Door "comfort open" question

[jbboxsters]

I am have the problem that the drivers side window only lowers a couple milimeters when opening the door. This is enough that the window does not hit the rubber on the top, but I want to address the problem on mine timing and not the cars. I can push the window down to the correct location and have researched on this forum that this is a regulator problem. My question is what goes wrong with the regulator? It appears to be no more than cables that guide the window up/down keeping it straight in the track. wouldn't this problem be more related to the motor/gearbox. I just want to be sure to order the correct part to fix this problem without having to disassemble the door 2 times.

[1schoir]

I am have the problem that the drivers side window only lowers a couple milimeters when opening the door. This is enough that the window does not hit the rubber on the top, but I want to address the problem on mine timing and not the cars. I can push the window down to the correct location and have researched on this forum that this is a regulator problem. My question is what goes wrong with the regulator? It appears to be no more than cables that guide the window up/down keeping it straight in the track. wouldn't this problem be more related to the motor/gearbox. I just want to be sure to order the correct part to fix this problem without having to disassemble the door 2 times.

JB:

What goes wrong with the regulator is that the outer (black plastic/rubber) sheath that the inner metal cable slides in actually stretches and crumples in conjunction with the "damper spring" located on one leg of the flat triangular metal regulator body onto which the motor is mounted. Also, sometimes the plastic sleeve that the damper spring presses against sometimes cracks or a small piece of it splits off.

As the stretching and crumpling progress, you get less and less of that magic 1/2 inch retraction. More often than not, it will happen in sudden small steps or even in one sudden step. This is also sometimes combined with a stretching of the inner metal cable.

Here's a photo of one variation... The crumpling of the outer sheath.

The red circle shows the crumpled outer sheath. The yellow circle shows a "normal" outer sheath at another location. Disregard the metal clamp/contraption. I devised that to repair my regulator. It only worked for about a month. Not worth the effort, IMO.

Your description sounds like a bad regulator. The motors rarely go bad in comparison to the regulators.

Regards, Maurice.

[Chris_in_NH]

My question is what goes wrong with the regulator?

this is what happens: ;)

if your window goes up and down, then the motor is obviously working. a new regulator will fix your problem. and don't worry, the pieces that you break removing the door panel the first time will make it easier to remove the second time. :lol:

you can get a brand new regulator for $150 from Sunset Imports. the install is very easy. the hardest part is removing the door panel (without breaking anything!).

[efahl]

the hardest part is removing the door panel (without breaking anything!).

Chris, got any tips on avoiding breaking stuff? What parts break, the little clip pins?

[jbboxsters]

Thanks for the information, I will have a new regulator on order today.

Jerry

[Chris_in_NH]

the hardest part is removing the door panel (without breaking anything!).

Chris, got any tips on avoiding breaking stuff? What parts break, the little clip pins?

really, the only pieces that you need to worry about (and you don't *really* need to worry about them) are the interior door latch covers (the piece above the door handle). they have these little tabs that break very easily. the good news is that if you break them, they still fit securely - and it just makes it easier to remove them next time! ;)

i broke both of my door handle pieces, so i can't really give advice on how to be successful in removing them. :lol:

[1schoir]

the hardest part is removing the door panel (without breaking anything!).

Chris, got any tips on avoiding breaking stuff? What parts break, the little clip pins?

really, the only pieces that you need to worry about (and you don't *really* need to worry about them) are the interior door latch covers (the piece above the door handle). they have these little tabs that break very easily. the good news is that if you break them, they still fit securely - and it just makes it easier to remove them next time! ;)

i broke both of my door handle pieces, so i can't really give advice on how to be successful in removing them. :lol:

efahl:

I concur with Chris in that the interior door latch covers is the only tricky part.

I have had some repeated success in avoiding the breaking off of that little tab as follows: It helps if you press down HARD on that part near its top rear and then, after sticking the small screwdriver in from underneath to pull the bottom away at the front slightly, rotate that part up (while maintaining the hard downward pressure near its rear) by its rearmost section and it will come off without damage.

If you can visualize it, that little tab near the rear that is prone to breaking is a small right angle hook that faces up and, by pressing down hard, you are clearing the horizontal slot that it hooks onto before the upward rotation starts to rotate it away from the small horizontal slot.

Good Luck. Let us know how you make out.

Regards, Maurice.

Edited January 8, 2008 by 1schoir

[efahl]

Thanks, guys, that helps a bunch. My driver's door is doing the "reduced retraction" dance, so I'll probably be putting in a new regulator soon.

I just went out and popped off the cover on the door handle using Maurice's hints, came right off no breakage. :)

Eric

[1schoir]

Thanks, guys, that helps a bunch. My driver's door is doing the "reduced retraction" dance, so I'll probably be putting in a new regulator soon.

I just went out and popped off the cover on the door handle using Maurice's hints, came right off no breakage. :)

Eric

Eric:

Congrats! That's what I call jumping right in!

Remember, before you unbolt the two nuts that hold the two regulator legs to the bottom of the door skin, be sure that on the inside you mark the position of the "feet" of the legs where they rest on the bottom of the door (with a Sharpie Marker or similar). You can almost see the "foot" of one of the regulator legs in the photo I posted above, just below the metal part that is below the yellow circle in the photo.

When you reinstall the new part, that will save you from having to adjust those legs back and forth, as they affect the inboard-outboard angle that the surface of the window adopts as it goes up and down.

Regards, Maurice.

[efahl]

Congrats! That's what I call jumping right in!

Maurice,

Beats the heck out of working, which has prevented me from much wrenching on my "new" car... :)

Anyhow, thanks for the hint about aligning the bottom of the brackets. I'm thinking when I get around to doing this that I'll press my photographer son and his camera$ into service and maybe make a diy page of it (it'll prolly take longer to format the page and photos than to do the regulator install).

Eric

[1schoir]

Congrats! That's what I call jumping right in!

Maurice,

Beats the heck out of working, which has prevented me from much wrenching on my "new" car... :)

Anyhow, thanks for the hint about aligning the bottom of the brackets. I'm thinking when I get around to doing this that I'll press my photographer son and his camera$ into service and maybe make a diy page of it (it'll prolly take longer to format the page and photos than to do the regulator install).

Eric

Eric:

Excellent! Looking forward to reading that DIY! Tell your son, the more pictures, the merrier!

Regards, Maurice.

[logged in]

I'm about to go down this path myself, having just lost the increment-down function on my passenger window. (LHD car). What I'm wondering is if it's possible to sneak in a quick mod here, and give the passenger window a one-touch up/down function, a la Porsche 996, new Porsches etc.?

what if I were to order, say, a 996 regulator for my 986 (1997) Boxster? Or even a 986 (right window) regulator for a RHD car? :)

Will I suddenly get 996 functionality, or is more involved, such as programming issues? Would I need to change the microswitch in the door?

Any ideas, or shall I blaze the trail here, using my wife's escape fund?

[efahl]

From reading the MY97 wiring schematics, I'm going to guess that the regulator is indeed a "smart" module and that the swap would probably effect the desired result. The diagrams show that there are no intervening programmable modules between the switches and the regulators, and that the comfort feature is activated by its own wiring, which leads me to believe that the one-touch features are indeed part of the regulator electronics.

Eric

[Tool Pants]

1997 was a weird year, at least in the US. The passenger window has one-touch down, but not up. I bought a window motor from a 1998 thinking that with the motor I would have one-touch up. Nope. This "comfort" feature is from the control unit under the seat.

[juniinc]

this thing?

1997 was a weird year, at least in the US. The passenger window has one-touch down, but not up. I bought a window motor from a 1998 thinking that with the motor I would have one-touch down. Nope. This "comfort" feature is from the control unit under the seat.

[Tool Pants]

That thing. That is my picture. The control units for 1998-2000 are the same. 1997 is the weird year. The part number for a 1997 control unit is only for a 1997. Same thing with the remote key. There is a remote just for 1997, but the remotes for 1998-2000 are the same.

I have a 1997 and from what Peter told me I would have to get the control unit from a 1998-2000 to get one-touch up on the passenger window. Then I guess my 2 remote keys would not work.