Slow side windows / regreasing?

s!ke

JDM Tyte Yo!
Jun 17, 2006
192
0
16
San Jose, California
Hey guys, not sure if this is the right forum for this, but both of my windows are very slow to go up.

First thought was the motors are dying, but then I thought maybe I should jsut regrease the window arms. Is there a preference? I took off the door panel, but how do I get the the actual window? Do I have to take off the half of the metal door frame?


Might be a stupid question but any help is appreciated. Even little things like which type of grease to use, techniques, etc.
 

OfnaRcR4

Shea!
Oct 2, 2006
1,340
0
0
kettering ohio
More than likely its resistance built up in the switches. Power goes from the drivers side to the pass side. I'm sure someone will go further into it but usually its not a friction issue.
 

koldfire08

Member
Jul 5, 2009
139
0
16
Las Vegas
Subscribed. I'm having the same issue. Hopefully someone can shed some light on the matter.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
 

s!ke

JDM Tyte Yo!
Jun 17, 2006
192
0
16
San Jose, California
OfnaRcR4;1944694 said:
More than likely its resistance built up in the switches. Power goes from the drivers side to the pass side. I'm sure someone will go further into it but usually its not a friction issue.

They are both slow, but the passenger side actual goes up faster/more consistently than the driver side. Also, sometime my window gets stuck all the way down and wont go up at all. Sometimes I have to turn off the car, let the car cool down or something to then get the window to roll up. I took off the door handle and there are crimped wires all over the place, so someone clearly did something before hand to the window switches... I don't know why either.

I was told the grease gets old and crusty and you should scrape it off and replace it. If it's not that, do you think the motors/regulators are going bad?
 

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
16,757
0
0
42
Fort Worth, TX
Doing it properly requires pretty much total disassembly of the door, but it's not really hard, just tedious.

Cleaning and regreasing does amazing things for window regulators, but it's not always going to help (especially if parts are just plain broken/worn)
 

s!ke

JDM Tyte Yo!
Jun 17, 2006
192
0
16
San Jose, California
Poodles;1944804 said:
Doing it properly requires pretty much total disassembly of the door, but it's not really hard, just tedious.

Cleaning and regreasing does amazing things for window regulators, but it's not always going to help (especially if parts are just plain broken/worn)

Sigh, I was hoping that wouldn't be so annoying.

So I have alittle bit of an update. I took off the door panel, and noticed a lot of the wires were crimped together. I noticed that they get VERY hot. Sometimes the drivers window doesn't roll down or up at all (the passanger continues to work). When I hit the drivers switch I can hear the relay clicking over, but nothing happens. If I let the car(and switch) cool off for a little bit, and I come back to the car, then the window goes up no problem. Any ideas?
 

OfnaRcR4

Shea!
Oct 2, 2006
1,340
0
0
kettering ohio
I think it boils down to what I said earlier. Google search and I guarantee you will find many people with the same problem who have solutions.
 

s!ke

JDM Tyte Yo!
Jun 17, 2006
192
0
16
San Jose, California
OfnaRcR4;1945001 said:
I think it boils down to what I said earlier. Google search and I guarantee you will find many people with the same problem who have solutions.

Alright just cleaned my contacts. That might help that it doesn't go up at all sometimes, but what about how slow it is? I'm gonna take apart the door and try to regrease the windows. Also, it gets slower as the switch gets hotter. Is it because my battery cant give enough power to the switch?
 

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
16,757
0
0
42
Fort Worth, TX
Heat = resistance = heat

It's known as thermal runaway, and it's how fuses work. Hold a motor and don't let it move and it also pulls more power making heat...
 

s!ke

JDM Tyte Yo!
Jun 17, 2006
192
0
16
San Jose, California
Alright, well seems liek I won't solve that problem. Time to take apart the door, clean/regrease and maybe even replace the motors. Does anyone have a link to a write up on removing the inside part of the door to get to the motor/gears?


Poodles;1945535 said:
Heat = resistance = heat

It's known as thermal runaway, and it's how fuses work. Hold a motor and don't let it move and it also pulls more power making heat...
 

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
16,757
0
0
42
Fort Worth, TX
Best writeup is in the TSRM. It's a bit harder to do than some others (Miata is the last one I did), but not really hard. You might have replace some parts though once you're in there (felt stops, rollers, etc).
 

s!ke

JDM Tyte Yo!
Jun 17, 2006
192
0
16
San Jose, California
Sigh I'm so lazy and scared to take apart the door, that it will just unravel in a project I cant complete. haha.

Any idea for why my window switch stops working after it gets hot? Is it overheating? How do I stop it from overheating?
 

s!ke

JDM Tyte Yo!
Jun 17, 2006
192
0
16
San Jose, California
Electrical is probably my weakest point. How do you fix the resistance? I would think that resistance is not fixable. It's just normal....

Thanks for all of your help Poodles.
 

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
16,757
0
0
42
Fort Worth, TX
Window regulator puts a higher load on the motor, which puts a higher load on the wiring, which puts a higher load on the switch... So long as the load is under the rating of the fuse, the fuse won't pop. Someone might have changed the fuse to a higher amp one because it was popping them, so not the switch is the weak point in the system and not the fuse.

It's still all 20+ year old electronics...