drivers electric window- cable nightmare

[philKS2]

Hi ...

My Intermittent electric window prob has turned into a nightmare...

I've read plenty of threads about removing the regulator etc and have just done that.... lifted out the whole inner frams including glass.

BUT I took the back plate off the thing containing the plastic drum which the cables wind round... and the whole thing sprung out. Now each time I try to reassemble, it won't wind /unwind properly...


Any ideas... please?? I can see there are two cables, one for up and one for down, which wind opposite ways round thedrum... BUT when I rewind them onto the drum, they dont seem to wind/unwind together properly in synch.

Can anyone tell me a step by step guide to re-assembling??

AND - does the motor know which position the window should be in (up or down)...I mean its it critical that the motor is fully dirven up or down to match where the window is... like am I in extra trouble if I have run the window motor while the cables were not connected??

aeghh ... and its raining again

[Nj]

I witnessed Stevie Dubbedup do this one day and swore i'd never try it. I've always swapped over the motor with cable attached. Did you buy brand new cables to use? Which side is it by the way?
nj

[Nj]

i've just been having a search on audifans.net to see if anyone has done a guide but I need to nip out. Have a good look there.

[philKS2]

Hi its the drivers side... I've manged to get the window back in and securely up... hurrah.. BUT ... the winding mechanism/regulator is not working properly and I can hear the cables twisting inside it, which means they will need replacing now!!!

doh

[sjw185]

When my cable snapped I got a new cable set to fit on the motor from audi.
More recently I had a gammy motor but had to buy the whole frame from a local breaker because they would not just sell me the motor
What was your original problem before it ejected itself?
It dont matter about wire position the motor cuts out with current sensing relay I think.

Cheers

Steve

[spink]

very common fault Phil,from previous experience i find its best to get another mechanism than piss around with a knackered one.

[Nj]

ah nuts. I have a passenger side unit in a door in the back of my garage but def no driver's side.

[johne]

Phil,

I suggest you by a new drum with the cables in. Was £50 from Vagparts when I bought one a few months back. With no Vagparts I guess it'll have to be the stealers.........

If the cables have crossed over they will have kinked and ur doomed to having to get a new set.

It's not as hard to fit as it looks and an 11mm socket with one side ground off will help. Graham from Oz did a good post on the topic which I also added to so search for that.

The new cables come in the drum with a dummy cover fitted. I suggest you fit the cables to the glass without the motor to start with (with the whole frame out of the door and on something soft and horizontal. I used an old mattress on the bonnet). That means you can move the glass up and down in the frame - don't worry without the motor attached and with the dummy cover in place the wires will be well behaved and you can set up the clamp on the wire in the right place with the glass fully up. Once you've got it all set up and the glass comes up to the top parallel, move the window down, remove the dummy cover from the cable drum and then refit the motor. Once the motor is in place, you can't move the glass without applying electricity to the motor.

As an earlier post suggested, it doesn't matter where you fit the motor, position wise, as the up/down sensing is on the motor stalling and drawng lots more current, not where the glass is.

John

[Graham]

How did you go on this--I have done them twice now, wind the 2 cables onto the drum so that the cables almost meet and feed them out of their respective holes in the cable housing (This should leave approximately 1/2 a revolution with no cable in). Then fit the transportation cover on.
If you have the whole mechanism out then it will be even easier, push the window right up and pull the calbe through til it reaches the attachment points, remove the old cable/drum casing as this willl be chewed out (Mind you dont pull the drive spider out of the gearbox though).
keeping the new cable (and housing) taut undo the transportation cover and lift the casing complete with drum over the motor/gearbox drive, then bolt it up. it will take some fiddling to get it right as it is possible to have the cable too tight but there is adjustment in the little black cable guides to increase/ reduce tension by moving the black plastic guides along a notch or two in the window frame.

[Graham]

This is a write up i done a while ago

My cable went in 2002 and again last year when the company who replaced the broken window operated the mechanism without a window in. The way I set it up was to undo the
old mechanism with the window supported on blocks at mid position.(The black
cable guides need twisting 90 degrees to free them at the top back of the
door closest to the handle and pulley, also middle front of the door where
the bare cable comes out of the reel and over the pulley at the front top)
Then undo all of the cable clamps and unclip the cable off the window guides.
Then remove the motor and gearbox with the cables intact.

It is easiest if you have a large table to overhaul the mechanism to lay it
and its cables out flat to avoid the risk of dropping it.
Place the new reel on top of the old unit and set the new cable in exactly the same position as the old one and move to one side in the set
position.
Now remove the metal cover off the old reel housing to expose the reel.
Prise the old pulley off the motor (this is held in place with a rubber
coupling consisting of 3 vanes on the back of the pulley and three vanes on
the motor gearbox assembly with a star shaped rubber that slots into the
vanes to provide drive). Make sure that the Gearbox output does not come out
as well as this holds a can of worms together which are an absolute nightmare
to rebuild.
Now unbolt the white housing and remove the old housing(this is required if the cable has jumped inside the reel as it is a neat fit and a jumped cable will have chewed out the housing a bit. (You can use it again if you keep the cables taut as the cables should never touch the housing)
USING PLENTY OF SILICONE GREASE, Unclip the black plastic transportation cover
off the new pulley and cable unit and (holding the cable tight) carefully lift
the new housing and slot it into position over the rubber drive coupling aligning the housing and gearbox(be careful as the cable will try to un ravel off the pulley).
Once in position re fasten the metal cover and screws which hold the white housing to the gearbox then the unit should now be ready to fit back into the door.
After re fitting the motor run the cables around the pulleys and into the
location lugs at the back of the window guide Note the black cable guides are
fiddly to twist into position at the top off the door I used some long nosed
pliers to rotate the black cable guide 90degrees into the locked position.
Clamp the cable at the front guide (the bolt and plate which pins the front
vertical run of the cable to the window carrier) then re connect wiring and
try the window (without door card) with the door closed.

If there is a gap in the seal-
With the door closed undo the front clamp and move the window into position
then re clamp and go for a drive to check for wind noise try the window a
few times, open and close the door in different positions and tweak with it
till its perfect and enjoy. :-)

P.S. While you play with the new cable and mechanism getting the seal right,
coat the runner guides in silicone grease, you wont believe how much faster
the window runsJ

Graham