Body/Trim: S80 Front Window Regulator Removal

[mattpcarroll]

Hi, I have a S80 with a bent window regulator arm which I'm hoping I can remove and straighten (or at least bash with a hammer). The reguator seems to be riveted to the door inner so I assume I need to drill the heads of the rivets to remove the regulator. There appears to be access holes in the inner panel to allow for the drill to be used - is this the best way to remove it?

Assuming I then remove the regualtor and either repair or replace it I then need to re-attach the regulator. It looks to me that the rivet gun used originally was a special tool and the my pop-rivet gun won't give me the length to get through the inner access holes to attach the regulator. Has anyone else successfully used small bolts or the like?

I assume new regulators are very expensive (£200+ ????) so a second hand job might be my best bet. Has anyone sourced a part second-hand?

Any help would be much appreciated - my window is currently supported on a piece of 2x2!!!!!!

[mattpcarroll]

Turns out that a hammer and a bit of brute force can fix a mangled regulator! Just in case anyone else has this problem I found that drilling out the rivets to the door inner is relatively easy - just need a fairly long bit and you need to get the mechanism positioned correctly to allow access.

It still required the removal of the interior door handle mechanism to access the forth regulator rivet. To get the regulator out through the inner I also needed to remove one rivet for the vertical strut the door trim fixes to so that I could swing it out of the way.

The regulator arms were easy to straighten once out of the car with a couple of blocks of wood and a hammer.

Refitting is relatively easy, I used some small nuts and bolts to fix the regulator back to the inner using the rivet holes. You need long fingers but otherwise it's okay.

So for £1.39 of nuts and bolts and a bit of swearing, the window works perfectly again. Just hope I don't have to do the same on the otherside or on my V70! Still, I know what to do..... don't open the window!

[vegasjetskier]

What happened to cause the arms to bend?

[mattpcarroll]

The window came slightly out of the runners which appeared to cause the blue plastic guide in the runner to come adrift - the anti-head squish mechanism sensed a jam and lowered the glass causing more damage.

[Clan]

A professional "lazy tongs" pop riveter is needed they are steel rivets and very tight to "pop" Nuts and bolts will eventualy come loose and start to rattle . Not a good design is it , when the V70 came out in 2000 they revised the mechanism and it was riveted to the inner skin .
The cause is too much friction in the worn rubber glass runner, it would be a good idea to renew that , the mechanism will be weak now where it has bent and fail again one day. Good luck though lets hope it keeps working through the winter ..

[mattpcarroll]

Thanks for that.

I figured that my 'fix' probably won't be a permanent one so being able to remove the regulator easily will hopefully be beneficial. The operation of the window now seems a lot better than it was, so as you say, I'll have to hope that the arms don't bend again in a hurry. I also lubricated the guides in the runners and cleaned the mechanism.

Are the long reach riveters available from places such as Machine Mart or the like?

[Clan]

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/pr...-riveter/path/

Thats the kind of tool you need for 2 reasons , for the long reach and for the power to pull a large steel pop rivet

[OllieG]

I had exactly the same problem on my 2000 S80's front passenger window. I managed to bend the arm back in place using 2 sets of pliers without drilling out the rivets. I don't use the window just in case, which is a pain, but cheaper than the £270+VAT that the garage told me it would cost to replace the mechanism...

[Bernard333]

The driver side window on my 2003 V70 has popped out of the rail and the blue slider proving difficult to make it stay back in place as cant get the spring clip to stay in place , can you buy just the blue plastic sliders as I think one of the two broke slightly when the window popped out . The window popped out the rail because I tried to lower it on a frosty day and the bottom edge was frozen to the rubber outside window seal , the mechanism just pulled itself off completely and left the glass free to be taken out , I was lucky it didnt get ejected completely from the frame and possibly broken .

[OCkids]

Hi, Clan, or anybody else,
The left passenger window went down with a bang in my 2001 XC-70. I removed the door panel, and I can see a loose steel cable loop, which has probably come off, or maybe snapped. I do not see anything as elaborate is a "scissors" or another square mechanism described in various posts. It seems there is only a flat center post with a fork/tray sliding up and down on it and pushing the glass up. I have no idea what pulls it down. Do you have any pictures/video or drawings of that mechanism? Also, do I need to drill those rivets out to remove it? Your help will be much appreciated. Please copy your answers to <musssor@cox.net> if you don't mind. Thank you.