Windows stop and start?

[drhill]

Hi Everyone,

To complement my 84 wagon, I recently picked up a 92 Town Car...I shoudl have waited for 5.0 Town Car, but...that's a story for another time.

3 out of 4 windows did not work when I got it, so I bought the regulators. Turns out the bushings in the motors were shot, replaced those with 1/4 20 nuts and they work now but the back two windows stop and start. Both roll down ok, but when going up, they stop at 2 or 3 different points on the way up. One of them will eventually go all the way up without help if I give it a running start at the "sticky" areas a few times in a row, the other one I have to help past the "sticky" areas.

The regulators looked good...no broken cable...but I'm not an expert in diagnosing them. The motors get really hot when they get stuck and I keep pushing the button.

Do you guys think this could be the motors going bad, the regulators going bad or just need a good greasing? Or something else?

Thanks again for the advice and direction! You guys are unbelievably helpful

[AC75]

Hi,

I think the regulators might need adjustment and your tracks need greasing. Use a can of spray lube with one of those little straw/pipe things on the end. Stick it in the felt guides the glass slides up and down in and let it flow...and flow. It will maybe make a bit of a mess but you can clean it up once you get the windows running smooth. I'd recommend doing this to the tracks behind the door panel inside the door as well. If that doesn't help then you might want to try the adjustment procedure. To do this lower the glass to the bottom position, slack the TOP regulator bolts, and then carefully power up the window while being sure the glass stays in the tracks until fully closed. Tighten the TOP bolts again. I did this when I put in a regulator in my own Town Car just this week.

[drhill]

Hi,

I think the regulators might need adjustment and your tracks need greasing. Use a can of spray lube with one of those little straw/pipe things on the end. Stick it in the felt guides the glass slides up and down in and let it flow...and flow. It will maybe make a bit of a mess but you can clean it up once you get the windows running smooth. I'd recommend doing this to the tracks behind the door panel inside the door as well. If that doesn't help then you might want to try the adjustment procedure. To do this lower the glass to the bottom position, slack the TOP regulator bolts, and then carefully power up the window while being sure the glass stays in the tracks until fully closed. Tighten the TOP bolts again. I did this when I put in a regulator in my own Town Car just this week.

AWESOME, just what I was looking for. DO you recommend White Lithium grease or Silicone spray?

[AC75]

I just jammed regular WD40 in there. Not sure if others would suggest anything else but I figured with it being the felt guides it would be really hard to get thick goopy grease to flow where it's needed most. WD worked great and the new regulator moves lightening fast.

[gadget73]

The felt likes silicone grease. WD40 dries out and goes away and it tends to streak the glass too. Lithium smears on the glass.

[drhill]

I used silicone spray on all the runners and did the adjust proceedure...they're a bit better but the back windows still stop and start on the way up....the front driver does as well...so all three windows motors I worked on do this. Could this be something with the 1/4 nuts I used? Maybe regulators or ? I'm at the end of my window expertise just seems strange that they struggle at certain points

[drhill]

The stopping on the way up is cyclical...like the regulator or motor is struggling once a rotation? Does that make sense? I guess I could get new regulators and motors and be done but I get the feeling there's a cheaper option

[sly]

the plastic gear may have cracked from the pressure of the nuts. That's why I use the 7/16 ball bearings... the pressures are directed more at the fat parts of the plastic (by about 1mm if memory serves, but it's enough).

[AC75]

Maybe take out one of the motors and open it up again to be sure something isn't dicked up inside where the nuts are. I used the little plastic things in there rather than nuts. Not sure if it would make any difference, but it's possible that Sly is right and the gear has cracked.

I just looked over the adjustment procedure again and it also makes note to do the same sorta thing with the glass runs, which I guess could make a difference. Basically is says to just loosen the door glass run bolt, lower the glass to full-down, and then re-tighten.

I can't remember the setup in the front door since it's over a year since I did that one, but for the back doors there are a couple bolts that hold glass-runs. One that bolts in around the area where the motor is, and another near the door-latch (hidden when the door is closed). I'm thinking it would be the one near the latch that you would need to loosen.

With that bolt loose and the glass down, there would be enough play for it (the glass) to slide where it wants without stress. If you tighten it while in that position, it should be good to go when you lower the glass next time... I think. If that don't help then I really don't know what's up.

[drhill]

Thanks for the help guys, I loosened up the runners and the windows got better....not back to normal but they work!

[AC75]

Great! Maybe now that the runners are positioned correctly, if you go back and do the alignment on the top regulators bolts as you did before it might help a bit more? If the runners were too tight when you did it the first time it probably wasn't going to help too much. Just a thought.