Window Regulator 'How To' guide....

[kniterider]

THIS IS A VERY COMMON MK4 GOLF/BORA PROBLEM!!! IF YOU HAVENT SUFFERED FROM IT YET THEN IF YOUR WINDOW REG CLIPS HAVENT BEEN REPLACED WITH METAL ONES, YOU WILL AT SOME POINT BE CAUGHT OUT BY THIS BLOODY ANNOYING PROBLEM!!!

ALL THE GOLF/BORA/JETTAS IN THIS SHAPE IN THE USA WERE GIVEN A RECALL AND UPGRADED, PAID FOR BY VW USA, UNFORTUNATELY VW UK, DONT SEE IT A WORTHY RECALL AND ARE THERE FOR FLEECING YOU/US THE MK4 DRIVER BY HAVING TO HAVE THEM REPAIR THEM AND AT A SERIOUSLY HIGH COST!!

SO HAVE A LOOK, IF YOUR HANDY WITH A FEW TOOLS YOU CAN DO THIS!!!, ABOUT £30, A TORX DRIVER, A 10MM SPANNER/SOCKET AND A SCREWDRIVER AND YOU CAN UPGRADE YOURS BEFORE THIS HAPPENS!!!

(£30 PER DOOR!!)




, i got me new metal window reg clip kit today to repair the fooked passenger side on me 99 gti, had this repaired by vw at the cost of £195 over 2 years ago and its gone again,me drivers side wen last year and i replaced with metal clips and its been fine, so when i did the passenger side to today i did a few piccies so i could do a step by step how to, as it really is easy and can save you lots of money!!

window regulator clip replace ment...

1) first off you need the part to repair the window thats failed, i will list the part numbers when i find them all!!
2)right, 1st off check to make sure your window hasnt smashed, give the door a shake back and forth if you get a bang bang noise your window is ok.... if you get a broken glass kinda noise, id order a new glass before starting this as youll need it!!
3) open the relevant door....


4)right you need to remove a few screws to get the door panel off, use a flat blade screw driver to prise the cover off the door handle

behind here theres 2 big screws, use a phillips screw driver to remove them.
there is also a smal phillips screw in the top corner near the a post this needs removing too

then there is 3 torx headed screws at the bottom of the door panel remove these


5)Right, now its time to remove the panel, pull it out at the bottom and youll feel some popper studs come undone, now you have to push the panel up to get it to come off, it takes a bit of a shove but it will come, once its come free totally, be carefull as theres wires and things what youll need to disconnect, dont worry about labelling any plugs etc as they wont fit anywhere other than what they come off of, unplug the electric window switch plug, and the green plug that goes to your light on your door, youll also have to un hook the cable from the door panels door relase lever, it just un hooks then you can pull the cable out, you should now have a totally free door panel
revealing something like this


6) there is about 10/12 m6 bolts that hold the shiney galvanised panel on to the door its self, remove these, now before you try and loosen the regulating panel disconnect all other plugs, window motor/speaker and so on, also pull the cable holder poppers out of the holes now pull away at the panel from the bottom, the seal will break and it will slump down a bit this is the angle to get it out, on a car that hasnt had any window repairs before you may need to drill out two plastic rivet heads holding the panel to the locking mechanism for the door.these dont need replacing on reassembly so dont worry. now the door panel is loose so to speak push the door release cable and the 'button' shaft along with there grommets through the panel, you should now have enough room to get to the locking mechanism inside the door, unplug the plug and pull that throught the panel along with its gromment also.

7)
theres your glass look hidig in the bottom of the door, the offending broken white clips are also there too!! use a 10mm socket and remove the glass clamps from the glass, and clear any other crap from inside your door.

[kniterider]

8. now you have your panel removed, take a look as to how the cable set up works.. its quite easy really..

remove the old cables and white pulley unit, youll need to keep and reuse the main cross over cable, undo the motor from the back and remove the old white pully unit and old cables and clips
get your new metal clips and place them on the slides just so you get an idea of what your doing..

place the new white pulley unit in its place, but make sure you leave the cable ties and metal clamp on for the time being....


9) fit your cables etc in the reverse way you removed the old ones, youll understand more when you set about doing it as words and pictures dont really describe it too well!!

once all done should look similar to this^^^^^^^^
now refit you window motor, not to tightly , then remove your cable ties and metal clamp, now tighten the motor on fully.the panel is now ready for fitting to the door, move the glass carriers up the slides till the line up with the 2 access hole, this will make it easier further on...


10) right lift your glass up into the window as though it was fully closed, get a an assistant to hold it in place whilst you fit the panel, feed your door lock cable through, and plug it in, then feed the button shaft and the release cable through also, now put the sliders into the top of your door and refite the panel, but only use 4 bolts for now. not get you assistant to lower the glass, it will then fit snuggly in the glass clamps, using a torx driver clamp them onto the glass

tighten the 4 bolts firmly, then reconnect the plug for your motor, then switch your ignition on and using the drivers side control move the window up and down to confirm its ok and seating correctly.
then fit remainding bolts/plugs etc

make sure everything is plugged in, then fit your door panel in the reverse way you removed it and bingo job done!!




job done and now i havent got to worry again.....

hope this helps any one thinking of having a go them selves!! these mk4's arent that scarey, get your tools and and get crackin!!

 

Gaz

[kniterider]

will do some more how to's, i did take a load of pics when i stripped the oe front grill and painted the badge black... but ive wiped em so i cant do it

how to fit hubcentric wheel spacer guide soon
how to upgrade to audi tt brakes guide soon and a few others

 

[fingermouse1911]

Great tutorial.  I actually had a similar problem with my mk3 16v - one of the wheels had just worn away my only solution was to replace the regulator completely.  I regretted allowing the cable to unwind from the centre wheel for about 50 mins as thats how long it took to figure out how to get it back on.

[rossco p]

brill guide thanks. i am just waiting for mine to go. have got some history in the receipts for the drivers side, but don't know if they were steal or original plastic replacements. i just try not to let the window crash all the way down when i open it, it makes a horrible thunk. that way they might last till the summer and i won't get frozen doing the job. ta

[richandhazel]

Nice one Gaz. I've been reading a few reviews on the mk4's and every owner has mentioned problems with the window regulators.

[richandhazel]

Just ordered the kit from VW as one of mine has gone. Just an update on price as it appears they have gone up, kit now costs £65 + VAT. Same price at GSF, so as far as I'm concerned, might as well get it from VW.

[richandhazel]

Now that I have received the kit I can tell you why it has gone up in price. It all comes ready to fit.......secured to a new backing plate. Just needed to swap over the window motor and speaker. I've taken some pics so will update this guide later on.

[richandhazel]

As I mentioned earlier, the repair kit from VW is now more expensive as it comes already mounted on a new backing plate. This is a later modification state and different part number to the one that Gaz bought and showed you in the guide earlier at item '8'.

Here is what VW now supply you:-



and here is my removed backing plate:-



Note: I've left my boken plastic clip on the backing plate, top left corner, so that you can see what happens to them. Look at the difference between them and the stronger metal clips on the new one.
 

[richandhazel]

So, what Gaz tells you to do in item '8' is now a lot easier. Lets flip the plates over and you'll see what needs to be done:-

Old backing plate:-



New backing plate:-



As you can see, the window motor and the speaker need to be swapped over. Window motor is a straight swap. Speaker is riveted so I had to drill out the rivets and I fitted it to the new plate with small screws, nuts and washers that I had in my gash box.