Power Window Repair

BrianCT said:

I've seen the clips myself, the OEM plastic and the "upgraded" warranty clips. The upgraded clips are made of metal and not plastic. I think the dealership is incorrect on their assumption and ...make certain they use the upgraded clips if this is the case.


Look's metal to me!

Courtesy of WorldImpex

Click to expand...

The dealership wrong? Say it isn't so . From what I can gather they went to metal clips around 2003, but it still sounds like there are some issues.

I'll be on them like white on rice...

Yup, even some of the metal clips broke. Happened on our 03 Golf.

They do indeed glue the window into the clips. If you have some ice on the window, the clips can pull away from the glass. I glued both sides last winter when this happened. No more problem.

Thanks Bruce. I believe that's exactly what happened to mine (the ice that is). So the purpose of the glue is to keep the clip attached to the window. I missed that point from the previous posts.

I think I have the window curse. The same thing happened on my Chevy truck, except that's due to the crappy design. The best part about that is the OEM window mechanism is over $200. Very common problem on those trucks. GM wonders why it's in trouble...

For all the complaining we do about VOA, at least they manned up and admitted they have a problem and are providing a fix...

bf1967 said:

For all the complaining we do about VOA, at least they manned up and admitted they have a problem and are providing a fix...

Click to expand...

I think it was after couple thousand windows fell inside the doors of these cars leaving customers at the mercy of the weather and a class action suit that prodded the cow to the corral.

I may be mistaken ...but I think that's how it went.

BrianCT said:

I think it was after couple thousand windows fell inside the doors of these cars leaving customers at the mercy of the weather and a class action suit that prodded the cow to the corral.

I may be mistaken ...but I think that's how it went.

Click to expand...

Sometimes that's what it takes I guess. I wish GM would have been prodded in that direction. Thier replacement setup is really expensive, and it's the same junk as when they built it.

This sounds exactly like what happened to me today. 03 TDI Golf, iced passenger window, wouldn't open, eventually fell down.
I bought it used, though, without any warranty documentation. Will I be covered?
Also, I've been trying to figure out how to take off the door panel. After fiddling with it for awhile, the trim cover seems more likely to break off than pop off. Besides, mine doesn't look anything like what's depicted in the manual.

Thanks in advance for any answers.

swajsofa said:

This sounds exactly like what happened to me today. 03 TDI Golf, iced passenger window, wouldn't open, eventually fell down.
I bought it used, though, without any warranty documentation. Will I be covered?
Also, I've been trying to figure out how to take off the door panel. After fiddling with it for awhile, the trim cover seems more likely to break off than pop off. Besides, mine doesn't look anything like what's depicted in the manual.

Thanks in advance for any answers.

Click to expand...

Link below shows you how to disassemble the door and replace the window clips, if needed. If not, just glue the clips to the bottom of the window. Let the glue set 24 hours before lowering the windows.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=43368&page=4

paramedick said:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=43368&page=4

Click to expand...

Brings you to page 2.... or sumthin.

Page 1: removing the interior door handle

Page 2:removing the interior door panel

Page 3:detail of interior trim panel plastic door clip

Page 4:rmoving harnesses from trim panel

Page 5:taping the glass

Page 6:accessing the door clips

Page 7:removing the window motor harness

Page 8:speaker and mirror harness

Page 9:removing the door lock harness

Page 10:removing the door lock

Page 11:replacing regulator clips

Page 12:new regulator clips installed

Page 13:detail of new cable guide with repair kit

Any tips on how to get to the window regulator bolts when the window is down in the door?

I can't move the window at all to get it up to where I can expose the regulator clip bolts, so one of the regulators must still be "working".

Right now, I have a garbage bag duct-taped over my window

swajsofa said:

This sounds exactly like what happened to me today. 03 TDI Golf, iced passenger window, wouldn't open, eventually fell down.
I bought it used, though, without any warranty documentation. Will I be covered?
Also, I've been trying to figure out how to take off the door panel. After fiddling with it for awhile, the trim cover seems more likely to break off than pop off. Besides, mine doesn't look anything like what's depicted in the manual.

Thanks in advance for any answers.

Click to expand...

When I called the VW customer service line, they told me it was warrantied 7 years past the "in service" date of the car. I took my '05 in and they glued both front windows for me with their very special "channel bond" (that's what it was called on the receipt). I normally wouldn't let them touch the car, but it was cold outside and I didn't have the time to fool with it. Until I got there I was able to tape the window up in 3 spots. I put some paper over the painted surface so it wouldn't mess up the paint. Got the recalled brake switch done since I hadn't gotten to that yet.

Bob

Thanks for pointing those out. Very helpful. Got the glass back into the clips, which look like the new metal ones. So I guess all I need is this special glue. Any idea where to get it, perhaps a glass store?
Also, my fiddling caused some scratching. And suggestions how to fix that?

Thanks again

By the way, on these recalls and whatnot, is there a Web site on which to find them?

swajsofa said:

By the way, on these recalls and whatnot, is there a Web site on which to find them?

Click to expand...

It's actually not a recall. They've simply extended the warranty on the window clips due to the problems. You can call the customer service 800 # to get more detailed info. I think there is a letter floating around here somewhere as well.

Bob

I was told by both VW of America customer dontcare and my local dealership service dept. that the Passats aren't covered, and I'll have to pay to have this fixed.

Maybe I should be more gentle pressing the button next time

Any suggestions?

I can't drive my car over 45MPH right now as I have a damned trashbag duct-taped over the window hole.

Of course, it's rained just about every day since this happened.

waldo22 said:

I was told by both VW of America customer dontcare and my local dealership service dept. that the Passats aren't covered, and I'll have to pay to have this fixed.

Maybe I should be more gentle pressing the button next time

Any suggestions?

I can't drive my car over 45MPH right now as I have a damned trashbag duct-taped over the window hole.

Of course, it's rained just about every day since this happened.

Click to expand...

Can you tell if the clips are actually broke, or if it just pulled loose. I suspect if it just came loose then you could just glue it (with JB Weld?) yourself.

Maybe somebody who has fixed a Passat window can chime in. I can't imagine it's much different than the Golf/Jetta window though.

bf1967 said:

Can you tell if the clips are actually broke, or if it just pulled loose. I suspect if it just came loose then you could just glue it (with JB Weld?) yourself.

Click to expand...

I can't really tell yet.

The window is stuck down in the door, and it doesn't want me to pull it up.

Of course, I can't remove the door panel without getting the window out of the clips, so I'm in a catch 22.

If anyone's been in this situation before, please do chime in...

I just had my passenger window fall down into the door. I am hoping i just need to reglue the clips. I was able to get the window up by using a pair of fish hook pliers from my fishing tackle.

waldo22 said:

I can't really tell yet.

The window is stuck down in the door, and it doesn't want me to pull it up.

Of course, I can't remove the door panel without getting the window out of the clips, so I'm in a catch 22.

If anyone's been in this situation before, please do chime in...

Click to expand...

If the window fell into the door. It's likely that its out of the clips anyhow. You should be able to get the carrier panel out so that you can access the window in the door. You'll need to support the window in the door frame then (with some tape?) so that you can get it back into the clips. You can JBWeld it then so it doesn't come out again.

Bob

Just wanted to update this thread.

The problem turned out to be that the cable came slightly off-track on the white window regulator wheel, and the motor just chewed the cable up.

It was a real BEAR to get the door panel off.

The window was down in the door, still attached to the regulator clips, so I couldn't move it up at all to get access to the bolts to loosen the window.

I had to pry the panel out from the frame with one hand, praying I didn't break the glass, while loosening the 10mm bolts on the regulator clips with the other, all while my arm was being pinched to death between the door frame and the regulator panel. Not fun.

Anyway, I ordered a replacement regulator panel from 1stwvparts.com (Auburn VW in Washington State).

It came with all the parts attached to the panel, so all I had to do was add my regulator motor and speaker and I was off to the races.

I just had to drill out the rivets for my speaker first, and move it to the new regulator panel, which was a pain, but other than that, it went smoothly.

-Wes

The drivers window of my 2001 TDI dropped into the door the other day and I just started to research what it might be and how do I go about fixing it. My preliminary guess would be that the problem has something to do with "clips" that are known to break.

While scanning through this thread I came across something about a recall...we never got any recall for the drivers window dropping due to "broken clips"...that I'm sure of.

I do have the door panel lose, but have not removed it yet. Before I went too far, something told me I better do some research to find out more about what might be wrong. If I do need some parts, the closest VW dealer is 50 miles away and I am going there next week.

Any information about parts needed to repair the problem or if it is a good idea to replace other parts while I have the door apart...where to order from...any suggestions will be appreciated.

I have not checked to see if there are any How To(s) related to this problem or if there are other materials I need to read in order to educate myself to complete this fix, so, if anyone has such information, I would appreciate reviewing the necessary info.

Thanks in advance...mac

Like many threads this one has what you need but is very long