Hi,

This weekend while fishing, someone decided to throw a rock through my 91 740 wagon window. It is the movable (not the fixed triangle) window on the rear passenger side.

I went to a junkyard today and got a replacement window. The problem is that the only way for me to make room to remove the salvaged window was to break out the fixed triangle window and move the trim piece in between. Obviously, i can't break fixed on my car to get the new window installed....

Does anyone know if there is a trick to remove and replace the window? Let me list the steps that I did and maybe someone can hopefully explain where I went wrong:

- I removed the door trim panel from the door. Easy...
- I removed the 2 clips that secures the bottom of the window to the scissor window regulator.
- I popped the 2 scissor metal pieces away from the window bracket.
- At this point the window was able to move up and down and a little side to to side. My Hanes manual says the window should just be able to be lifted out and removed. Unfortunately because the window is tapered I could lift the window half way out but the fat (lower) end of the window would get stuck in the window channels.
- I tried for about an hour to wiggle the window out but it didn't work. i ended up busting out the fixed triangle window, then I removed the top rivet and bottom screw and moved the hard trim that goes in between the fixed and movable window. This gave me the room I needed to get the window out.

The problem is I can not bust the window out of my car to replace the donor window. That would just leave me with another broken window. Can someone explain what I did wrong on the removal or how I can get the salvaged window into the car without damaging anything else.

Many thanks for all the help!

Daniel

 

I don't believe there is a secret to that procedure. The window should just come out tilting it back and forth, side to side. It's been awhile since I did that but I remember having to unscrew the small fixed glass frame to get more room. You may want to get it out of the vertical channels to get more room that way.

 

Thank you very much! It is very helpful to know to loosen the middle trim a little for clearance. I could that without breaking the glass for sure.

Do you by chance remember if you removed the glass to the outside of the car or the inside? Meaning, if the door is open and you are pulling the glass up and out of the channel, are you pulling towards the outside or are you pulling the glass in toward the car or interior.

I ask because the opposite of that will be how I will install the window. Should i start from the outside of the car and push the window down into the slots or should I take the window from the interior side of the door and push the window down? Hope than makes sense...

Thank you again and happy holiday,

Daniel

 

Good question, I think OUT... Also, remove the lip molding between the glass and the outside door skin--it pulls straight up and opens things up.

 

Thanks Lev for the advice!

I got the window installed yesterday and it went it in pretty easy.

Some notes on the installation:

- I taped the outer trim seal (the squeegee looking seal that touches the glass. It is the seal that sits at the very bottom of the window) with duct tape to get some more clearance. I didn't want to remove it because it looked like it would be pretty tough to reinstall.

- I also removed the inner trim seal (the squeegee looking seal that touches the glass. It is the seal that sits at the very bottom of the window). This was easy to get off as it is just held on by retaining clips.

- I had to clean the glass that was broken off in the channels. This was kind of a pain in the butt. I used a small and large screw driver to pry out the broken glass.

- I removed the torx screw that secures the trim that goes between the movable window and the fixed triangular window. This gave me some additional wiggle room.

- I had to push the window down from the inside of the door. What I mean is, I was physically on the side of the door that would be the interior of the car if the door was closed and from that orientation I slid the window into the slot on the door. Because the window curves, it made sense to use that curve to my advantage.


That's about it. It took about a half hour to get the window in and the trim pieces/panels reinstalled. The replacement window cost $25 so it was a pretty cheap fix.

I think that if I removed the trim pieces and followed the above notes, I could have got the window out of the car at the salvage yard without having to break the triangular window.

Thanks for the advice and I hope these tips will help someone else!

Thanks,
Daniel

 

the inside trim piece comes off with the door inner panel.. you have to take the panel off to do the window, don't you?

 

Mine did not. Maybe it was supposed to, but I had to remove separately the black window trim piece that clips into the door panel. In fact I recently replaced the speakers on my 89 and I believe it was the same way. Oh well, my cars are old and I'm still learning

Thanks!

Daniel

 

hmm, my 92 745T, both front and back door, the inner window wiper strips are attached to the interior panels... I've had the backs off to replace the speakers, too (fit some nice JL Audio 5.25" coax in back and 6" components up front)