Rear Quarter Window Revisited

I know that I said that my next post would be about calibrating my gas gauge. However we had some really warm days this week and I really wanted to address some nagging issues with my windows and door locks. The issues are:

  1. The passenger (right hand) rear quarter window doesn’t always align properly with the top of the door opening when closed.
  2. The passenger (right hand) door latch can be difficult to open
  3. The driver’s (left hand) door lock won’t consistently unlock. This occurs when holding in the door handle button and closing the door to lock it.
  4. The driver’s (left hand) door window is hard to roll up and down.

The reason the right rear quarter window won’t close properly is that when I replaced the window I also installed the new track that came packaged with it. When I compared the new track with my original track I noticed that the original was curved while the new one was fairly straight. There wasn’t enough adjustment at the bottom of the track to compensate for this difference, causing the top of the window to stick out too far from the door opening when I rolled the window up. Frequently when closing the window it would align outside of the door opening rather than closing against the top of the door opening. I probably could have enlarged the adjustment slots in the new track and might have gotten better results. But as they say, “Nothing fits as well as original parts”. So I cleaned up the original track, applied some lubricant to the tracks, and replaced the new track with the original. It was a fair bit of work for a small reward, but I’m glad I did it. Unfortunately now I can see that this window is just a little better aligned than the one on the driver’s side. But there isn’t enough of a difference to make me want to adjust the driver’s side quarter window. At least not yet. And sorry I didn’t get a picture of the two tracks side by side. I always get so focused on the job and don’t think of the blog until later.

The right hand door latch hasn’t been an issue for me or my friend Randy when he rides in the car. However when my Mom or my friend Jimmy ride in the car they have issues opening the door. The problem seems to be that the latch doesn’t disengage until the door handle button is pressed most of the way in. My Mom sometimes lacks the hand strength to push in the door latch button all the way. I think Jimmy has problems because he is used to cars that have better adjusted door latches. At least that’s my theory. I took off the door panel and tightened the rod going to the door handle one turn. It may have made a small difference. I tried another turn and if there was a difference it was minor. I put it back to one turn tighter than before and left it at that. I was able to open the door consistently so I hope it is better. While I was in the door I did some lubricating of the window tracks just for good measure.

To address the driver’s door I did some diagnosing first. I am able to push the window down from the top when it is rolled up. From what I have read this indicates that my regulator is worn out. I ordered a new one (they were on sale at CJ Pony Parts by coincidence). I’m still waiting for the new part to arrive. As best as I can tell the door latch is also worn out, so I ordered a new door latch as well. Once all the parts arrive I’ll address the driver’s door issues. The window has been difficult for many years, and has now reached the point where I feel the regulator is going to break. And the door latch has been intermittently problematic since the 1970’s, although it’s much worse now. I can’t wait to finally address both of these issues as the driver’s door is obviously the one I use the most.