W124 wagon window lifts - help please!
 

The driver's side rear window in my wife's wagon is broken. A few days ago, my wife and daughter heard a clanking noise when they closed the door. Last night, the window stopped going up all the way...it would stop about 1.75 inches from the top.

As I was lowering/raising the window, trying to determine the obstruction, the window came off it's track. I pulled the door panel and found that the cables were no longer attached to the lifting mechanism. I also determined that lifter mechanism had malfunctioned and that it was causing the window to stop before getting to the top.

I figured out how to put it all back together, however, the cable appears to be about .25 to .5 inches too short. If I route the cables around the two pulleys, I don't have enough cable length to attach to the lifter. I can attach the cables to the lifter if I slip the cable off the lower pulley but then I don't have enough cable to get back around the pulley! :rolleyes:

There must be some trick - anyone?

Thanks!

TO DO IT RIGHT, REPLACE THE WINDOW LIFTER. THERE IS NO WAY TO REPAIR IT.

Does the position of the glass have any effect?

WRM:
The problem is not so much the lifter at this point. The cables coming from the motor appear to be too short. The lifter itself went back together fine.

JCE:
Indeed, the position of the window, or at least running it up and down with tension of the cables did make a difference. When I started, the cables were about 1.5 inches too short...now it's only .5 inch max.

YOUR JUST WASTING YOUR TIME. YOU CAN NOT DISASSEMBLE THE REGULATOR BECAUSE THE MOTOR & REGULATOR ARE SOLD TOGETHER. THERE IS CABLE WRAPED UP IN THE MOTOR WHERE THE PROBLEM PROBABLY IS.

WRM:
Well, maybe so but I want to give it a shot anyway! :)

If there's no "trick" then I'll disassemble the motor/cable mechanism and see what I find. I was able to put the lifter mechanism back together successfully and have the window working in the upward direction. I just need to get the lower cable around the bottom pulley and all I need is .5 inches, maybe less.

Anyone else?

All fixed!
 

As a followup to my original post...
Today I removed the regulator/motor mechanism and took it apart. Apparently what happened was that after the cables came loose from the lifter and I continued to operate the window, the cables got tangled up inside the housing. I straightened out the cables as best as I could and was able to put everything back together.

I lubed everything up and reinstalled into the door and the window works great. :)