definitely appears to be something with the regulator. Sucks that I need to buy yet another one of these (3rd regulator for this window).

Thanks for all the replies.

Carlos

[Q451990]

Has anything ever happened to that door - like collision damage or the glass replaced? Anything that's causing the window to bind can cause the regulator to fail early... it's just unreal you've had to replace it that many times!

Heath

[carlos_knology]

The car has never been in an accident. However, that window does seem to bind some. I can tell it sometimes slows down on the way up.

I have tried everything I can think of as far as lubricating the window channel, etc. It helps for a bit but not long. Perhaps I'm not using the correct lubricant. I've been using lithium grease but that can be messy if it gets on the glass itself.

Thanks for all the input and help. I'm also at a loss as to why this window is so problematic. Hence the rant that initiated this thread.

Carlos

[carlos_knology]

I realized I never posted an update about this issue. It turned out that somehow, the motor and regulator were stuck.

I went through the service manual diagnostics (to rule out any electrical gremlins) and at the end, it looked like the regulator or motor were the issue.

It was a pain to get the regulator out because the window would NOT move down no matter what I tried. With the regulator out of the door, I connected the wire harness and hit the window switch and NOTHING happened.

I thought the motor was dead. Removed the 3 screws that attach the motor to the regulator and that's when I noticed the two would no come apart. Pried them lose but it struck me as odd because when I replaced this window motor before, the motor just fell out after removing the 3 screws.

I decided to try powering the motor now that it was separated from the window regulator. Lo and behold, the thing worked. I can't explain why the motor and regulator were "stuck" like that.

After putting everything back together, it's worked fine since. Go figure.

Carlos

[VimyJ]

Kudos to you for getting to the bottom of that problem. Your contribution to this site is invaluable in as far as we are all trying to get out of these cars all that they have to offer. Thanks for sharing your experience with your empathetic audience. Good job!

[PalmerWMD]

Well said Vimy.

Fred...

[carlos_knology]

Gee thanks... I'm getting all teary-eyed over here. Well, maybe not.

Glad to give back some to this great forum. God knows I've gotten much more information from this forum than I'll ever provide.

Carlos