DeTomaso Mailing List: July 99, Message #275

Charlie wrote:

>
I also can't (easily) see where the gear goes. Can someone give
me a 30-second lecture on how this sucker works, and what I
ought to be looking for?  Thanks!

>>>That would be me.  I have in just the past few months done several R&R's 
of this system on various cars.

First, there's a plastic plug on the upper front side of each door panel.  
Remove this and you should see a white plastic tube with an X in the middle.  
Take the biggest Phillips screwdriver you have, insert into the X, and push 
it inwards about an inch (spring-loaded.)

Congratulations.  You are now manually connected to the window gear.  The 
gear ratio is super low so you have to turn the screwdriver about seven 
million times to make the window move an inch (coincidentally this is the 
SAME mechanism as used by the headlights; thus the knob on the driver's side 
behind the radiator serves the same function.)

If you push and turn and don't get any motion, then (as I suspect) you've got 
another toasted gear.

(They break in pairs--if you only order one, that is DOOM as the other side 
will sense the imbalance and immediately break too!)

Getting to the gear is a real bitch.  

Pull the interior panels.

In the upper rear opening of the door, insert a short block (2x4) to prevent 
the window from falling down.

Remove the 10mm bolts securing the window raising mechanism from the inside 
of the door.

Remove the (12mm?) bolt from the arm where it connects to the bottom of the 
glass.

Remove the wires from the motor (remember their orientation!)

Now is where the profanity comes in.  The motor, mechanism and arm ALL come 
out as a unit through the large opening at the bottom front of the door.  You 
will wrestle and curse for sometimes hours and be utterly convinced that it 
will NEVER come out, and then suddenly BLOOP and there it is in your hands.

If you get really desperate, you can sometimes wrestle a 1/4 inch socket onto 
the two 10mm nuts securing the motor to the bottom of the mechanism, remove 
the motor and then the mechanism comes out simply.  However the motor will 
HAVE to be attached to the mechanism before you reinstall or you'll never get 
it.

Sometimes it can be helpful to move the arm up and down (turning the gear a 
million times) to change the angle of the dangle.  If it's well and truly 
stuck, then you MAY have to BEND the arm (whimper) to get it out, then 
carefully bend it back.  I've never had to go there and hope I never have to!

Once the thing is out, flip it over and you'll see the two covers atop the 
mechanism.  One cover overlaps the other--you'll need 8mm socket to remove 
the bolts.

When you gain access to the gear, carefully use a screwdriver or similar and 
work it off the shaft.  If it's in pieces this job is easier!

It should be liberally swathed in grease; this grease can hide washers, 
spacers etc. so thoroughly clean everything and get all your other parts.

Completely bathe the new gear and it's environment in new, high-quality 
grease, and reassemble.

You get to repeat the wrestling match to put it all back together!

In a best case scenario you can do this entire job inside of an hour.  When I 
did it back in October, including head-scratching it took more like two 
hours.  But once you get the first side done (crack the code) the second side 
should be a snap.

Once you're good at it, you might want to get ambitious and tackle your 
headlight gear at the same time.

Good luck, and have fun! :>)

Mike