Pkuhns

Hi, new AudiWorld member trying to fix his driver's side rear window (it won't go up or down).

My little rear side window went "crack/chunk/clunk" the other night while trying to put it up. I lowered it and then wrr...wrr... it wouldn't go up. Sounded horrible.


Soo... I removed the rear seat bottom, then seat top, opened the convertible top/tonneau cover, and finally managed to remove the rear panel.

The rear side window sits in a metal piece called a "component carrier." I *think* this piece must easily lift out with window attached so that you can work on the window regulator/window cable. There is no other way to work on the window because it is encased in a steel slot, which is part of the car body.

My question: I found three bolts holding the component carrier and removed those, but the carrier won't budge. There must be some other bolt somewhere holding her in place. But I can't find it. See this crappy photo I took of my current 'progress':



Is there a bolt hiding behind that hair dryer type blower? Or perhaps inside the tonneau cover holding pen area (not really sure what you call that cavity). Anyway, can someone remind me why I bought a German car again? To support ibuprofen sales?

Mike Atkisson

After just replacing the passenger side rear window regulator, I found there is another bolt that you have to remove the outside trim to get access to.

It is behind the large hole in the this picture.

<a href="http://s992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/mtatkisson/?action=view&amp;current=cabriolet_rear.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af42/mtatkisson/cabriolet_rear.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Pkuhns

Thank you - did not know about that hole!

Loudgoldwing

Wow Mike,

Well done. That brings new meaning to the term "Thinking Outside the Box..."

{...ducks flying roll of 3M double-sided mounting tape...}

Sorry. Couldn't help it.

Pkuhns

That outside hole does indeed have a bolt inside. But the bolt is covered by the window if the window is down. It also looks like the bolt is covered by the component carrier framework as well.


Is there a way to manually raise the window, even if it's electrical/regulator stuff is not working? Basically I'm not sure how to access the bolt.

Mike Atkisson

My window was down to start with too. I knew it was bad so I went ahead and pulled the motor from the regulator. I also took apart where the cables go onto the motor so I could raise the window by hand.

I still have the old assembly out in the garage, so I will try to take some pictures in a few minutes.


To Loudgoldwing. The 3m tape was there when I pulled off the trim piece. Looks like the Previous Owner did some questionable maintenance.

The 4 circles show where the mounting points are for the whole carrier. Remember this is the opposite side than what you are working on.
<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v687/MAtkisson/?action=view&amp;current=cabriolet_rear1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/MAtkisson/cabriolet_rear1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

This shows how the motor comes apart into a lot of pieces.
<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v687/MAtkisson/?action=view&amp;current=cabriolet_rear2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/MAtkisson/cabriolet_rear2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Pkuhns

Thank you for the pix. I managed to wind up the window, remove the fourth bolt, then wind it back down to remove the entire assembly.


But it won't come out. Here is my progress:



The carrier comes out almost half way, but gets hung up on the bright metal support/bar thingy:




You mentioned disassembling the regulator - did you do that before the carrier would slide out? If so, how exactly do you plan to get everything back IN? Basically my fear is if I can't get it out without bending something, how the hell will i get it back in?

I did remove some outside rubber trim to make a little extra room but I did not remove the rubber trim pieces inside the tonneau cover area - they're riveted and I dread drilling out rivets.

How exactly were you able to pull out the entire component carrier? Did you remove the pulley/wire thingy prior to extracting the component carrier? Or were you able to find a specific angle that allowed you to remove the entire component carrier - regulator and all?

I haven't even gotten to the regulator/electric motor part. I can see they designed a wider opening for the regulator but I can't get the window to that point.

Were you able to easily remove the component carrier with the window? Or did you take apart everything you could reach, and then were able to remove the carrier?

Mike Atkisson

Like I said before, I already had the replacement on hand before I pulled my old one out. I did not remove the metal bar pictured until after I had everything off. I only did that because I needed the clips.

I think you will have to get the window all the way to the top to give you enough room to slide the whole assembly out. It looks like it is too thick right now to fit through the opening.

Pkuhns

You were right thank you. The window did need to be rolled up before the carrier would come out.

Of course, I had to disconnect the wire lead which was a stressful mess (you have to destroy the rubber grommet that protects the lead wire). I tied a string to the window wiring before pulling it through the hole.

A pic for posterity (and anyone else who has to do this):



A rectangle plastic connector broke, which is what started this whole thing.

Mike Atkisson

Glad to hear that you got it out successfully. Personally, I never imagined it would be such a difficult task to remove a window regulator.

I don't know if it was that plastic piece or one of the pullys that broke on mine too. Bad thing is that the cables usually end up getting bound up in the motor.