Windows Squeaking

[ermax]

I think I have a project for the weekend. Thanks for the help guys.

Edit: Just curious, what do you use to wax them?

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by ermax

I think I have a project for the weekend. Thanks for the help guys.

Edit: Just curious, what do you use to wax them?

I think he means the glass. The furry stabilizers can be cleaned and fluffed but they mat down really quickly. I solved my squeak by adjusting the window in the track. It's really complicated though.

[mausr]

Originally Posted by ermax

I think I have a project for the weekend. Thanks for the help guys.

Edit: Just curious, what do you use to wax them?

I have just bought a cheap wax spray motivated by one forum member who has good experiences with such a solution and he waxed them using window. I sprayed the fur directly as it was removed.

Ultra is right, the furry material can be easily removed during cleaning and they are cheap to buy even if it turns out that the originals could have been saved.

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

I solved my squeak by adjusting the window in the track. It's really complicated though.

Could you advise me what you adjusted? I am playing with the window for some time now and the factory limits are so wide that they does not help at all. I am now using an adjustment that pushes the bottom fully out, and the upper part of the window is about 6mm from the outer edge of the frame. (I.e. the window is tilted towards the car almost as much as possible.)

I found this the best option up to now, however, I also had to realize that even if I press the scraper seal completely to the glass, it still allows water inside the door. I created a small test to verify this and it seems to me that water ingress is somewhat expected, so maybe the solution against the squeak would be to not push the glass that much outside and thus the outer guides would hardly touch the glass leaving no chance for squeak.

[Joon525]

Originally Posted by mausr

it seems to me that water ingress is somewhat expected

100% true.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by mausr

The stabilizers are just small plastic parts, with fur on on side and a tiny metal backplate on the other. The fur touches the window and it clogged with dust/mud with time due to the insufficient sealing of the scraper seal. This will cause squeak/minor scratches. In extreme cases the fur can be iced to the window and thus the metal part will be exposed making serious damage. They are cheap, however, if they are not damaged yet, they can be washed and waxed and no more squeak can be heard.



To be honest, I have no idea, even the new seals are barely touch the window compared to the seals of the others cars we have. Even if the seal is fully pushed to the window, it allows water to pass trough. Would it be possible to take a picture on how the scraper seal touches the window when the door is closed (especially at the end of the windows)? It may provide a solution for me.

Will get some pics for you.

[ermax]

So I was checking prices for the parts and it looks like they are a good bit cheaper from Subaru Vs. Toyota. I also noticed that Subi has a picture of the stabilizer:


This is for sure what is scratching my glass. If I pull the seal back a little and look inside the door I can see the stabilizer and it lines right up with the scratches. I just didn't realize this was the "stabilizer" until I saw the picture of it.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by mausr

Could you advise me what you adjusted?

I struggled with this last night. Even went to bed agonizing a little over it. I've tried to help explain a few times but feel like I couldn't do it justice.

It's really a goddamn counter-intuitive mechanism. Based on your description, I think you're pretty close. A few points to maybe help:

1. The front rail sets the angle of the window inboard-to-outboard.

2. Set the rear rail to follow accordingly.

3. The rear rail, along with the inner adjustable felt glides, sets the pressure at which the window pushes against those outer glides (which are the problem.)

4. I wasn't able to find a decent setting that worked for the window both open and closed so I settled for protecting the glass. With the window down there's a bit of play between the inner and outer felt glides. I put up with the rattle knowing the mechanism is happy.

[mausr]

Thanks for the hints, will give it a try on the weekend and will post the results. I swear I won't post anything that disturb your dream again.

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Will get some pics for you.

Thanks!

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by mausr

Thanks for the hints, will give it a try on the weekend and will post the results. I swear I won't post anything that disturb your dream again.



Thanks!

Tried to get pics but can't get one clear enough to be of any value. I think what Ultra said is probably your best bet anyway.

[mausr]

So, after several session of window adjustment and wait for rainy days, I have finally found what caused the problem for me. It was not the adjustment. The issue was that due to the poor design of the whole mechanism, not only the guides collect a lot of dirt but also the front rubber guide of the window (that is part of the small fixed window, see attached pic). Any of these can make the window squeak in rainy days. Unfortunately, soaking with silicone did not help in my case, so I had to remove the fixed window, cleaned the rubber and the window (both were extremely dirty) and problem solved. I used 4-5 shop rags while the rubber got finally cleaned:




Btw, the newest iteration of the water seals (6th maybe?) is still rubbish. There was sleety rain some weeks ago and when I opened the frozen door, a lot of fur was removed from the seal by the frozen water ingress stuck between the seal and the window:

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by mausr

...Any of these can make the window squeak in rainy days.

Interesting. Let us know how it holds up.

Learning new stuff every day.