Alfa Pages

[JeremyC]

The motor operates but the window goes nowhere.

Is this likely to be a pinion slippping on a motor shaft or maybe a broken cable?

Your thoughts appreciated.

[paulhide]

Sounds like a broken cable. If you can't fix it I have a spare you can have for 15 quid + postage.
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Owner's Club 33 Registrar. Now from P4 & S2 1.7 QV
http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5188

[JeremyC]

Sorry for the double post folks.

Is a cable change easy? It's a nightmare on my Fiat Dino (sadly languishing in a pig shed at the moment!).

Thanks for the offer Paul, I'll keep it in mind.

[JeremyC]

I've had the card off and at least managed to get the window fully closed (a good idea with the weather the way it is).

The cable is not obviously broken but when you operate the switch there is the sound of cable ends scraping against metal from the motor area.

Can anyone direct me to a good description of the general operation of this sort of system.

Thanks.

[Ben_nz]

If the problem's inside the motor unit I'd just go straight for a replacement. Beware there are several different designs, and don't separate the motors from the vertical window track thingies that their cables operate. It is possible to remove the lot, pulleys, motor etc from the door as one unit and that makes sure the cable doesn't come off inside the motor unit and get tangled.

I had a window stop working because one of the teeth broke off the big cog inside - every time this missing tooth section would reach the drive gear on the motor shaft, the window would stop and make grinding noises and require manual assistance. I opened the motor unit to find out what the problem was, but the unit isn't designed to be opened. Not only could I not fix it, I couldn't put it back together.
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"Now, all that is left to do ... is wait that something else brokens, to fix up again!"

[JeremyC]

So, how do you remove the mechanism? Or is the pdf manual that's floating around the web good on this?

Ta.

J.

[john 33_16v]

[JeremyC]

So you remove the class.

Then you undo the four bolts.

Does the whole mechanism really come out in one piece? Through the slots at the top (surely not wide enough for the motor) or one of the door cutouts (surely not big enough for the mechanism as a whole)?

I want to believe!

[john 33_16v]

Hi,

The whole thing wriggles out of a hole in the door.

I think you'll have to lower the window in order to undo it's clamp.

The only rigid part is the runner that the clamp moves up and down on, the motor 'floats' at the end of 2 flexible cable lengths, so it can be kinda folded up to remove/ install if that makes sense.

I'd say getting the door trim back on properly is the hardest bit of ther job- remove the mirror knob trim

John
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If it aint broke, fiddle with it until it is!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
93 33 16v Mirtle Met
08 Fiat Grande Punto Exotica Red
90 Yamaha FZR600 Genesis- Silky white/red/blue

[JeremyC]

Oh yes, done that door cards thing, got it down to about five minutes.

The door handles on our old 33 used to regulalry unclip from the latch mechanism so I was always in there.

Many thanks for the gen, most useful and confidence inspiring.

[RFlower]

It is possible to open the motor unit. The cables got tangled up inside one of mine when they became slack due to the horrible plastic window support breaking.

The support broke because the window channel was slightly distorted, making the felt insert too tight.

I drilled out the rivets holding the cover on the motor unit, rewound the cables onto their grooves on the drum inside, and replaced the rivets with nuts and bolts. The cables need to be kept under slight tension to prevent them springing out of the grooves once the cover is replaced, or they won't be long enough to fit back to the lifting mechanism.

After replacing the broken plastic bit with one from the (now spare) car, I reconnected the lower cable, then, with wife keeping tension on the upper cable, blocked the bottom of the window and used the motor carefully to compress the small spring below the cable connection to give enough slack to attach the upper one.
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Dick Flower, Nr. Carcassonne. '94 Trofeo 1.4 ie (F), '93 Imola 1.3/1.4 ie (now for breaking) (F), '91 1.7 ie (GB)(spare car), '86 Sprint 1.5 QV (F). '87 VW Syncro camper (F), '73 NSU Ro80 (F), '99 Fiat Seicento (F)

[Ben_nz]

Okay, now the other electric window mechanism in the same car has also broken, with the same problem - missing tooth on a gear. If I lower the window enough that the affected part of the gear is reached, the window becomes stranded and I hear grinding noises.
I wandered through a wreckers today (where there was a 33 which had already had the passengers electric window mechanism removed) and came to the conclusion that every door on every car has a different electric window system. Adapting something reliable from a Japanese car would not be easy.
What have you lot done each time your s2 electric windows break in this way?

-Ben
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"Now, all that is left to do ... is wait that something else brokens, to fix up again!"