W210 front passenger window stopping halfway up - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

ddiller · #1 11-02-2009, 01:21 PM

Hmm, I thought the REAR regulators were the real weak point, but every once in a while the passenger front in my '98 is getting stuck halfway up - it did it again today. It goes about halfway up and then just stops as if it is getting stuck. I can hear the motor slowing and stopping. No grinding or anything, it just stops going up, and then a second or so later the relay in the control box clicks off. Sometimes it backs down an inch or so in the pinch avoidance move, and sometimes it doesn't. I coaxed it up again after noting that the window glass seemed to be shifting forwarding/twisting a little bit, so by pulling the glass towards the back of the door to get it back into line, it eventually went up after a few tries.

Interestingly, it seems to be doing it a day or so after it rains (originally causing me to suspect electrical), so I'm really not sure what's up with that. Now it doesn't seem to be electrical, since the glass itself is shifting a bit in the track, so I'm currently assuming it actually IS a physical binding problem.

Does this sound like "the infamous regulator issue" or something else? Precursor/warning of a more serious failure? Is it worth the effort to try to find parts in a junkyard, or am I just asking for a repeat appearance sooner (and how would I visually distinguish "good" from "not so good")? APE has them for $100 or so, which isn't horrible... except it'd be $10.37 at my local u-pull (if they had any W210s on the lot) ;-)

F18 · #2 11-02-2009, 06:38 PM

Just a quick thing you can try.
Use some spray silicone and squirt and lube the felted side weather tracks with the window all the way down. Use the tube nozzle to also lube the track down into the door. It may be just getting hung up on a worn sticky track. But if it keeps binding up that way it could cause the linkage of the window reg. to bend if it is not already damaged.

I have only had rear regulators on my MBs go bad. But I have had a few front drivers side in other vehicles fail. The one in the driver's door gets banged around alot during the life of the car.