HELP! Window/regulator problem

Hi All, I'm a newbie on Rennslist but a long time Porsche owner... I currently own a 2000 911 C2 Cab and a 99 Boxster. Love them both. The passenger window in the Cabriolet started malfunctioning about 2 weeks ago. Classic failing regulator symptoms -- not retracting sufficiently when lifting the outer door handle, and a loud rattling, scratching noise when operating the window. Been there. Seen that. Regulator going bad, but still operating well enough to open and close the window. However, what I hadn't seen before was the window so out of position, that there was about a 2mm gap between the inner surface of the glass and the inner felt window seal. When raising the window the glass was putting so much pressure on the outer rubber seal that the motor was slowing and when retracting the rubber edge of the outer seal was actually being folded over and forced downward. I figured the regulator was totally whacked so I bought a new URO Parts regulator and installed it. This fixed the rattling and scratching noise, but the window is still displaced about 2mm from the inner felt seal and rubbing against and folding over the outer rubber seal when retracting. I can't for the life of me see any way to adjust this. All the adjustments seem to be related to fore/aft positioning, tilt, and overall height of the window vs. the upper seal. Is it possible that when the old regulator was failing that it somehow altered the mounting geometry. Could it be the after market URO Parts regulator? I've never used their parts before but it was $100 cheaper and they seem to have a pretty good reputation. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks - Steve 2000 911 Cabriolet 1999 Boxster 65 356C (unfortunately deceased)

Can you show us a pic of what you're describing? It seems to me that you should be able to adjust this by loosening the bolts at the base of the regulator and moving them in an outboard/lateral direction.

Steve Welcome. I doubt that the window has altered the position. If I remember right the new window reg comes with new mount points etc. Could it be the motor that is not lifting correctly? Most replacements are without the motor. Ok, the 2 I have done were the mech itself. minus motor. If there is not something in the way preventing the raise of the window (dead rodent, Big Grasshopper) I would look at WHY the front is not going full up. Stretched cable (although that is in the new kit) etc. Best I got from my armchair mechanics position

New regulators can be used for the 996 or the 986. If you use it on the 996, there are "stops" that you have to remove to give the window it's full range of motion. Could this be the problem?

Thanks to those that replied. I think I must not be describing the problem well. I have installed the new regulator. There window goes up and down through it's full range of motion. The problem is that it the window seems to not be sitting properly in the window well/regulator because when it raises the outside surface of the glass presses so hard against the rubber weather stripping that the motor has to strain and it makes a sound like a squeegee scraping across a dry window. Similarly, when the window goes down it presses so hard against the weather stripping that the friction actually grabs hold of the edge of the rubber strip, and folds it over into an inverted u shape as it goes down, putting a lot of strain and stress on the motor and regulator. There is so much friction and so little clearance that part of the weather stripping remains trapped in the folded over position. If you look straight down at the window well of a properly functioning window when the window is fully reclined, you see the top edge of the window in the middle, a felt gasket on the inside and rubber weather stripping on the outside. In my properly working window there appears to be a less than 1mm gap between the inside surface of the window and the inside felt strip and about the same size gap between the outer surface of the window and the rubber weather stripping. The windows goes up and down with light pressure on the inside felt gasket and little to no pressure on the outside rubber weather stripping. Basically it just slips right past them and what little pressure the window does exert is definitely on the inside felt gasket, which make sense since it's felt and exerts little friction on the window. My malfunctioning window is just the opposite. All the pressure is on the outer rubber weather strip rather than on the inside felt strip. It creates so much friction that the window/regulator are struggling to get the window up and down. If look down at the window well with the window fully reclined I can see that the gap between the inside felt gasket and the inside surface of the window is 2-3mm and the outer surface of the window is in tight contact with the outer weather stripping. Clearly, the window is sitting too far outboard in the window well/regulator. What I can't figure out is WHY. And I also don't see any way to adjust it. There are adjustments for fore and aft, up and down and tilt, but as far as I can see, there is no adjustment for moving the window inboard or outboard in the regulator/window well. Any ideas?

You can adjust that by loosening the bolts on the bottom of th regulator and moving them outboard, which will push the window glass inboard. They are accessible through the rubber caps on the bottom of the door, so you don't have to remove the interior door panel to access them.

wow good one Dennis. I hope that works for him. 'LIKEMINDS' let us know if Dennis's suggestion worked. Thanks

Dennis - thanks for the heads up. I had an Indy replace my drivers side regulator and it has a slight bit of wind noise. It's a Cab so I'm sure there will be some noise but the window on the passenger side (which hasn't been replaced) is virtually silent. I'll work the adjustments - just didn't know they were so easy to get to....thx.

They're really pretty easy. There are actually two rubber caps at each mount under the door. One allows you to move the lower mounting point as discussed above, and the other allows you access the adjustment screw for each side of the window to raise or lower it. It may take a little trial and error to get it just right, but you can get it done. Good luck!

Hi Dennis, I found the adjustments you pointed out. They are indeed easily accessible. However, they didn't seem to have much impact. I adjusted both bolts to the extreme end of their travel both inboard and outboard, but doing so had little if any impact on the window position. Which seemed a little odd to me, since it seems like it SHOULD change the window position, but it is hard to tell w/o removing the side panel so I can see what's going on. So, I guess I'm going to have to disassemble the whole thing again. Damn... it's a pain and every time I do so, I end up putting another tiny little nick on the plastic logo insert -- which ticks me off, or risk breaking one of the plastic retaining clips, which in my opinion, should be banned from being used in any auto application! I'm starting to suspect that either the aftermarket regulator isn't right or that when the original regulator went bad, it somehow torqued/altered the mounting geometry so that the window no longer sits properly in the window well. Sigh! Very frustrating. I've gone ahead and ordered the OEM regulator. I'll update everyone when I install that. - Steve

Sorry for your troubles Steve. I hope the OE regulator fixes the issue.

Quotes source post: 9702644

I actually wrote a reply to this post a few days ago and forgot to hit submit. Oops. I don't think the bolts providing adjustment at the bottom of the regulator are going to have any effect for your problem. All they do is move the top of the window in or out at the top of the travel. When the window is all the way down, they shouldn't have any effect. I think you have one of three problems here. 1) The Window guide/weather stripping itself is out of alignment. There's no other track that the window rides in, but the rubber at the top of the window could be out of spec. 2) The top two bolts holding the regulator in - which have no adjustment to them - are some how either not tight or pushed towards the outside of the car. I'm not sure how this could happen, maybe the mounting points for these bolts got pushed out? 3) The clamps holding the window to the regulator are pushing the window out. By any chance did the aftermarket unit make you reuse the clamps hold onto the window? Ben

My thought with the suggestion was that the window needed adjustment at the top of travel, which is why I suggested moving the bolts at the bottom. Maybe I understood the issue incorrectly...

I had to replace mine and took the cheap route and low and behold i've had nothing but issues with it regarding fit and finish.

Hi, i know its a old thread, but here's a tip if someone find themself in same situation. It need to reprogram the window. you can see it here: Window Regulator Replacement on a Porsche - YouTube

[QUOTE=Likeminds;9698159] . The problem is that it the window seems to not be sitting properly in the window well/regulator because when it raises the outside surface of the glass presses so hard against the rubber weather stripping that the motor has to strain and it makes a sound like a squeegee scraping across a dry window. Similarly, when the window goes down it presses so hard against the weather stripping that the friction actually grabs hold of the edge of the rubber strip, and folds it over into an inverted u shape as it goes down, putting a lot of strain and stress on the motor and regulator. QUOTE] I had this exact issue of minor misaligment when I did mine this past weekend. It was corrected my moving the bottom of the rails to the middle position. I loosened the top bolts first, moved the bottom to the centre of the track, then retightened all four. Maybe the rails in your set are warped somehow.? It is almost impossible to mess up the alignment that much.

From what I have been reading it seems that my regulator on the passenger door is giving out. It started making the scratching sound when being lowered or raised. Are the regulators interchangeable between the driver and passenger door, or when I order I need to specify which side?

Quotes source post: 10765201

Pretty sure it's the latter.

Quotes source post: 10683422

That's a great video to have as a fav.. thanks.

Switched out the passenger window regulator this weekend. Fairly easy but didn't exactly take 10 min like the boxter video attached to the earlier post.

Just tried to replace my drivers side regulator that was malfunctioning with classic symptoms, purchased an aftermarket regulator from a French website that is popular here for 170€ ( www.passionauto.com ) (aftermarket prices here in FR, cheeper than Porsche original) and was not able to install and adjust right! Same problems as original problems in the thread. It was like the geometry was off and would't line up. The aftermarket piece (I don't know the name of the brand) had green pulleys and the window motor housing was white. ( http://www.passionauto.com/A-13898-m...e-996-986.aspx ) The window motor didn't line up correctly with the regulators housing so I switched the housing and still after trying to correctly line the window up for 1 1/2 hours wasn't able to do so and gave up, put the original bum together and re-installed:/ The bottom bracket for the outside rail wasn't in the right axis either... The aftermarket white plastic housing cracked as well as I attempted to place the motor in it due to the guide holes not being an exact fit... I'm going to try to return the piece tomorrow and hope to get my money back and then purchase an original Porsche regulator. Has anyone had this problem before? Like I said, not sure which brand the AM regulator I got is but defiantly not up to spec... I'll keep you posted when I receive the OE Porsche regulator.. p.s. I got a bonus airbag error as well even though I disconnected the battery every time I had to unplug the side door airbag... Christmas is early I guess..

What's a good source for the OEM regulator, my passenger one is shot?

I sourced mine through Pelican Parts. http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/...pg4.htm#item16