Window regulator rail (1 Viewer)

[sorich]

My drivers side door got whipped open in a windstorm a month or so ago, damaging the door check assembly and causing the door to not open all the way without terrible noises happening. It also causes the window to make a terrible crunch/thunk when rolling the window up/down past the 3/4 mark.

Finally got around to replacing the door check assembly tonight, which I assumed was in the way of the window and causing the noise.

Door check replaced, door opens beautifully... window still makes terrible noise. Looks like the front channel where the window slides on was bent. Bent it back and noise got better.

Last noise happening now is from a piece of metal from the mounting hardware on the rail that the bottom of the window is seated on hitting part of the window regulator on it was past it up/down.

Question for anyone familiar with these assemblies...

Does this look like the original rail? There is a bolt and bracket that seem to hold onto the bottom of the window. You can see in the close up pictures that the front bolt bracket assembly is cracked. I can easily wiggle it back and forth with my hand and can see where it is broken.

I could live with it as-is with just an annoying sound when it goes lower than 3/4, or try to replace the entire regulator which seems like a pain. I was hoping to just find the bottom rail online someplace but can’t find anything.

Any wise words would be appreciated!

 

[sorich]

Another idea I just had was to epoxy the areas in this photo I’ve highlighted in red and let it set with a gentle clamp on it.

That would get that big metal piece out of the way of the regulator as the bottom rail moves past it... just don’t know if there would be unintended consequences from something like that. Who knows how long it would hold too.

 

[joshAUST]

If you really clean the components well, and then use epoxy, it should hopefully hold.
If not, you can always reheat the epoxy with a hair dryeer, etc, to make it brittle if you need to remove it in the future.
Take care of heat near the glass though, so you don't shatter it!
I'd probably get yourself a pdf copy of the FSM, and see if you can find a part number for that particular part, as it may be better in the long run.

 

[sorich]

If you really clean the components well, and then use epoxy, it should hopefully hold.
If not, you can always reheat the epoxy with a hair dryeer, etc, to make it brittle if you need to remove it in the future.
Take care of heat near the glass though, so you don't shatter it!
I'd probably get yourself a pdf copy of the FSM, and see if you can find a part number for that particular part, as it may be better in the long run.

Thanks for the suggestion! I did end up cleaning it as well as I could and applied liberal epoxy. Let it sit for about 45 minutes while clamped, and it held! No noise!! Until the epoxy popped 10 minutes later.

Oh well... it was worth a shot. Hopefully I can find just that rail without doing the whole regulator. That seems like a pain in the butt job.

 

[joshAUST]

Damn!
Sorry to hear it.
How liberal?
I'd use just enough to fill the crack/s, let it harden, then cover over it again as thick as you can.
Also, while epoxy sets in a few minutes, it can take up to 24 hours to reach full strengh.

I suspect it may not last though...
Good luck with it.

 

[BigRogers79]

I’ve got a very similar shriek that comes out of my drivers side window. Weird is that it quits after a roll down/roll up cycle. Have you found any resolve to you situation?

 

[outdoorsman]

Did you double check the channel to make sure it is still not bent?
It looks like is is twisting and maybe causing some stress?

Did you use epoxy that is good on metal and glass?

I second the thought of waiting 24 hours for the epoxy to set.

You might check with a auto glass replacement shop to see what they use.

 

[sorich]

Did you double check the channel to make sure it is still not bent?
It looks like is is twisting and maybe causing some stress?

Did you use epoxy that is good on metal and glass?

I second the thought of waiting 24 hours for the epoxy to set.

You might check with a auto glass replacement shop to see what they use.

Thanks! The resolution of this was glass replacement. The broken piece turned out to be the tab embedded in the glass rather than any component of the regulator itself. Lucky for me, my insurance covers glass replacement at no charge, so Safelite installed some OEM glass and got it all taken care of.

 

[joshAUST]

Good to hear!
And thanks for the update.
Hopefully its all sorted.