Monday, February 20, 2012

It's Not Easy Being Greasy

My 2005 Jeep Liberty recently began experiencing winder window problems. Rolling it up and down it would rumple and thump. Okkkkk, I knew something was going wrong. After a short internet search, I found a forum on what the problem was: the electric window regulator was going bad. A little more research revealed that when one electric window winder breaks, be assured that the other three will soon follow suit. I also learned from other Jeep owners that this was not a cheap fix! Yipes. So, did a little more searching and I found a PDF file on-line on how to fix this problem ourselves. The instructions are fairly precise and it looks like an 'easy' fix plus it would save us well over $700. One thing other owners stressed was do not go to a Jeep dealer and have this repaired. They replace the broken offender with the same el cheapo plastic part. Steiger Performance sells a better version of the product than Jeep. The ones we bought are made from heavy metal and not cheap plastic.

I could just have easily named this post "Regulator Nation", huh?! *lol*

So, here's our afternoon in pictures.

Before the teardown.
There are only two screws,
within easy reach, that hold
the plastic cover on the door.


Pulling the door apart is slow but easy.






Now, we disconnected the speaker,
the electric mirror, electric door locks and
the electric window winder.


The moisture barrier.
Pull this off gently, perserving the
gooey stuff for reuse between the barrier
and the metal door.


You're committed now!
Or should be ... ha ha
You're down to the metal
and everything is revealed.


With the regulator and other
devices removed, you have to make sure the
window stays in place. Tape works.
I recommend overdoing this part.
Don't want busted glass on
top of everything else!
Then it would get expensive.


Don't do what we did, though,
and work in the back of the Jeep.
Next time I'll put a table with
a strong light next too the truck
to work on. This is hubby attaching
the new part. There's a lot of
little piddly stuff to go through
to do this but it's not hard,
just time consuming.


The offending part! Grrr!
The replacement part is metal.
Do everything in reverse
to put it back together
and you're good to go.


Ta da! The window works fine! I'm tired but happy and still have that $700 in my pocket.

Now, only three more windows to go *sigh* ... I think we'll save that for another afternoon. :)

4 comments:

  1. I'd NEVAH EVAH have the patience to do this, Sparky. Good for you. We never take anything back to the dealer, it always costs more.

    Sure miss you my friend. Hope you are doing well.

    Have a wonderful week ~
    TTFN ~
    Hugs,
    Marydon

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  2. You two should be proud of yourselves! Great job. I think you both deserve a meal at a favorite restaurant for your patience!

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  3. @Marydon ~ Yeah, I've learned my lesson with going to dealers, unless it's warranty work. Fer shure!

    @Maple ~ I like the way you think! I'm gonna ask for a meal out. *ha ha*

    Thanks y'all! Luv & Hugs back at ya!

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  4. Slowpy dopey internet..now I can not remember what I was going to say, lol. ANYWAYS--Waving to my good friends in Gawga. Love ya guys.

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