Rear window stuck open = NEED HELP!

[outlier]

Hello all,


Today, the wife was driving out 2002 Explorer XLT. As we have kids, we have those vinyl perforated window shades that attach to the windows with hooks at the top and a suction cup at the bottom.

The wife hit the button to put one of the windows down and the suction cup and part of the blind went down with the window into the door, causing it to become stuck. She's done this several times and I've cautioned her more than once that she could end up breaking the window or motor eventually. And today it happened... She got home, got a butter knife and pried out the shade and suction cup, but then put the window down entirely.

The window is now stuck completely open for some reason.

She quickly tried to find a garage to fix it, but no one can take it today. As we will be going out of town on Friday, it's now up to me to take a half day from work and see if I can repair it.

Anyone have any advice? I am going to disassemble the door and see if I can find that anything is causing it not to close.

Also, is it possible to somehow disable the rear windows in a manner similar to the Child Lock doors?

ANY advice on disassembling the door, fixing the window, anything at all is MOST welcome.

Thank you.

 

[jad2411]

there is a button on the drivers door to disable the rear window, I have the exact same issue with those blinds :

What you can do as a quick fix, is to remove the door panel and pull the window up, the braided cable must have been either torn or messed up.
Once up, tie the window regulator it will stay closed until you can properly fix it.

Took me like 25 mins to do it that way

 

[outlier]

Have any advice about disassembling the door panels? I don't want to break anything else and the panels don't seem to want to come off very easily.

About the window, looking closely, it's dropped about 1½ ~ 2 inches into the door. Contrast that with the other side window, which when retracted, the top edge of the window is still visible.

The motor does not seem to be broken. Using the buttons, I can hear it making the sound of going up and down. Seems like something is going up and down a track or something similar.

About disabling the window buttons, I mean being able to disable them from the wife while she's driving! I am not so worried about the kids putting the windows down as there is that window Child Lock of course. I'm almost thinking of snipping a wire from the rear window switches up front on the driver's side or introducing a switch somewhere... A SPDT switch under the dash should do it.

THANKS!

 

[2Trux]

Let the wife know that the open windows are bad for the gas mileage, and she should use the A/C.

 

[outlier]

Right, right. Wind resistance, Open Window Turbulence, all sorts of these scientific things can do that. I'll give it a shot...

At some point, I may very well put in a Wife Lock window switch too.

 

[jad2411]

LOL good luck with that!

door panels are easy just look for all the screws on the bottom (sides maybe?) on the front ones there's a screw behind the latch cover, can't remember on the rear ones.
Once that is done, pull it up and away

 

[outlier]

OK, have the panels off and what's obviously occurred is that there is a metal flange which inserts into a black plastic squarish device that rides up and down a track. This black plastic square is working fine.

I also removed the panels on the other door to see how a functional window should be. The metal flange is inserted into this slot.

Frankly, I can't even guess how this metal flange was forced out of the slot without shattering the plastic square. But the big problem now is that I cannot figure how to force this flange back into the slot on the plastic square.

And I'll be 100% honest here too that I am not happy as I'd told her several times to please check when lowering the windows. She's done this several times—jamming the kid shade into the door and now I have this very daunting task in front of me. It's like attempting to build a ship in the bottle in the dark. I cannot see but only feel around when I am attempting to fit this flange into the slot. One hand goes in the opening on the left, the other hand into the opening for the speaker. Very difficult.

Again, any tips are sure welcome.

 

[outlier]

OK, was able to get the flange into the black plastic thing, but I then noticed that there is a large amount of play on this when raising and lowering the window. Looking more closely through the left hand opening with a flashlight, I now have noticed that part of the plastic square should have a portion that rides up and down the rail on the top, which instead is shattered. So it's not fully on the track/rail and since it's not secure, the metal flange is distorting and bending the plastic where it inserts into the plastic block. The plastic will eventually break from the way in which this flange is inserted and not completely secured I am sure. It's difficult to explain if you've not seen it.

So, I'm going to take into down to the local shop tomorrow... Doesn't seem like I have much choice now as I definitely cannot ascertain how this part secures to the track/rail. Can't wait to see what this is going to cost me...

 

[outlier]

Well, ended up taking it to the local garage. I'd mentioned how the black plastic part was partially broken, so it's beyond me to source new parts and install them.

Fortunately, we still have about a month remaining on our Platinum Coverage on our aftermarket warranty, so the deductible was all we had to pay — just slightly over $100.00. All's well that ends well I suppose.

BTW, the wife is not very keen on the idea of a Wife Lock switch, so I may have to scratch that idea...

 

[jad2411]

BTW, the wife is not very keen on the idea of a Wife Lock switch, so I may have to scratch that idea...

Kinda figured that one... :