When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Well looks like I have owned the car long enough now to have gotten all of the niggling but obnoxious issues I have read about over time. Recently I noticed that there was a gap between the drivers's window and the rear left quarter window that appeared kind of suddenly. I have not lowered the rear quarter windows for quite a few years so I figured the front window must have somehow shifted. I just came from my local guy and we were operating the front window which, apart from the usual rattles, seemed to be operating just fine but the gap was still there. So I hit the button to open the rear quarter windows and both went down but the rear left quarter window does not raise all the way and I cannot manually pull it up.
Not sure how NOT using the window for years would cause the problem but he said it was the regulator which is a horrible and expensive job which takes hours. I certainly am not going to tackle it but he estimates about $900!!!
Quick question. From Gus' site I found a diagram showing the relays you mention. I suppose I can try "jumping" the LH Quarter Window relay but exactly how is that done. Do you pull out the relay and jump some connections with a wire? With the electric issues in these cars I am reluctant though to jump anything.
Well looks like I have owned the car long enough now to have gotten all of the niggling but obnoxious issues I have read about over time. Recently I noticed that there was a gap between the drivers's window and the rear left quarter window that appeared kind of suddenly. I have not lowered the rear quarter windows for quite a few years so I figured the front window must have somehow shifted. I just came from my local guy and we were operating the front window which, apart from the usual rattles, seemed to be operating just fine but the gap was still there. So I hit the button to open the rear quarter windows and both went down but the rear left quarter window does not raise all the way and I cannot manually pull it up.
Not sure how NOT using the window for years would cause the problem but he said it was the regulator which is a horrible and expensive job which takes hours. I certainly am not going to tackle it but he estimates about $900!!!
I guess no alternative except to bite the bullet?
I am not surprised they are breaking due to age considering the plastics used. Bound to happen to all of them.
If you can DIY its not expensive at all. Probably around 50$ for the kit to rebuild the regulator. The first one I did took many hours of expletive laced turmoil to get it extracted up through the window slot, but it did happen eventually. Fixing the actual regulator is not hard at all.
Maybe take another look at my write up here about how to rebuild one. Your guy could likely do the rebuild vs. replace and knock off a couple hundred from the cost.
Even in my much younger days I wouldn't have wanted to go through the torture of even getting to the regulator to remove it. Seems that alone is a bear of a job.
Even in my much younger days I wouldn't have wanted to go through the torture of even getting to the regulator to remove it. Seems that alone is a bear of a job.
I just did my right side regulator. It's quite fiddly, but not all that difficult. The write-up on jagrepair.com was invaluable.
These crappy Ford regulators (I have a rear quarter window regulator from my SN95 Mustang and, while they are not identical to the Jag, they are very close cousins) are made with plastic pulleys with no bearing. The brilliant design has a cable winding and unwinding on a spool attached to the motor. The only thing keeping the cable straight and aligned with the spool groove is that crappy plastic pulley. When it wears the pulley starts turning at an angle, the cable gets tangled in the spool, and the window grinds to a halt.
Regardless of who does the work, I recommend sending the regulator to Power Windows Repair AZ. They have an eBay presence. I sent mine to them and got it back within a few days. The plastic pulleys were replaced by metal posts, and metal pulleys with bearings. This thing is as sturdy as all get out, and will outlast the car.
That rebuild is nice looking and not sure how my local guy will deal with it. But from that photo it is a perfect demonstration of something that should be a simple device is hugely more complicated than it really should have been what with the pulleys and cable.
I agree about Power Window Repair in Phoenix, AZ doing excellent regulator rebuilds. They rebuilt both for my 97.
Great pic! I took pix of the process when I did mine and apparently had a massive brain f*rt. I completely forgot to take a pic of the refurbished regulator. I may steal your pic!!
Well bit the bullet and had new regulators for the rear quarter windows installed ant the parts came from Moss Motors (I believe). The quarter windows now work like a charm but now I have a gap between the main window and the quarter window on both sides, but the driver side is the larger one. I assume the problem is not with the quarter windows but maybe adjustment of the main windows? I went through the "reprogram" of the windows by opening and holding and closing and holding and this did not solve. The gap happens at the very last movement of the main windows where they sort of move forward.
It looks to me like whoever installed them didn't adjust the rear regulators properly. You have to bolt them in loosely, then roll the window up and futz with the bolts and the stop. The roll it down and up and recheck. There is a little lateral adjustment, and quite a bit of vertical adjustment. I suspect they didn't test the vertical adjustment. They can't be adjusted now without disassembling the interior, speaker, etc.
BTW, when you said new, are they NOS, new refurbished units, or new reproductions. I had to send one of mine to AZ for repair.
Hard to believe that a shop (or an individual) would expect you to pay for and accept a poor job like that one. Take the car back immediately and demand a proper repair...
There is a relationship between the front and rear windows.
The fronts can be adjusted slightly as to 'tilt'.
There is a horizontal bar to hold the regulator in position and the screws can be adjusted.
Sometimes they loosen and the assy needs to be re-adjusted.
Playing with BOTH the front and rear will get everything lined up.
When I picked the car up the top was down and I suspect they failed to see how things lined up with the top up. I alerted the shop when I got home and raised the top and he said it should be a relatively easy adjustment. The shop has been very fair in the past and expect they will take care of me when I bring it back in.
Another quarter window thread
