300SEL window regulator repair in the deserts

[werminghausen]

I wanted to briefly share how I repaired worn out steel regulator teeth here in Oman.
Window was rattling loudly when I pushed the up button and window was up. It closed and then jumped back- awful noise . It was front passenger side this time.
If you have some basic tools this repair takes 2-3 hours. You need a welder, vice, file (triangle section)
I removed the regulator (take out the fuse when you disconnect the wires) and removed the motor, easy. You need to put battery power on the leads in order to move the motor forth or back in order to get the screws out.
I could not easily remove the steel gear from aluminum frame, so I left it in place but I removed the spring.
The aluminum frame was bent entirely and I did my best to bend it back (I think Aluminum was the wrong frame material, sorry MB). Was easy to do, frame is somehow soft. I also needed to bend the arm that holds the outer edge of the steel gear.
So now I cleaned the steel gear and saw the worn down teeth. Only one side of the flanks were worn (due to the odd position of motor in the bent frame I think) so I tried to weld only the worn halves.
Took my welder and added material to the worn sides of the teeth. then I took my triangle file and did my best to get back to the original geometry, not that hard and it is not high precision gear.
I installed all back and the window is now in perfect shape for hopefully the next ten years to come. Here are pics. I missed talking a picture of the worn teeth, sorry the last ones you see was how the final product looked after filing.

Happy repairing
Martin

[Pooka]

I once repaired a shaft on a cotton stripper the same way. Christmas day and all the dealers were closed and the crop had to be picked since rain was on the way.

The nearest dealer was 80 miles away, anyway, so the shaft was built up and then filed down on a grinder. I had a spare bearing to replace the bad one which was the cause of the shaft being eaten up to begin with.

It is amazing what you can do when you have to.

[WANT '71 280SEL]

There was recently a post with the CNC instructions to have one cut out of solid steel. It was literally posted not more than a month or so ago. Glad you got it figured out!

Best Regards,

David

[WANT '71 280SEL]

I was totally off on my acronyms in my last post. Here's a link to the thread for the CAD file to have a new gear made from steel (thus much stronger than the original aluminum). I blame it on my night cap.

Martin: I realize you fixed yours, but this is for others that will read this thread. Plus, I want to give Tom Drew credit because he took initiative on this.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/vintage-mercedes/316238-reproduction-w108-power-window-regulator-gears.html

Best Regards,

David