Driver's door latch and window refuse to cooperate

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JTalley
I sleep in my van
Posts: 383
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:56 am
Location: Sulphur, Oklahoma

Driver's door latch and window refuse to cooperate

Post by JTalley »

Seems like everything on my van is breaking at once... :cry:

The driver's side window was getting hard to roll down. On some occasions, it wouldn't go down all the way, even if I pushed down on it while cranking. It wasn't off the track, either... It just wouldn't go down.
One day, I had it down, and I pulled on the latch so I could get out. It wouldn't budge. AFter rolling up the window, it worked. Then it got worse. Even after rolling up the window, it still wouldn't let me out. A few moments of rolling the window up and down made it work finally. I decided enough was enough, and I pulled the door panel off. After pulling the panel, the window worked fine, and the door latch worked. Inside, everything looked good. I greased it, rolled the window up and down a couple times, then put the door panel back on. A few minutes later I had to struggle with the window, and I had to fight to get the latch to work so I could open my door. I didn't see anything wrong with the panel... What's the problem here?
Jake

Image
Ed- 1992 Astro, RWD, 4.3l V6 (purchased Feb. 2011)
FlowTech Red Hots glasspack exhaust (finally got it put on there!)
Old rides (earlier to later)
2004 Honda 250 Rebel (my dad's bike, he let me use it)
Neko- 1991 S10 Blazer, 4x4, 4-door (SOLD Feb. 2011)
Custom (aka failed) diy paint job- red with black stripe

6spd_monte
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Location: Orange County, CA

Re: Driver's door latch and window refuse to cooperate

Post by 6spd_monte »

I'm assuming, because you said "while cranking", that you have manual windows, is that right?

When it won't go down, can you roll it back up? Does it make noise like the glass or the mechanism is hitting something? I have a couple of cars with manual windows and when they have had problems with the glass going up or down it has been a broken roller guide in both cases. But you said you took the panel off and didn't find anything wrong. What I would do in your shoes is just leave the door panel off for a few days, that way when it starts acting up you can look inside and hopefully see what's wrong.

Good luck, keep us posted.
-James

1987 LT
249,000 miles
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Topic author
JTalley
I sleep in my van
Posts: 383
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:56 am
Location: Sulphur, Oklahoma

Re: Driver's door latch and window refuse to cooperate

Post by JTalley »

Yep, I have manual windows.

It doesn't sound like it's hitting anything. I can hear the mechanism clunking a bit when it gets stuck like that, but that's about it. Also, it rolls up pretty good. Not very easy, but easier than rolling it down.
Jake

Image
Ed- 1992 Astro, RWD, 4.3l V6 (purchased Feb. 2011)
FlowTech Red Hots glasspack exhaust (finally got it put on there!)
Old rides (earlier to later)
2004 Honda 250 Rebel (my dad's bike, he let me use it)
Neko- 1991 S10 Blazer, 4x4, 4-door (SOLD Feb. 2011)
Custom (aka failed) diy paint job- red with black stripe
User avatar

Topic author
JTalley
I sleep in my van
Posts: 383
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:56 am
Location: Sulphur, Oklahoma

Re: Driver's door latch and window refuse to cooperate

Post by JTalley »

It turns out that the track was off the door. Some hot glue, duct tape and JB Weld fixed that problem. Took me long enough, eh?
Jake

Image
Ed- 1992 Astro, RWD, 4.3l V6 (purchased Feb. 2011)
FlowTech Red Hots glasspack exhaust (finally got it put on there!)
Old rides (earlier to later)
2004 Honda 250 Rebel (my dad's bike, he let me use it)
Neko- 1991 S10 Blazer, 4x4, 4-door (SOLD Feb. 2011)
Custom (aka failed) diy paint job- red with black stripe
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