window regulators

[jjb-w116-hu]

hi guys, hpe you're all having a lovely day - beautiful sunny day in Auckland new zealand, and i'd much rather be working on the Emily in the sun, but in the office i am... i bought some parts from a local chap a few months ago and only got around to checking them now. i have a few window regulators but they're all warped/bent as is often the case. is there any way to straighten these out? i have a funny feeling i've seen Kent aka Mercedessource talk about straightening them before but cant for the life of me so how i might do this, that rather solid cast iron arm is attached to a few other bits in there. i really need to replace my rear drivers door regulator as it must be missing some teeth and no longer engages.
any advice/suggestions on how to not bollocks this repair right up?

thanks James

[1980sdga]

I think Kent has a youtube video showing him doing it.

Here ya go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRY9-ydbup4&feature=related

[Casey]

You just need a vice and some guts.  You might break your regulators trying to straighten them, but if they're warped and bent, what have you got to lose anyways?

I've got to have a go at mine soon - the one in my 300 driver door is shattered and  the one in my passenger door is badly bent beyond usability as well.  The driver one in the 450 is bent as it won't go up all the way without help and grinding sounds.  I've got two nicely bent ones from the junk yard that I'm hoping to make usable as well.

I'm sure they all need lubricated badly as well, and both of my sunroofs stick.  For some reason all the windows and sunroof in the 450 crawl at a snail's pace, I think the motors must be old and shot.  At the end of the day I'll be rather pleased if I can get one car with 4 properly working windows and sunroof.

[mbrassart]

I just did my right rear regulator following Kent on youtube.  I didn't have a vice, so I used a 2x4, my body weight, a largepair of channel lock pliers, and muscle.  It's not perfedctly straight, but it works now.  It actually took me longer to get the door panel back on than it did to fix the regulator.  It wasn't too hard.  Go for it.

Matt

[DialecticDielectrics]

The youtube demo video seems to be private... do I need to contact someone?

[hans]

What causes window regulator warpage to begin with?  Does the inner door metal (the mounting area) ever get warped from the constant torquing of the motor / regulator?

[Squiggle Dog]

I think that lack of proper lubrication combined with friction from hardened window slider seals cause the regulators to warp. Sometimes the vertical aluminum guide bar will bend and make it nearly impossible for the window to slide, which will cause a brand new regulator to warp immediately.

Also, I have seen door metal bend and even tear from overtourquing.

[TJ 450]

All the 116s I've had with power windows have warped door inner skins to some extent. There is a lot to be said about proper maintenance of the whole glass sliding system to prevent this from happening. Common areas where excessive friction may exist are the bailey channels, lower rubber/felt wiper strips, followed by the actual lift mechanism itself and possible warped rails as mentioned previously.

Tim

[JasonP]

You know, when I just repaired my driver's side window regulator (it was bent, and the gears were missing each other), I did not even think to check all the other parts of the system.    It could break down again in a matter of weeks.

Oh, well. At least I know how to do it now.