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<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/153369/regulatortool.jpg"></center><p>Thanks for the great writeup, EnemyRacing! I just followed your instructions to fix my rear right regulator, and save "good beer money" :-)! (BTW, this sounds like a common problem with our B6 A4's; I've seen quite a few other posts about the same "rear right regulator" problem -- Audi should do a recall). In any event, I just wanted to let you know that I struggled to remove the two T25 Torx screws that attach the green carrier to the black window clamp. There's just not enough room to fit a regular screwdriver or even a ratcheting wrench (the adapter is too long) in there! So I made my own using pliers, hose clamp and a T25 bit. Above is what my homemade tool looked like.
Your posting with the great photos enabled me to fix my right rear window problem. It was EXACTLY as you described. I followed your directions/photos to a tee and it worked out perfectly! A cotter pin, some glue, and a couple of hours is all it took.
It is so frustrating that a little plastic tab breaking could end up costing hundreds of dollars to get fixed at a repair shop. But thanks to you and forums like this, we can share our experiences and at least keep from wasting too much money needlessly. THANK YOU. I hope to be able to post something someday that will help someone else out.
Thanks so much for this tutorial, you just saved me (for now, anyway) at least $150 but probably more. I just completed this fix on my left-rear window, using cotter pins only (no glue, this time). The hardest part, for me, was getting the torx bolts off from the back side of the carrier. I ended up putting the correct torx bit in a vise-grip and it took awhile. I did not cut metal in my door, the better way probably would've been to have taken off the inner door metal, but even with a 109-pc bit kit I don't have a friggin torx-45 bit so I did it with all metal in there. It took me about 3 hours but that included a trip to the hardware store for the bit kit and some beers and photos, because I think that's usually the accepted method. I shoved 3 cotter pins of varying thicknesses in that **** and will hope for the best. I didn't want to wait for the whole gluing process...maybe I would've but was having a bitch of a time getting the thing clamped around the carrier and metal frame which covers the pully-wire. (I also wasn't expecting the tension of the wire, duh, and had some trouble finding the metal slug but found if I just popped the motor back on and moved the window up & down from the drivers door, I was able to get the slug to a position where I could work with it.)
It's infuriating to me that these window mechanisms were engineered in such a way that a couple of tabs on a crappy piece of plastic could fail after a decade (or less, in my case it's an '01-build '02 A4 3.0). There are replacement green plastic carriers available, but from what I found online they all come from Europe and I didn't want to wait and pay $20 incl shipping, for a part which someone on AW mentioned could very likely be more shoddy than the original. I've also got an '88 BMW which hasn't had these problems (far as I can tell...)
I found it awhile back and have been delaying the fix the past year... Well the second rear window broke and the pregnant wife has been on my *** to fix them especially with this Oregon rain...
So I noticed a few things while I was fixing em both and thought it might be worth sharing.
I've got a much better solution to cutting out part of the door to get more access space:
If after you remove the motor assembly push the blue gear assembly inside the door, that will give (some) freedom of moving the cable. Then remove the single torx bolt that holds the base of the black guide bar. Now the black guide bar will be allowed to pivot back and forth, so you can have better access to put in the cotter pins and everything in the top access hole, saving all the effort of cutting the steel and leaving your door as it was originally if you care about that.
Also this fix will work if your green piece is broken in a different manner. You can see the two tabs on the side of the green piece that hold the green piece inline with the black guide bar. Yours happens to have one broken off. My driverside looked just like yours. One tab broke off and the slug busted through it's bracket.
But on the passenger side the slug hadn't busted through, the two tabs were merely broke off. I was a little concerned how I was going to fix that... But I realized something, the side tabs only hold the green piece close to the guide bar so that the slug is "blocked" in place. So with out any of the tabs there's nothing to hold the slug even though the green plastic wasn't broken around the slug. So after I placed the cotter pins in there the slug was properly held in place and I don't even need the tabs on the side of the green piece to hold it properly. There is plenty of support from the window and guide bar as is, no need to remake or repair any broken tabs.
The first one took me around an hour, but once I knew what was going on the second side only took me around 30mins. Luckily due to this old post the only beer money that was lost for me was the better part of a beer I knocked it over in the driveway while making the repair
I have a b7, my front windows don't operate but rears do. Does this fix pertain to the fronts too iyo? Was just quoted anywhere from $500 each to much less depending on the cause. This sucks.
This method has worked for me for the last 3 years, until last week that is. Though I did use zip ties and not a cotter pin, which may have not been as strong. The green clip broke even more, beyond fixing imo. I purchsed a new green clip on ebay for $17 shipped. The quality is as good as original, considering the oem was a POS I don't think it could be any worse. I'll advise if I have any problems with it.
ohhh I guess this is Audi's way of insuring that their dealerships are duly compensated for repairs... ok, I am tryin to be a cheap *** and get my window back up, but hate the fact that I am screwing with the virgin rear 'door'...uhhh window panel, do you have a procedure for getting the damn thing off? I have taken the back seat out, taken the wood trim and little leather panel/speaker cover off, unscrewed the torx at the top rear, popped the lower panel off but do not want to gussy up the top part... is there something else I need to unscrew or takeoff before I can get the whole panel off? It seems like there should be something near where the rear wind screen sets into?
Got my own version of the repair seems to hold for the moment .
1 make the tool for torx bit with bit of wood. make sure the drilled hole for 25torx bit is smaller so that you can hammer in the bit and it doesn't loosen.
2. after reclaiming notched out regulator - back fill with the super hard epoxy kneedable gum - usually comes in a roll and you cut off the amount needed -
make sure you leave it for a few hours or overnight so that the epoxy putty goes really hard.
tool using thin bit of wood - 10 to 12cm in length , width about 3cm , height less than 1cm... this will let you get behind the screws to between window and door.
09-14-2008, 02:58 PM
Re: UPDATE - Dropped window fix with pictures
