How To Fix A Window That Fell Out Of Its Track
Application: Civic SI 99-00, but I am positive this may happen to any civic with power windows. If your window hasn't popped out yet, and is rollling up/down slowly, grease that puppy quick to save you the trouble of actually having to use these instructions.
Symptoms: Windows seem to fight you just to go up or down. Doesn't seem to go up all the way. Window may actually be loose enough to move it side to side at least 2 inches from sides.
Honda mechanic says: "2 choices;
Choices:
Pretty simple deal. 30 min, nice cold pepsi and tunes. oh yeah some tools might help too.
Tools Needed:
Procedure:
**OPTIONAL STEPS
TOOLS:
lithium grease recommended or WD-40 if your in a pinch.
TOOLS:
References:
http://www.clubcivic.com/board/showthread.php?t=103218
UPDATE: I used a silcone spray recently in the tracks and haven't had to rspray since. The WD40 will not work as well.
This has been
Application: Civic SI 99-00, but I am positive this may happen to any civic with power windows. If your window hasn't popped out yet, and is rollling up/down slowly, grease that puppy quick to save you the trouble of actually having to use these instructions.
Symptoms: Windows seem to fight you just to go up or down. Doesn't seem to go up all the way. Window may actually be loose enough to move it side to side at least 2 inches from sides.
Honda mechanic says: "2 choices;
- you either need to keep the tracks clean with some Simple Green and keep the tracks lubed with some silicon lube spray when it needs it.
- The alternative is to have the entire power window assemble replaced, about $350 job per window when the motor burns out. This happens to alot of civics 96-00 that have been not garaged and exposed to the elements for the life of the car. Dirt gets in the seals(of the track) that can later cause damage to the way the power window works. "
Choices:
- Fork over the $350 (per window) and get it done and not worry about it for another 5 years
- Pay nadda, nothing, zero and use these instructions to fix the window, do a little preventive maintance and buy yourself some time and save that money for more important things like rims and turbo.
Pretty simple deal. 30 min, nice cold pepsi and tunes. oh yeah some tools might help too.
Tools Needed:
Procedure:
- Start with the door panel of the door, remove all screws that keep the interior panel tacked to the door.
- Start by taking out the one screw that holds the power windows button plastic peice and the one screw that holds the interior door handle. Use a flathead screwdriver to pry the window button plastic piece free.
- Unplug the wire harnesses that are connected to the handle and the power window buttons.
- Next take the speaker out, should be three screws that you can see that holds the speaker in place and three more around the rim of the speaker that are inside the indented holes. Uplug the speaker from the harness by squeezing the middle part of the harness and pulling it free.
- Now pull off the bottom right part of the interior panel(if drivers side, otherwise left bottom) and carefully tug it away from the door. This should pop out, carefully go around the bottom of the door and pop out the other retainers up around the right of the door. Leave the top of the door alone until you are sure that you have popped all the retainers around the sides and bottom of the door.
- Slide the panel diagonally left/up and it should come free.
- Panel should now have everything removed.
- Plug the power window buttons back in. You'll need to move the window up or down to get it back on track.
- Next, loosen the brass bolt near the bottom right side of the door. Should be right next to the speaker hole.
Use your handy dandy rachet with the correct size (I used 13/32 but I didn't have anything smaller). This bolt connects the bottom half of the front (close to the front of the car) track. - Lower your window all the way down, make sure that the window isn't really out of place when it goes down, you may have to help it along by applying pressure so the window slides back into the left track (away from the car) while going down.
- With the front track loose and the window down, you can now move the bottom of the window back in track by fitting it into the rubber seal in the metal track.
- Spray the track with the silcon lube at the top and bottom on both sides of the window.
- Now try to use the power windows buttons to move the window up and down to make sure it is in. You'll know it's not if it gets about a 3rd of the way up and you hear the motor really complaining.
- If your sure the window is in, do a couple of trys going up and down with the window and re-spraying the track each time to make sure it is really lubricated.
- Tighten the brass screw at the front and your done!
- Take off the power window buttons, so you can now reassemble the door, in the reverse order you took it apart.
- Slide the panel in diagonally toward the car, making sure that the top of the panel goes a little inside the top of the window opening, it should hang if you do it right.
- Push the retainers back in the holes it lines up with in the door. If the retainer came loose when you took the door apart, just slide it back into "C" clip built into the panel.
- Plug the lock and power window buttons back in.
- Put the screws back and put back your speaker.
**OPTIONAL STEPS
TOOLS:
lithium grease recommended or WD-40 if your in a pinch.
- Remove the plastic weather stripping from the bottom very carefully (if you want to reuse it). There will be some chalk like stuff that is very sticky which you can re-stick the plastic when your through.
- Using your fingers, put some grease along the track, I'm using WD-40 in the pic but should of used the grease for it to last longer.
- Push the plastic into the chalky stuff to reseal.
TOOLS:
- If the window seems to pop out even after you lubed it, you may have to do what I did. I found out that the window seemed to want to snug near the outside of the door when it went down, thus popping out of track.
- Completely unscrew the brass bolt in the front.
- Take the track off the bolt
- Put 2 washers on the bolt
- Put the track back on the bolt from the inside of the door.
- Screw the nut back on the end of the bolt
References:
http://www.clubcivic.com/board/showthread.php?t=103218
UPDATE: I used a silcone spray recently in the tracks and haven't had to rspray since. The WD40 will not work as well.
This has been
