Replacing Window "Sliding Jaw"????

UPDATE: WINDOW WON'T GO UP. REMOVED DOOR PANEL. FOUND BROKEN PIECE OF PLASTIC.


First, thanks to all who helped guide me to take the door panel off. No easy task. I misunderstood some advice.

Anyway, I could see why my window will not go up. It is a lousy white piece of plastic with a hole in it that split into 2 pieces. Is that the "sliding jaw" that cost $5.

Is fixing that as simple as getting the new piece of plastic (sliding jaw) and snapping it into place and then putting the metal rod back into the piece of plastic so the window can go up and down. The motor and connecting rod and working fine. It is just the plastic that broke.

What is that piece of white plastic called?




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'89 420 SEL
'90 300 SEL
'84 300 SD (sold it)

All that broke was the plastic piece. Do I still need to remove the regulator and peen anything.

Seems like all I have to do is fit a new plastic piece over the lever, right?

Hey Matt: went thru the same thing on the 300SD. The right rear window crumbled the 0.50 piece of plastic. Dick over at the www.benzbin.com sent me one for about a dollar or two. I had to get a motor dremel tool to grind out the pin and use a #6(?) screw and lock tight to replace the plastic piece and attech it to the arm. A lot easier than Dodge and Ford!

So when I get that plastic piece, I simply cannot put that onto the metal piece. Why cannot I just do that?

What is a motor dremel? Will a screw hold that plastic in place for an extended period of time?

Do I have to remove the mushroomed piece of metal and get a new piece of metal to attach the sliding jaw?

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'89 420 SEL
'90 300 SEL
'84 300 SD (sold it)

By the way when you drilled, did you remove this stuff from the door first or did you do it in place?

Dumb question, but is this a wood type screw or a bolt with a nut? Is there something recommended by Mercedes or did you go to a hardware store?

[bhatt]

My 300SD had the same problem. Here's what I did:

1. Remove door panel and use power window switch to get arm to a place where you can work on it.
2. Drill out the "mushroomed" rivet and remove any pieces. Remove the old plastic sliding jaw from the track if it's still there.
3. Open the plastic part of the jaw and replace the metal pin that's in there with a bolt of the same size. Try and get a bolt with a phillips head or slotted head so you can hold it with a screwdriver when you tighetn later on.
4. Put the plastic piece in the track where the old one was. You should see the bolt threads sticking out of the plastic piece and facing you.
5. Adjust the window itself and/or the arm to get it lined up with the bolt head. Push the arm over the bolt head and put a nut on it. You will need to devise a system to allow the arm to slide. What I did was put on the following hardware in this order (starting from the "track" side):
Bolt, washer, arm (from window motor), washer, nut, nut. This allows the window arm to swivel between the washers. The two nuts are important and need to be tightened against each other (maybe use locktite?) so they don't unscrew when you use the window motor.

This has worked fine for me with no problems! I used some brake grease to lube the tracks. If you do this, first clean out the tracks really well since there's tons of 15+ year old gunk in there!

Neal


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Neal Bhatt - bhatt@ic.net
'83 300SD 193k

Thanks a bunch. This explains a lot.

So I understand correctly, there is no way possible to stay away from drilling that riveting piece out??????

And if you had to drill did you do it inside the door well or did you diassemble it?

I hate to drill inside that.

[bhatt]

I drilled it out while it was in the door. If you're really paranoid, put a large flat piece of wood behind the arm so you don't slip with the drill bit and hit something bad (ie. the door skin)

If you use a sharp bit, you won't have any problems. You are correct that the only way to get it out is to drill. If you look at the new one, you'll see it how it looks before it gets "mushroomed". It is basically rivetted in and like rivets, it must be drilled out.

Let me know how yours turns out and/or email me if you need any more tips or help.. I'd be glad to help!
Neal

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Neal Bhatt - bhatt@ic.net
'83 300SD 193k

thanks neal, got the new jaw today. can you use the new rivet or do you have to drill that out too?


so am i right by saying that you have to drill out the old AND new rivets?


was it hard getting those 2 nuts tight together so the jaw won't come loose?


could you peen the new rivet?

[bhatt]

You only need to drill out the old rivet from the arm. That will leave you with a hole. Don't use the new rivet -- remove it from the sliding jaw and replace it with a bolt. The bolt should be in the same position (end sticking out of the plastic jaw) as the rivet was. See what I mean? Also make sure the bolt is long enough to stick out of the jaw, go through both washers and the arm, and have two nuts on the end!

As far as the nuts, screw one on tight by hand and snug it up with a crescent wrench. Screw the second one on by hand and tighten against the first using the wrench. When you get to the hardware store to buy the bolts & nuts, try this with the two nuts and you'll see how easy it is to make a "double-nut" that doesn't move or unscrew itself.

I'll be checking back here pretty much daily, even through the weekend. Let me know on mercedesshop or via email if you run into trouble.

Neal

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Neal Bhatt - bhatt@ic.net
'83 300SD 193k

Thank Neal. Here are some questions for you because you used a THREADED BOLT.

Won't the threads of the bolts dig into the lever arm as the window goes up and down and won't the window then not move up and down properly. What if the bolt is not a "perfect" fit? Will it bounce around in there? WIll the window still stay snug in the "up" position?


I bought a 5/16" bolt and washers. What do you think?

The threads did not mess things up on yours? Will try this tommorow. Bought the parts today. Thanks!