OK - first project chosen - door innards/window regulator.... advice please?

[John Hubertz]

Well all, I'm about to join the real ranks of our Quixotic crusade to save these old war-horses as I have chosen the first object of my attention and "affection".... 

I'm going to take apart the inner panels and do a couple of repairs inside my front doors...  the driver's side has an inoperative lock as they appear to have disconnected the mechanism during a problem involving a vacuum leak (won't lock/unlock from outside although the key mechanism works well)... and the passenger window sticks just enough to cause a (soon-to-become expensive) "click" hummmm...."click"  as it is raised.

Advice on procedures to remove the door panels without damage?  Any recommended special tools, procedures or cautions?  Any advice on repairing anything on that window regulator that is becoming marginal?

Any names of good psychiatrists?

[oscar]

Hi John,

Two phillips head screw drvers is all you need.  One small and one medium to large. Read the lot first, there's a couple of notes down below re the difference between your and my doors that I hope others will add to the procedure.

Driver's door
- unscrew black plastic door lock knob
- from the inside top corner of the door that meets the roof and B pillar, look down approx 2" to find a small screw and undo it.  The thin moulding on that sill can then be removed by knocking/sliding it upwards then lift off.  It has at least one metal hook facing downwards.  Take the chrome trim at the bottom of the mould as well.
- two chrome large screws hold a C shaped chrome plate in place near the strike plate.  Undo those.
- if you have window winders, (don't think you have), remove by feeling behind the winder towards the knob and push thru a metal retaining clip that attaches the padded trim of the winder to the winder's arm. That bit may require force.  Have a look behind to see the clip which is metal and may need to be bent/sprung back a little to get the padding to pop out.  Pull the padding sliding towards the knob. The winder's arm and trimming then slide off the winding mech.
- look under the armrest now.  Ther'ell be two deep holes at an angle where you'll need to use a med-large phillips head screwdriver to remove the screws.  Take the chrome strips from behind if they're loose now.  Again there'll be a retaining clip towards the B pillar which requires you to bump/knock the armrest towards the front of the car.
- The door moulding should ready to be removed.  There's 4-5 plastic clips on the interior of the mould in various spots that hold it in place, but they all face downwards. You need to get under the top part of the mould in the centre and push/bump/knock the mould upwards with some inwards presure about an inch to free the clips. The chromed inner door release handle/housing stays in place as the mould is pulled back towards you.

When replacing, do the opposite of course.  Note though how there's a bunch of metal clips lining the door on the lower window sill.  These have to catch the top of the mould as you line all the other clips up and poke the lock thru the hole at the top of the mould.  You should line the mould up a few inches above its rightful positon, using your knee and hands push inwards and downwards.  It's handy to open the door a gainst something solid with padding in between so the door doesn't move and the the door check isn't stressed whilst you bump the mould into position again.

Here's the BUT part. Re the armrest.  Every Aussie 116 seems to have a flat drivers side armrest about a foot long.  Every one else seems to have a drivers side handle/armrest shaped like every passenger door.  To that end I've been unable to completely remove or figure out how to detach this part.  There is a screw but I've been unable to access it.  The mould though can still be slid down that part of the handle if you have to get inside the door.

If anyone else can shed some light please do.



EDIT:
My driver's door above with flat armrest

My front passenger door below which would resemble yours. You can see the difference and I don't know how to undo the part of the handle/armrest that goes into the chrome mould around the door opener.

[OzBenzHead]

John Hubertz

Advice on procedures to remove the door panels without damage?

Go to http://schumanautomotive.com/forums/showthread.php?t=643&highlight=door+liner for a post about door liner panel and parts removal. (Just remember that the instructions are RHD-oriented.)

Oscar

My front passenger door below ... would resemble yours. ... I don't know how to undo the part of the handle/armrest that goes into the chrome mould around the door opener.

On the passenger door?
Once you've removed the plastic insert in the door opening handle, there is a small screw in the centre of the chromed casting. Removing that screw allows retraction of the decorative bezel. You should then see a fat screw and star washer securing the top end of door pull; remove that and the door pull falls free (assuming you've already removed the two screws from underneath/inside the armrest).

Beyond the above, some of the door's innards can be three-handed jobs; however, I've never detatched from inside a Benz door anything I couldn't (eventually!) fit back in/on.

Good luck - and have fun!   

[Papalangi]

I just did the passenger window on my 450SEL.

The biggest problem was the grease on the guide rail had become to thick for the motor to overcome.  I used WD40 for solvent and cleaned the rail up.  Don't forget to reach all the way up inside the door to get the whole thing.  And be prepaired to get nasty grease all over your arms.

The guide is held to the bottom of the window with two bolts.  I pulled mine off and gave it a good cleaning.  Watch out for the plastic bits as the little one was a bit brittle on mine.  You'll see an arm the runs from the forward part of the window back to the guide mount, it's slotted and is driven by the arm from the regulator.  The slotted bolt at the front, combined with slop at the rear, adjusts the rake of the glass.  I had to pry mine such that it tilted as far back as it would go to keep the glass from tilting forward near the top of it's travel.  I used Sil-Glide (sp?) silicone grease on the guide rail.  The plastic bushing in the end of the arm from the regulator is available from Phil and the dealer.  It's called a window regulator kit and looks like this,
http://img.eautopartscatalog.com/live/O304132556OES.JPG

Michael