A lot of wind noise. Window height adjustment needed?

My 996 cab has a lot of wind noise with the top up, especially noticeable on the drivers side where the top of the window meets the seal. When I pulled the driver's side door card to replace the speaker a while back I noticed the moisture barrier had been removed so I'm assuming the regulator was replaced at some point. From what I've read online it's easy to not get the alignment correct when installing a new regulator. I don't think the last guy who owned this car used a Porsche mechanic so it wouldn't surprise me if this window is out of adjustment. What I haven't found online is a clear cut article on the proper height adjustment of the window. I'm thinking maybe the window is not going up at the top to make enough of a seal to stop the wind noise, especially on the top right corner. See the picture below of the car with the window dropdown activated. Couple questions: 1. Does it look like the gap is a little uneven? It aligns perfectly with the rear window when its all the way up. 2. Should the window not drop down this far, or inversely should the height of the window @ the highest trim setting be higher up so there is not as much of a gap when the dropdown is activated? I'm thinking this might make a tighter seal. Can I do this by removing the plugs on the bottom of the door to access the adjustment screws, versus having to take the door card off again? ****Note that I cannot find anything wrong with the window seals in the convertible top. Also I took a video of the dropdown being activated, and I also did the the paper test - I've read you are not supposed to be able to pull the paper out. I was able to pull it out but it did take a little force. my car - You Tube

so I made the adjustments from the bottom of the door. And I put a socket where the rubber window seal is on the convertible to in efforts to give a better seal, however there was no improvement. The windows look like they are making a good enough seal. Does anyone know of any convertible top people that are familiar with 996s and how to address these issues? Thanks,

My guess is that the window is misaligned in the regulator. You will need to pull off the door card again and loosen the bolts that hold the window glass in the regulator. Then you can move the glass into alignment. Don't forget to plug the airbag back in before turning on the car and working the window up and down to check. Window alignment is more of an art than science.

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I can't see how the glass is misaligned. It looks the same as everyone else's when in the full upright position and closed against the car.

Your glass is definitely misaligned and door card needs to be removed and realign the window to the regulator. it is really out of alignment and tilted to far back in the upper rear part of the window.

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OP, take our advice. The glass is off... without a doubt misaligned. Remove the door panel, moisture barrier, losing the regulator bolts that clamp onto the glass and adjust. There are videos on YouTube that demonstrate the process.

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guys,,,I�m takin it,,,,love it. Gives me hope. I�m not sure why I can�t see it, but I trust you. I�ll rip this door card right off in a jif. John, when you say �too far back�, I take that as adjust the side closest to the door latch needs to be tilted more upwards?

Yes, you can see where the trim in the rear window is darker in the top picture, I would start by loosening the window to the regulator but tighten enough to move the window and will stay in position. hopefully your battery is disconnected to not get an air bag fault and now you can close your door carefully because the window will be in full up position, push the window slightly inward to close the door so it will not contact the top and align the window with the dark part of the trim on rear window. once set open the door and tighten up. I always check the drag with piece pf paper between the front window and rear window which is adjustable from the bottom of the door, then recalibrate the window opening and closing by holding the window switch for extra 10 second after it stops in opening and closing.

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guys,,,,i just realized,,,the picture i sent you before was with the door popped open, so it may not be the best representation. See picture below of the glass in the drop down position but without the door popped. Do you still think it looks that misaligned?

LOL it looks good there, might have to adjust your bottom two bolts to get the right tension in closed door position, they are at the bottom of the door looking up.

Agree, it looks good. I seem to remember that the pressure of window against seal (trailing edge of window as well as top edge) is correct when a sheet of paper held between the two requires force to be pulled out. When the paper tears, pressure is too great.

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Ok,,,,thanks for the feedback. The front window seems to have good pressure against the rear window and seals at the top. Looks like where back to square one.

Updates - i took the ol� ragtop down to San Antonio for some shenanigans with my beloved customers and i was able to find where i believe the majority of the air is sneaking in. At highway speeds if I pushed from the inside against this window seal with the windows up there was a decent improvement in noise. If you look at the picture below you can see the felt on the rear window seal is pretty worn, and the seal in general is tired. Also, the weather was pretty crappy on the way down to SAN, and when it rained it the wind noise was reduced by a good chunk, and I�m sure that�s because the rain was improving the seal. Im going to order a couple of replacements and we�ll see what happens note that the window on the door looks to be applying enough pressure against this seal, so I don�t believe the inward/outward needs to be adjusted.

Is this common? I have an 03 C4 Cab and find it has a lot of wind noise when the hard top is on the car. I don't drive all that much with the soft top up when the weather turns nice, so I cannot say off memory if it is bad with the soft top as well. I will make it a point to drive with it up once I remove the hard top to see if it has a good amount of wind noise also.

i think i found the issue. It looks as if there too much of a gap at the top of where the window meets the seal. I�ve adjusted it all the way on the adjustments screws at the bottom of the door to have it press more against the seal. Is the a way to make more adjustments if I pull the door card off?

Hard to tell from the picture but look like the rear window can come out more at the top, spacing to the rear window is tight at the bottom and getting bigger at the top.

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i don�t believe the rear window is adjustable?

Rear window is adjustable, you have to pull the rear card off and at the bottom there is a rubber plug with wires running thru it, looking thru the hole you will see a 13 mm nut and the stud has female allen hole, loosen the nut do not remove and adjust the stud to bring the window in tighter.

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Really. I actually did the passenger rear window regulator probably 2-3 months ago,,,,not sure how I missed the bottom stud having that sort of adjustability. And I guess I got lucky when I reinstalled the regulator because I�m not getting the wind noise on that side. Also, this makes me hopeful that because the window is out alignment of alignment on the drivers side hopefully someone else was already in there to swap the regulator on that side. Because that job can easily make a grown man cry and I never want to do it again. thanks for your help. I�m going to give this a shot tomorrow night and I�ll report back.

Between the two Cabriolets in the family, changing the rear regulator is now a 2 hour job, LOL the first one I did I never wanted to see another again.

Happy to report back that the adjustment made a noticeable difference in wind noise. At 80+ mph there is still noise around the pillars, however far less, and think it�s probably normal on a Cab for the most part. Supposed to be driving with the top down anyways. thanks John.

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Cow town ? are you in Vacaville CA ?

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negative. Fort Worth TX

Hi @JohnCA58 . I have a '02 996 cabrio and need to push the rear window outwards. Not very familiar with the car (I need it drawn out in crayon) but would definitely appreciate any guidance. Thank you.