Top Tip of the day - Rattling Windows Anyone?

[foxy600]

Have had a rattling window on the passenger side since I bought the car, it only happened when the window was half or all the way down, but was very annoying, especially for the passenger!
I decided to attempt to fix it yesterday.

Here's what to do...

Firstly remove the door card and try and put out of the way (difficult as door lever cable is attached)
Next you will see a metal bar with a rubber insert on the left of the window (right on drivers side), running from the top to bottom middle of the door, this is the slotted bar the window runs along
On mine, the rubber at the lower end of the bar was squashed and a bit perished so the window was hitting against bare metal, also I felt the bar was too far away from the window itself
I removed this bar completely (two nuts and bolts through bottom of door and one screw at top of door
Next I removed the rubber insert and refitted 180 degrees around (ingenious I thought!)
Then I used a round file to open up 2 slotted holes at the bottom of the door to allow the bar to be moved closer to the window
Refitted bar in new position, applied some silicone lubricant and voila no more rattling!

[Mrs BlueCerbera]

My drivers side window does this when fully down. Might need to take a look at the weekend, thanks for the tip

[ChrisGadd]

Top tip my drivers side window when half way down(or is that half way up ? ) rattles and is very anoying. I will keep this in mind when I next have to remove the door card.

[clarenceboddiger]

Mrs BlueCerbera said:

My drivers side window does this when fully down. Might need to take a look at the weekend, thanks for the tip

Mines exactly the same, will have a dabble this weekend, thanks for the tip.Its nice to know what you're looking for before you start a job, especially one like this whereby the symptoms cant be recreated when the car is standing still.

Edited by clarenceboddiger on Friday 13th July 18:22

[Sweet Thunder]

Top tip indeed! Adjusting this bar also helps if the window moves a bit 'stiff'.
For those wanting to replace the rubber insert instead of refitting it 180 degrees around: Woolies ( www.woolies-trim.co.uk ) sell it under partno. 317 at 2,30 per meter. One meter does both doors.
The new rubber has a velvety surface. On my old window channel this had completely worn away, except for the bit at the bottom where the window doesn't touch. The velvet can hold copious amounts of silicone spray, which makes the window slide up and down with a lot more ease.

[spivvy]

did my rattling window to day turned out to be a loose screw on the window motor that was causing the rattling

[wharfedale]

The ealy ones are Audi 80 gear and if they slip I found a easy fix by stripping them down, and inserting a washer to get the worn gear teeth to mesh agane, if you have them in bitts for any reason , soak them in oil , cos they are a bugger when they go wrong. Keith

[Ragtop]

This was very helpful, and prompted me to do something about
i. driver's window rattling when lowered
ii. driver's door speaker - dead
iii. driver's door mirror - dead.

So, off with the speaker first - aha! One wire disconnected! That was easy. Then the nut behind the armrest - that was quite easy with the window raised to give some knuckle room. Prising out all the door car press studs was a bit of a pain without scratching the paintwork, then off with the door card.

Dear me! What a mess the door lock linkages are! Bent wires clipped together - very Heath Robinson. No wonder neither the internal nor external latches have a very positive feel. And what's this? A central locking solenoid, complete with a bundle of wire terminating with two ends neatly labelled 'lock' and 'unlock'. Looks like it is a standard fitting, with or without central locking fitted!

The cause of the window rattle was immediately obvious. The felt channel had worn away completely halfway down, and below that the glass was running not in the felt channel, but between the felt and aluminium. A quick internet trip to Woolies provided some new felt channel the following day (thanks Ronald).

Next the door mirror. I disconnected the plug and checked to see if there was any power supply, which there was. Reconnected it and guess what? - yes, the mirror now worked!

So, all in all a very successful exercise. The most difficult part was still to come however: engaging the top edge of the door card with the door frame without 'losing' the door lock button from its hole. A pencil taped to the end of the button helped to keep it aligned with the hole whilst the door card was wiggled into place.

Thanks Chris for a very helpful 'technical tip'.