The power windows in my 1968 car don't work like they should.
I can hear the motor working and the glass starts to go up, but then they stop and the motor slows down like its straining.
I have the door panel off and I really don't want to create a major project.
I'm curious if anyone has been able to get the windows operating normally by just cleaning things up and lubing the mechanism.

Thanks

 

cleaning and re-lubing the tracks would help. but removing the motors and taking them apart and cleaning the old grease out. and cleaning the brushes and armature would really help

 

When I took apart the window mechanisms in my 73 the grease had turned to dirty gunk.
The tracks and rollers were filled with the gunk and the motors were having issues lowering and raising the windows.
The most affected components were the rollers and they barely turned.
If you want the mechanisms to work freely, then it’s time well spent to tear everything out and clean it all up.
You can get by just purchasing all the rollers etc because the tracks should be fine after you degrease them and apply new lubricant.
There have been several thread discussions about how to disassemble and remove the tracks and glass.
Do plenty of research because it’s tedious step by step to remove the tracks and they only come out one way.
I would also replace or rebuild the motors because it’s one job you’ll never want to do again.

 

I did the window mech on my 69 car but it was manual windows.
Hope power windows aren't too difficult.
Is this what they call project creep? ha ha

 

I had slow then dead window last week. Pulled the door panel cleaned the door/window mechanism with a pick and brake cleaner. Wire brushed and lube everything.

Disconnected the motor connectors. Cleaned all the old dielectric grease out with a pick. Wire brushed and sprayed electronic contact cleaner on the connections. Used a pick to dab some fresh dielectric grease in the connectors.

I used a jump box to test the wintow motor. Ground clamp to door rod. Alligator clip hot to motor. Test both up/down. Works great! So i just gotta replace the switches now.

 

You’ve been around here long enough to know there are no short cuts, and like me, you enjoy doing things right.

 

The likely cause of sluggish power windows is "dirty" contact in the P/W switch. The design used by GM was to send ALL the motor current thru these switches, rather than to use a relay to handle the current. Over several years, the arcing that occurs when the switches are used causes carbon build-up on the contacts....which raises the resistance to current flow. And that cuts the amount of current going to the motors when activated by the switch.
The aftermarket switches you can buy are basically JUNK. Your best alternative is to remove the switches and carefully disassemble them, making certain that you note the exact position and orientation of components in the switch. Polish off the carbon from the contacts...NO NOT USE ABRASIVE PAPERS OR FILES TO DO THIS as it will damage the contact further. Better to use something like rubbing compound in a fiber polishing tool on a Dremel at low speed to JUST remove the carbon. You CAN apply a little dielectric grease to the contacts, which will help to limit the arcing and carbon build-up in the future. Better yet, install a relay in the circuit for each window, so that the current is handled by the relay and not the switch.

Lastly, to get to the switches, you need to remove the E-brake plastic housing. There is ONE bolt which is installed from the backside of that bulkhead panel into the framework of the E-brake housing. You can access it via the right-rear compartment, once the 'bucket' is removed from it. I believe the bolt head is a 7/16" hex head. Once that is removed, the rest of the removal is relatively straight forward.
Good luck.

 

I rebuilt my power windows last summer... or maybe the summer before... anyway, the passenger side was so slow it seemed like it was going to stop part way up. Driver's side was a little faster but didn't sound good. I knew the switches were clean as I'd cleaned them up when I replaced the brake console.

I removed all tracks and the motors to degrease and replace the rollers. All of my rollers had broken "axle" clips so the wheels were very floppy. The motors themselves needed to be thoroughly cleaned and the bearings re-oiled. (As I recall they are ball bearing not bronze sleeve.) The old track grease was very gummy and took a long soak in kerosene to loosen it up.

If a window bangs when you close the door, your regulator likely has a broken bottom mounting tab. It's a pretty common occurrence - the weight of the motor really stresses the metal. A local guy TIG welded my tabs back on and both work great.

A caveat is that you've got to realign the window to the weatherstripping which I've not done yet because I'm still changing out the w/s. It's not a hard job, just fussy.

 

Guys- thanks to everyone for the tips.
I’m going to start with cleaning and rebuilding my PW switches along with the tracks.
Everything is apart as I’m redoing the interior.
It could very well be that something has gummed up the contacts in the switches. The inside of the car was filthy and years ago it appears there were frequent spills of some sort of liquid.
I’ll make sure I post whether things work.
Thanks again.
Hey Greg, make sure when you come down to Ventura you ring me up.

 

If you have the door panels off, it is the right time to clean all the metal parts from old grease/dirt and put new white lithium grease on them. Use a spray cleaner with the long, thin tube to clean out the lock mechanism (so you don't have to remove it ). On the window tracks use white lithium grease from a TUBE for lube; in the lock mechanism, use wlgrease from a spray can and shoot liberally to coat internal parts.. Spray can is NOT enough to do the tracks, as there is not much actual grease that comes out with the spray.
Also, make sure you install the 'anti-rattle' rubber bumpers on the link-rods (see the AIM for where they are located) before you put panels on the doors.

 

I used an engine cleaning brush on the tracks. Long wire handle with a brush head about the size of the lifter bores. Clean and regressed with same brush dipped in tub of white grease. Messy, but effective.

 

Will do.
We’ll probably plan a trip down soon.
We are retired so we can come down anytime, it’s the darn kids work schedules and grandkids schedules that we have to plan around.

 

My door panels appear to have never been off.
The clear plastic water proofing was still stuck on.
Thank you for the great advice!

 

this will be the only time I will tell you to use WD-40 on your car

 

WD-40 is a good product. But it is an ineffective lubricant. As long as it is 'wet', it will act as a lube [somewhat]; once it dries....nothing. And that is hours or days, at best. You need lube that will last years. White lithium is what was put on at the factory and it lasted DECADES.

Don't change for convenience on this one. Please!!

P.S. The WD in WD-40 stands for "Water Displacement", BTW. Apparently, they got what they were after on the 40th try.

 

Yes it's good to spray into the PW switch to see if it will help That is where you stop using it

 

DIE-ELECTRIC Grease is NOT CONDUCTIVE!!! D0 NOT use it on ANY electrical contacts. Die electric grease will impede the flow of electricity through the contacts is it is used.

The window tracks on my 1968 C3 were coated in some kind of grayish-white colored grease that had turned almost rock hard. I used a Hot Air Gun to heat up the grease and then it came off with ease. I used a white lithium grease on my window tracks and all has worked well since then. I use a graphite based lubricant in my lock mechanisms.

DeOxIt is an electrical cleaner that is designed to remove all corrosion and treats the contacts to helps them last longer. I use a #2 pencil eraser for cleaning most contact surfaces. The DeOxIt works much better and leave the contacts in better condition. DeOxIt products are available at Graingers and Amazon. They have the full range of products to handle anything electrical getting cleaned, take a look and you might be impressed!

If the power windows switches are such low quality maybe it is time to wire a relay in between the parts to help slow down problems. Anytime you have full power going through the switch problems will start soon. I have wired relays in between components before.

 

The power window mechanisms on my 70 were designed by Dr. Guillotine. They are fast.