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Old May 16, 2005 | 08:13 PM
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Default Cleaning/greasing window guides

73 coupe. Has any one cleaned and greased the window guides on their car? the windows are electric.
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Old May 16, 2005 | 09:58 PM
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I assume you mean the tracks the rollers move in and yes. I soaked them in some solvent and got all the old grease off. It was kind of shocked at how hard the old grease was.

I relubed with lithium grease in the tracks.

I have heard a lot of people say how much of a difference this makes and it did on mine but not nearly as much as I was hoping.

I had slow weak windows and if I had to do it again I would have changed the spring also. It is old and rusty and I am sure it is my major problem now.
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Old May 16, 2005 | 10:09 PM
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You need to re-grease the gear(s) & spring on the power window motor as well. Makes a *huge* difference.
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Old May 17, 2005 | 08:54 AM
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did you clean and regrease while the window and channel were still in teh door? Or did you remove glass and channel to clean/grease outside of the car?
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Old May 17, 2005 | 09:17 AM
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You have to pull the window and tracks out of the door. While you are there buy some new rollers (track guides). Once the new rollers are installed and the tracks are cleaned and re-greased you will be amazed at the difference.

Be careful with the connectors for your window motor. You need to unplug the cable carefully as they are brittle from age.

Cheers,

Pete
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Old May 17, 2005 | 03:14 PM
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So is this more than a Saturday afternoon project? How long did it take you.
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Old May 17, 2005 | 03:46 PM
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Do one door at a time, it takes a couple of hours.

It's best to have somebody help you with the glass.

If you plan on re-greasing the power window gear, then you will need two (one for each side) of the big rivits and a rivit gun that works with the big rivits. I found a local auto body supply store near me that actually let me borrow (free of charge) for an hour the $169 rivit gun necessary for the job... they also supplied the rivits.
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Old May 17, 2005 | 03:58 PM
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Im at work so can't have a look right now, but where are these big rivits? What two things does the rivit keep together?
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Old May 17, 2005 | 04:35 PM
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Originally Posted by djunod
You need to re-grease the gear(s) & spring on the power window motor as well. Makes a *huge* difference.

Did this on my 79 and my 75, what a difference it made, now they go up and down like new!
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Old May 17, 2005 | 04:38 PM
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My 68 windows were very slow and sluggish. I removed the glass and all the parts for the power windows, cleaned everything, removed all the old caked on dirt and grease, regreased it all and now they work like new. Only cost me my time and made a big difference.
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Old May 17, 2005 | 08:46 PM
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what kind of grease?
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Old May 18, 2005 | 10:33 AM
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Originally Posted by djunod
If you plan on re-greasing the power window gear, then you will need two (one for each side) of the big rivits and a rivit gun that works with the big rivits. I found a local auto body supply store near me that actually let me borrow (free of charge) for an hour the $169 rivit gun necessary for the job... they also supplied the rivits.
?

I regreased both of my power window gears, and I don't recall having to drill out any rivets. IIRC the cover plate was held on with 3 bolts, once those are off, the motor can be removed from the regulator assembly AFTER putting a bolt/screwdriver through the keeper hole. Then you can just wipe out the old grease with a rag and repack.

Cleaning and regreasing mine made a huge difference. The old grease was totally gummed up, and it would take a good 7-8 seconds for either window to go up or down. Now they snap up so fast it's scary. It took a lot of work to get that old grease off the tracks. Soaking alone didn't work for me. I ended up using a rag soaked in Castrol Super Clean (wear some gloves) and scrubbing the shnit off.
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Old May 18, 2005 | 10:35 AM
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Originally Posted by Corvette Charlie
what kind of grease?
white lithium for the tracks ... spray can is easiest to apply

plain old wheel bearing for the motor housing/regulator gear
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Old May 18, 2005 | 03:24 PM
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does this require re-adjustments in window alignment or does alignment say the same?
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Old May 18, 2005 | 03:50 PM
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Originally Posted by ruby76
does this require re-adjustments in window alignment or does alignment say the same?
It could and probably will. You can better your chances by marking the locations of all the components before you loosen them. If you have a factory service manual, read over the parts on track removal and then window adjustment before you start.
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Old May 18, 2005 | 04:08 PM
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Originally Posted by ruby76
does this require re-adjustments in window alignment or does alignment say the same?
In theory, it'll stay the same. If you don't have a leakage and/or alignment problem now, then if it ain't broke ... ! Personally I didn't need to mark the locations of any bolts or brackets because it was very apparent where everything had been sitting for 29 years on my car.
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Old May 18, 2005 | 06:06 PM
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Originally Posted by stingry
You have to pull the window and tracks out of the door. While you are there buy some new rollers (track guides). Once the new rollers are installed and the tracks are cleaned and re-greased you will be amazed at the difference.
That sounds like a lot of work. I recently had to replace the power window regulator in my passenger door so naturally I cleaned and lubed everthing while I was at it. When I finished I noticed the window was about twice as fast as the driver side- both up and down. So I pulled the driver door panel off and squirted some degreaser into the 4 tracks without removing them. I let it sit overnight and then greased everything up with a synthetic (teflon) waterproof grease. Both windows then ran the same speed and still do a couple of months later. I'll do a more complete cleanup job on that door when I have to go in and replace a regulator or a motor.
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Old May 18, 2005 | 08:30 PM
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true, it might be worth a try to do it without removing everything.
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