Drivers window glass squeaks going down - Rain-X?

[pkn]

Not always. Just sometimes - under some specific combination of temperature/humidity, I guess. But when it does - it does it so loud it squeaks the hell out of me

It's not the regulator parts - it's glass surface sliding with friction along rubber strips on the door, bottom part of the window opening.

I'm thinking applying Rain-X on the glass surface. Or, maybe, I should borrow the silicone-impregnated wipers from my other car for a minute, and just rub the glass with them.

Or maybe there is some special chemicals for this?

Preferably, specifically formulated for Explorers glass, of course

The car is '92 XLT, although it does not actually matter.

 

[Anime]

My experience with this is that it's usually a result of the outer lip on the rubber seal hardening from age and weather, just like the super soft rubber on wipers eventually does. The lip may also have worn down to a sharp edge, which is "catching" on the window when it goes down.

There's a few things you can do, but rain-x isn't one of them. The silicone from a wiper blade might work as a temporary solution, but if you want a permanent fix, you can either replace the seal with a new one, or try cleaning the lip and polishing the glass, either with glass/plastic polish, or some other kind of polishing compound. Rubbing compound is too gritty, and glass/plastic polish is optimal, but if the glass is old and scuffed up anyway, most polishing compound should suffice. You can even use toothpaste.

If you inspect the lip and find it's sharp and that's part of the cause, you can sand down the sharpness of lip with some super-smooth 1000-3000 grit sandpaper and just ever so slightly round it off.

I would be wary of using any chemicals to try and "restore" the softness of the rubber seal, in my experience, those chemicals are very short-term and just cosmetic, and long-term, they degrade the rubber, and can even cause hard plastic to disintegrate. I learned that one the hard way.

 

[arco777]

Might be able to find new seals online, check RockAuto.

 

[pkn]

Thanks Anime, I did not think of sanding the rubber lip, will try.

 

[pkn]

Might be able to find new seals online, check RockAuto.

Ha! Yes, they actually do have them, part is called "Body-Exterior : Belt Weatherstrip / Window Scraper Seal"

I would have never thought of this - I still remember how I was struggling to find inner front door handle parts - they always break on '92 Explorers. It was some 5+ years ago and at the time they were hell hard to find, I've only found gray instead of tan, still live with gray one of them.

Yes I know they are easier to find now, but I kinda got stuck with that impression that some small parts are hard to find for 1-st gens, so I did not even think that I might be able to simply replace them with new ones.

Those "Scraper Seals" are kinda pricey for a straight piece of metal-rubber so I will probably try some sanding first.

Many thanks anyways!