MX5Ireland

Hi, I'm having a bit of an issue with my driver window. (The passenger one doesn't work properly either but its not a serious problem.) When I leave my window up the full way for a few hours it drops itself by about a centimeter. This morning my driver seat was damp along one side of it as the window has came down a little overnight and rain went inside easily. Can't be good for security of the car either.

Would fixing this just be a case of sorting the electric window mechanism or could there be something more serious at play? The window doesn't move at all when I use the switches. The passenger window moves a little bit but then gets stuck.

Any suggestions would be helpful. I'm a complete newbie to this. Cheers.

you probably have snapped cables on the motor
common problem

If not snapped, then they probably need a good overhaul, re-greasing etc.
Easy enough job, look it up on google . If you can get hold of a workshop manual you'll get a step by step guide on how to do it.
Failing that, I'll get the pages from my manual photocopied and sent to you.

John

Well the left side window works. It's just very slow and threatens to get stuck half way down so I don't wanna force it. The right side window doesn't move at all. Can hear the motor working when I press the switch but the window doesn't budge so that could indicate a broken cable.

Is there any guides available with pictures? I'm rubbish at these kinds of things. Which workshop manual is recommended?

several guides with pics here :
http://www.miata.net/garage/garageinterior.html

Its just nuts, bolts and a bit of cursing to get the assembly out of the door, then you'll see how it all works and how to replace the cable.

THE RODS WORKSHOP MANUAL FROM MX5PARTS.CO.UK HELPED ME NO END WHEN DOING MINE, AND AS STEVE SAYS, ONCE YOU START DISMANTLING THE DOOR IT ALL BECOMES OBVIOUS HOW IT ALL WORKS.
(I'M GONNA TAKE THE CAPS LOCK OFF NOW )

John

Decided to go ahead and start removing the door panel so I can see if it is indeed the belt that needs replaced. Here's what I have discovered:



There's some sort of plastic covering over the door held on with black sticky stuff. Is it OK to just rip this off?

Also my door panel was really damp aswell. This normal?

yeah undo the door handle and peel it off around the edges (don't get the black goo on your clothes.. ).

The instructions for removing the glass + motor are in the links I sent on, its fairly straight forward.

Thanks for the help. So once I take this plastic off is it ok to just throw it out or should I try and attach it again after?

Best to keep it and replace. Its a damp/water barrier, a fair bit can get down into the doors.

If it is b0llixed, you can rig a new piece up with some damp-proof membrane sheeting or wooden-floor underlay sheeting courtesty of B&Q etc. Tape it down with duct tape.

Cheers will keep that in mind Frank. For now it seems fine although my door panel suggests otherwise.

So yea when I came to actually removing the motor etc I didn't bother as I don't have any cables to use anyway. I'm now confident at removing door panels though.

Tbh it still looks a bit tricky so if I can find someone else to do it for me I'll be happy. Thanks for all the help so far and sorry for amount of questions!

James,

Stick with it - it looks harder than it is - I replaced mine a couple of months ago on a MKII - took me a few hours over a couple of nights - stripped down the motor was the hardest part - you should be able to get any relevant parts on the sponsors websites.

I'm in Swords if you need a hand - although I'm pretty tied up for the next couple of weeks

Spideog