slow power window during winter

[trixie]

Any reason my driver's side window slows down during the winter? It's fine when it's warm out, but when it gets cold, it wimps out, and goes real slow. (just another stupid question--sorry.)
Michael

 

[jimbo74]

you may want to see if you can lube the tracks with a wd40 type lubricant.... if i remeber correctly, there is actual grease in the window tracks, and when its cold out, grease gets thicker and harder to force movement

also, how is the electrical system? electrical systems dont like extreme temps and hte window is a very high drain device, it may be trying or drawing too much energy and may not be getting what it wants

 

[trixie]

Thanks for answering two questions at once. I think the electrical system is sound. What I did notice the other day, however, was that an idle (toll booth) the volt gauge would drop for a couple of seconds after having put the window down. The window goes up just fine, if that means anything.
Michael.

 

[blue_97_v8]

it souldent drop...

 

[trixie]

Why not? I figured it was binding on something.

 

[trixie]

No, maybe you're right. It really shouldn't drop noticably after engaging the window down. It's only a window after all-- I guess. The gauge stays straight up for everything else though.

 

[trixie]

I will answer my own question: The window stinks at going down. It's probablly broken, and I will have to find a new one.

 

[lonestar]

I have the same prob. When it's cold, it is slow as Christmas going down, but goes up just fine. All the other windows seem to work fine. The only thing I can figure out is the weather stripping is cold and binding the window up some how.

 

[woodychitwn]

At some point over the summer I got annoyed at how slow my power windows were so I popped open the rear left door and covered the window tracks with fresh grease as best I could. For all my trouble it saved about half a second compared to the rear right window. Didn't seem worth it so I didn't do the others. However, now that the temperatures have started to drop, that same window now opens and closes about 2 seconds quicker than the other one. So I'm thinking I may just take out all the window tracks next summer, clean 'em and start with a fresh coat of grease.

 

[Matt M.]

Originally posted by trixie
The window stinks at going down. It's probablly broken, and I will have to find a new one.

It seems like there are several of us having the same problem (slow going down, temperature sensitive; fast going up, not temp sensitive), so I am surprised we don't have a conclusive answer.

The window should want to go down - nothing like having gravity on your side. The fact that it goes back up so easily makes me wonder if this a motor/regulator problem.

Have any other members tackled this problem?

- -Matt

 

[mcsteven]

Reviving very old thread

I'm having the same problem on the two front windows. Here's what I noticed:

Going up is fine and at normal speed.
Going down is hard when it's coldest (I live in the Oakland, California area, so coldest might be 20 degrees F.) but, if I've just gone through the car wash or if it rained, the window moves much faster (maybe even normal speed).

With that said, I believe that it might have something to do with the weatherstripping (not sure I'm identifying it correctly. I'm referring to the squeegee type strips on the inside and outside of the window at the point it enters the door). As the windows descends, the stripping is gripping the window and window is pulling it down towards the door. As the window is ascending, it's pushing the stripping out of the way.

I'm going to do a thorough cleaning of the glass and see if that affects it in any way.

BTW - the voltage would drop quite a bit with the window motors. And if it's an auto down, that would be a big hit on the meter, too.

Now that I'm reviving this, anyone else having the issue?

GOOGLE IS MY FRIEND. I should have checked other places. Still an open issue, but newer posts are over at

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226308

Please post over there, ok?

It seems like there are several of us having the same problem (slow going down, temperature sensitive; fast going up, not temp sensitive), so I am surprised we don't have a conclusive answer.

The window should want to go down - nothing like having gravity on your side. The fact that it goes back up so easily makes me wonder if this a motor/regulator problem.

Have any other members tackled this problem?

- -Matt

 

[Dave98XLT]

Hey, I have the same problem on both front windows. I tried rolling up and down the windows several times when it was raining to possibly loosen dirt in the weatherstripping causing it to bind. It helped on one window but not the other.

Next step is to open up the door panel, spray the works down with wd-40, grease the track with super lube, and spray silicon or dry film on the side weatherstrip.

Also can the window motor bearings be greased? I had an old nissan and there was a removable plug to grease the main motor bearing.

Now how do i fix the following:

1. Sticking rear tailgate lock when cold?
2. Whirring cassette deck?
3. Blower motor 2nd position not working (already replaced resistor and switch)
4. Rear wiper sticks when cold

The joy's of a 14 year old teenager!

 

[bilzy7]

Any locks can of course be spread with wd40 for a quick fix, but a good product should be applied. Wd40 has always helped with door lock issues.