I have a window problem on the driver's side door window on an 89 Cavalier 2-door. The window rotates forward and gets all messed up when you try to raise or lower it. Can anyone give me any hints on how to troubleshoot, or have any diagrams?
I did notice that the front aluminum "guide" is just bare, it does not have any rubber or foam in it. I thought this was odd, but I did not find anything in the bottom of the door that looked like it had fallen off from there.
Is there a way to attach (upload) pictures to here from my computer? I don't see it. If so, I have pics. Thanks!
baron5867 wrote:I did notice that the front aluminum "guide" is just bare, it does not have any rubber or foam in it.
baron5867 wrote:Is there a way to attach (upload) pictures to here from my computer? I don't see it. If so, I have pics. Thanks!
I uploaded the above pictures elsewhere and linked to it. If anyone knows how to attach a picture (upload it to this site), please enlighten me. Thanks.
84conv wrote:These might help. I can scan and email them to you if you cannot read them.]
Thanks for posting, that might help. I have copied your pictures from here and can enlarge.
I forgot to mention, this is just a manually operated window.
I only had time the other night to pull the trim panel and insulator off, and take a quick look. IIRC, you cannot take the outer door skin off of these cars, which limits my ability to see what is in there (i.e., how things work and what might be worn/damaged).
I hope to take a better look tomorrow.
84conv wrote:Just thought of it. You can always use the door on the other side for reference.
Yes, if necessary. As i said above, I just looked at this real quick the other night.
Dorman is listing two guides (different than the aluminum rail mentioned above) for this application, a front and a rear (pictures below). I will be by and hope to look tomorrow to see if I can identify these on the car, and perhaps see if they might be causing the problem.
An aside... I had an 88 that I got 340k out of, and I never had stuff like this break on it. This car only has 85k on it. But I guess the car ages even if it is not used, and in fact, the low usage might be detrimental in some ways.
My first thought were those window guides.
There is a hole in your window at the front, the lower pic is your front one, and you just bend the nub of the "wing" part you can see into the hole and snap it together.
When you put the window back into the metal guide, the old rule of "if it doesn't fit force it" applies--no, really, you just jam it back into the silver guide with a little force and it "clicks" into place.
This plastic is how your window stays in the silver track.
Wayne Schiff wrote:My first thought were those window guides.
There is a hole in your window at the front, the lower pic is your front one, and you just bend the nub of the "wing" part you can see into the hole and snap it together.
When you put the window back into the metal guide, the old rule of "if it doesn't fit force it" applies--no, really, you just jam it back into the silver guide with a little force and it "clicks" into place.
This plastic is how your window stays in the silver track.
Now I am all sorts of confused.
I looked at the window again briefly a few days ago, and I did not see these guides at all. If they fell off/apart, they should be in the bottom of the door, but I didn't see them there. I was thinking that maybe those guides are for power windows.
I guess I should set aside time for Saturday to pull the trim off of the passenger side door and look to see how that window functions.
I had a low mileage 91 and those plastic clips broke. Manual cranks did exact same thing yours did. Easy and inexpensive fix if you can find the parts
Andrew Ruschmann wrote:I had a low mileage 91 and those plastic clips broke. Manual cranks did exact same thing yours did. Easy and inexpensive fix if you can find the parts
IF you are talking about the guides I have pictured above, they are cheap and available. They apparently are on a lot of GM cars from that era. And the application guide doesn't say anything about it being for manual or power, which would lead me to guess that they are on both styles. I just didn't see them on the car, but I guess they have to be there. Thanks.
those plastic clips belong to both manual and power windows, that's how the window stays in the silver guide track.
Wayne Schiff wrote:those plastic clips belong to both manual and power windows, that's how the window stays in the silver guide track.
LOL - Well, I guess there's the rub.... I don't see them, and the window doesn't stay in the guide track. Hopefully, I get the chance to pull the trim off of the passenger side door tomorrow for a comparison. That should go a long way to answer my questions, but thanks to you guys, I have a better idea what to look for.
baron5867 wrote:[Hopefully, I get the chance to pull the trim off of the passenger side door tomorrow for a comparison.
Ack... run out of time on Sunday before I could get to this. This will have to wait until I get more time, and hopefully, better weather. I put the problem window completely up, put the door panel/armrest back on, but left the window crank handle off so that nobody causes any problems.
I would suggest getting new ones (both front and rear) at NAPA--costs under $20.
The plastic is flexible and will break easy, so even if you find the one you lost, it is probably broke and that's why it fell out of the silver track.
Wayne Schiff wrote:I would suggest getting new ones (both front and rear) at NAPA--costs under $20..
It is about $6-$7 for the set at Rock Auto. I would want to physically verify that they are problem before I bring them in, though. As stated , the car is only occasionally driven, and it is winter, so the window can stay up for now. Thanks!
Check the rubber in the door glass run for cracks or debris. Normally what happens is that back guide will get caught in a crack or bind up in some dirt and the force from the regulator plus the aged brittle plastic normally ends up with that guid breaking off. Sometimes you can get lucky and it may just pop out. My passenger side window is inop right now from a broken guide. When you get it fixed I recommend using some sort of rubber lube in the door glass run to help it work easier.
I like that rubber lube idea, that might solve mine feeling so tight when I use them.
baron5867 wrote:It is about $6-$7 for the set at Rock Auto. I would want to physically verify that they are problem before I bring them in, though. As stated , the car is only occasionally driven, and it is winter, so the window can stay up for now. Thanks!
I decided to just bring in these two parts so that I know exactly what they look like. It was a good move.
With the front guide (above, the one that is kind of toothbrush-shaped), I was able to see it on the properly working passenger side door, and then understood where/how it went (lower-front corner of the glass). Once I understood what the front guide looked like, I realized that the old broken one on the driver side had been in with some debris at the bottom of the door.
I could not see the rear guide on the properly working passenger side door (it is hidden in the track/channel). I did find the mounting hole at the UPPER rear corner of the dislodged driver door window. As it turned out, the old rear guide was still in the track/channel, and had to be tediously fished out.
So... if you can't find a missing guide in the bottom of the door or still attached to the window, be sure to check the track/channel! Your repair will likely not go well if you miss it and leave it in there!
Josh Maloney wrote:When you get it fixed I recommend using some sort of rubber lube in the door glass run to help it work easier.
I sprayed the tracks with CRC Heavy Duty Silicone Spray, more to clean than to lube, and also to help the rubber.
I also cleaned and hit the regulator roller/channel area with white lithium grease while the door panel was off.
