If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Power Window Fix
Today's task was to fix the power window in the '90B that failed yesterday.
It went about half way down and that was all she wrote. As the affectionatos know: there is a differential cable system that pulls the window up or down. You get to either crank it manually or, as in my case, a motor does the cranking for you. The cables terminate on a "drum" such that as one is extended, one is retracted. Simple arrangement and it served me well for about 168K miles. What happened is that the cable termination at the window lift mechanism came free. My attempts to put the window back up caused the now loose cable to wrap around the drum and jam the mechanism. The motor, sensing this resistance, went into the same mode it goes into when you reach either the "up" or "down" limit: it shuts down. Once I got everything apart, I seemed to have about three choices: 1. Buy a new lift mechanism from the good folks at Trussville for about eighty something dollars 2. Find someone to fix the end 3. Fix it myself A local motorcycle shop gave me the name of a company here in the SF Bay area that makes custom cables. That means it doesn't get done today and, possibly, I may have been better off just buying the new part. Of course, today is Saturday, which means local sources of help might not be available. I have no idea what "brazing" is, but it sounded like a possibility. I bought some brazing rods and turned the propane torch on it to see what it would do. Interestingly enough, it got hot and melted. That's a good start! I took the end of the disconnected cable that I pulled out of it's sheath and cut off the end that used to be anchored in the termination. I had to do this to get it through the sheath once again. That was easy and I figured that normal stretching and tolerances in the system should allow me to cut off a few millimeters with no serious problems. Once I threaded the required plastic pieces back on the cable, I heated up the brazing rod till it was near that point of being liquid and also turned the torch on the end of the cable that needed a termination. I kept the heat going as I formed a big blob of whatever the brazing rod material is on the end of the cable. Not too big, as it needs to fit into the plastic piece that connects the "up" and "down" cable ends together. This was successful. Sort of round end vs. the OEM cylindrical end; we shall see if it is a problem or not. Put it all back together and ran the window up and down a bunch of times. Looks like a winner, folks! A couple of hints for those who might try this at home: 1. If you take the motor apart, be prepared to have to deal with getting the brushes back together again. It's like humpty dumpty. I've done motors for years and knew it was coming. My solution was to put the brushes and springs back in, one at a time, and hold them in place with a piece of metal tape over the top of the assembly. Once the armature is re-assembled (it's a DC motor with magnets...oooh boy...fun, fun, fun) you remove the tape and ensure the brushes are making contact. Brush wear, by the way, seemed modest. I suspect the motors will go another couple of hundred thousand miles at this rate. 2. To wind the cable on the plastic drum, it is a good idea to take up the cable slack. I made a simple wood strip with key slots that went over the cables to compress the tension springs at the motor body and held this in place with a woodworking clamp. I had to redo this a few times to really take up the slack and slightly reposition the lift mechanism to get the square hole in the drum to align with the square drive axle. 3. The owner's manual didn't cover any of this stuff. It did, however, suggest removal of the rubberized weather strip that is on the exterior side of the glass. It seemed like a fool's errand, so I left it in place and carefully worked around it when putting the glass back in. Seems ok for now; no real damage that I can see. Pretty much all of this didn't go as smoothly as I would lead you to believe. Meditation exercises or outright swearing will be required. Whatever works for you. Ken |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
I had recent attempts with my manual crank mech about a month ago. My cable
broke a couple wires making a slight bird's nest along the length of the cable. I took the mechanism out to see if I could sub. cables from my bicycle parts garage on it. First off, cable diameter aren't the same and would probably not stand up to the use of a manual crank window. After disassembling the mech. in hopes of putting new cable, and finding out my deep breathing techniques to achieve tranquility failed miserably as I got stabbed by sharp wire on my fingertips for the one zillionth time; I unlike you, gave up and went and ordered a powerwindow kit from an italian vendor and in two hours once I received it, was moving my windows up and down again. I commend you on your adventure in window repair. I took the I guess expensive route (250.00 for the kit) but figured I saved myself about 600.00 in urgent care bills for multiple stab wounds to fingertips (I now know how diabetics feel having to test the blood sugar 5-6x/day) ! Dan "KWS" > wrote in message news:Pd3ad.213469$MQ5.35425@attbi_s52... > Today's task was to fix the power window in the '90B that failed yesterday. > It went about half way down and that was all she wrote. > > As the affectionatos know: there is a differential cable system that pulls > the window up or down. You get to either crank it manually or, as in my > case, a motor does the cranking for you. The cables terminate on a "drum" > such that as one is extended, one is retracted. Simple arrangement and it > served me well for about 168K miles. > > What happened is that the cable termination at the window lift mechanism > came free. My attempts to put the window back up caused the now loose cable > to wrap around the drum and jam the mechanism. The motor, sensing this > resistance, went into the same mode it goes into when you reach either the > "up" or "down" limit: it shuts down. > > Once I got everything apart, I seemed to have about three choices: > > 1. Buy a new lift mechanism from the good folks at Trussville for about > eighty something dollars > 2. Find someone to fix the end > 3. Fix it myself > > A local motorcycle shop gave me the name of a company here in the SF Bay > area that makes custom cables. That means it doesn't get done today and, > possibly, I may have been better off just buying the new part. Of course, > today is Saturday, which means local sources of help might not be available. > > I have no idea what "brazing" is, but it sounded like a possibility. I > bought some brazing rods and turned the propane torch on it to see what it > would do. Interestingly enough, it got hot and melted. That's a good start! > I took the end of the disconnected cable that I pulled out of it's sheath > and cut off the end that used to be anchored in the termination. I had to do > this to get it through the sheath once again. That was easy and I figured > that normal stretching and tolerances in the system should allow me to cut > off a few millimeters with no serious problems. > > Once I threaded the required plastic pieces back on the cable, I heated up > the brazing rod till it was near that point of being liquid and also turned > the torch on the end of the cable that needed a termination. I kept the heat > going as I formed a big blob of whatever the brazing rod material is on the > end of the cable. Not too big, as it needs to fit into the plastic piece > that connects the "up" and "down" cable ends together. This was successful. > Sort of round end vs. the OEM cylindrical end; we shall see if it is a > problem or not. > > Put it all back together and ran the window up and down a bunch of times. > Looks like a winner, folks! > > A couple of hints for those who might try this at home: > > 1. If you take the motor apart, be prepared to have to deal with getting > the brushes back together again. It's like humpty dumpty. I've done motors > for years and knew it was coming. My solution was to put the brushes and > springs back in, one at a time, and hold them in place with a piece of metal > tape over the top of the assembly. Once the armature is re-assembled (it's a > DC motor with magnets...oooh boy...fun, fun, fun) you remove the tape and > ensure the brushes are making contact. Brush wear, by the way, seemed > modest. I suspect the motors will go another couple of hundred thousand > miles at this rate. > > 2. To wind the cable on the plastic drum, it is a good idea to take up the > cable slack. I made a simple wood strip with key slots that went over the > cables to compress the tension springs at the motor body and held this in > place with a woodworking clamp. I had to redo this a few times to really > take up the slack and slightly reposition the lift mechanism to get the > square hole in the drum to align with the square drive axle. > > 3. The owner's manual didn't cover any of this stuff. It did, however, > suggest removal of the rubberized weather strip that is on the exterior side > of the glass. It seemed like a fool's errand, so I left it in place and > carefully worked around it when putting the glass back in. Seems ok for now; > no real damage that I can see. > > Pretty much all of this didn't go as smoothly as I would lead you to > believe. Meditation exercises or outright swearing will be required. > Whatever works for you. > > Ken > > > > > > |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
I did buy four feet of (I believe) 1/16" cable just in case I had to fool
with it. Unlike the end at the window mechanism, the end at the drum must have a more exact termination. Fortunately, I was able to remake the busted end. Fortunately, I don't feel your pain. Ken "Dan Nguyen" > wrote in message ... > I had recent attempts with my manual crank mech about a month ago. My cable > broke a couple wires making a slight bird's nest along the length of the > cable. I took the mechanism out to see if I could sub. cables from my > bicycle parts garage on it. First off, cable diameter aren't the same and > would probably not stand up to the use of a manual crank window. After > disassembling the mech. in hopes of putting new cable, and finding out my > deep breathing techniques to achieve tranquility failed miserably as I got > stabbed by sharp wire on my fingertips for the one zillionth time; I unlike > you, gave up and went and ordered a powerwindow kit from an italian vendor > and in two hours once I received it, was moving my windows up and down > again. > I commend you on your adventure in window repair. I took the I guess > expensive route (250.00 for the kit) but figured I saved myself about 600.00 > in urgent care bills for multiple stab wounds to fingertips (I now know how > diabetics feel having to test the blood sugar 5-6x/day) ! > Dan > "KWS" > wrote in message > news:Pd3ad.213469$MQ5.35425@attbi_s52... > > Today's task was to fix the power window in the '90B that failed > yesterday. > > It went about half way down and that was all she wrote. > > > > As the affectionatos know: there is a differential cable system that > pulls > > the window up or down. You get to either crank it manually or, as in my > > case, a motor does the cranking for you. The cables terminate on a "drum" > > such that as one is extended, one is retracted. Simple arrangement and it > > served me well for about 168K miles. > > > > What happened is that the cable termination at the window lift mechanism > > came free. My attempts to put the window back up caused the now loose > cable > > to wrap around the drum and jam the mechanism. The motor, sensing this > > resistance, went into the same mode it goes into when you reach either the > > "up" or "down" limit: it shuts down. > > > > Once I got everything apart, I seemed to have about three choices: > > > > 1. Buy a new lift mechanism from the good folks at Trussville for about > > eighty something dollars > > 2. Find someone to fix the end > > 3. Fix it myself > > > > A local motorcycle shop gave me the name of a company here in the SF Bay > > area that makes custom cables. That means it doesn't get done today and, > > possibly, I may have been better off just buying the new part. Of course, > > today is Saturday, which means local sources of help might not be > available. > > > > I have no idea what "brazing" is, but it sounded like a possibility. I > > bought some brazing rods and turned the propane torch on it to see what it > > would do. Interestingly enough, it got hot and melted. That's a good > start! > > I took the end of the disconnected cable that I pulled out of it's sheath > > and cut off the end that used to be anchored in the termination. I had to > do > > this to get it through the sheath once again. That was easy and I figured > > that normal stretching and tolerances in the system should allow me to cut > > off a few millimeters with no serious problems. > > > > Once I threaded the required plastic pieces back on the cable, I heated up > > the brazing rod till it was near that point of being liquid and also > turned > > the torch on the end of the cable that needed a termination. I kept the > heat > > going as I formed a big blob of whatever the brazing rod material is on > the > > end of the cable. Not too big, as it needs to fit into the plastic piece > > that connects the "up" and "down" cable ends together. This was > successful. > > Sort of round end vs. the OEM cylindrical end; we shall see if it is a > > problem or not. > > > > Put it all back together and ran the window up and down a bunch of times. > > Looks like a winner, folks! > > > > A couple of hints for those who might try this at home: > > > > 1. If you take the motor apart, be prepared to have to deal with getting > > the brushes back together again. It's like humpty dumpty. I've done motors > > for years and knew it was coming. My solution was to put the brushes and > > springs back in, one at a time, and hold them in place with a piece of > metal > > tape over the top of the assembly. Once the armature is re-assembled (it's > a > > DC motor with magnets...oooh boy...fun, fun, fun) you remove the tape and > > ensure the brushes are making contact. Brush wear, by the way, seemed > > modest. I suspect the motors will go another couple of hundred thousand > > miles at this rate. > > > > 2. To wind the cable on the plastic drum, it is a good idea to take up > the > > cable slack. I made a simple wood strip with key slots that went over the > > cables to compress the tension springs at the motor body and held this in > > place with a woodworking clamp. I had to redo this a few times to really > > take up the slack and slightly reposition the lift mechanism to get the > > square hole in the drum to align with the square drive axle. > > > > 3. The owner's manual didn't cover any of this stuff. It did, however, > > suggest removal of the rubberized weather strip that is on the exterior > side > > of the glass. It seemed like a fool's errand, so I left it in place and > > carefully worked around it when putting the glass back in. Seems ok for > now; > > no real damage that I can see. > > > > Pretty much all of this didn't go as smoothly as I would lead you to > > believe. Meditation exercises or outright swearing will be required. > > Whatever works for you. > > > > Ken > > > > > > > > > > > > > > |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
1994 Accord LX Power Window Problem | R. P. | Honda | 6 | December 28th 04 02:09 AM |
2000 Honda Civic Power Window Problem | [email protected] | Honda | 6 | October 31st 04 01:46 AM |
Is there a good way to raise a power window manually? 1995 325is | Nick Miller | BMW | 1 | October 13th 04 04:20 PM |
Caravan power window not working | BV | Dodge | 4 | June 16th 04 09:39 PM |