Mk 1 Electric Window Failure

Mk 1 Electric Window Failure

Author
Discussion

franv8

Original Poster:

2,212 posts

238 months

Wednesday 4th February 2009
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Hello all,

Got home tonight and tried winding my electric window (Mk 1 Eunos) - and nothing! Passenger side works fine and I believe they're on a common fuse, and it makes a slight effort when pushing up (slight dimming of lights, can feel a bit of effort in the door) - but nothing at all going down - SO

I assume the switch has gone (not time to take it apart and check out yet)

Has anyone else had this happen?

Anyone know a good place to source a second hand one?

MX-5 Lazza

7,952 posts

219 months

Wednesday 4th February 2009
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Sure it hasn't just frozen in the runners? It's damn cold out there!

anonymous-user

54 months

Wednesday 4th February 2009
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If you need second-hand parts try Andrew at Autolink, he's bound to have the bit you need.

http://www.autolinkuk.co.uk/

OnlyMX5ives

1,142 posts

192 months

Wednesday 4th February 2009
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They go.. they are a pretty crappy design.

Buy a new aftermarket complete unit from around £60 that uses a worm drive.

franv8

Original Poster:

2,212 posts

238 months

Wednesday 4th February 2009
quotequote all
I think it's the switch fortunately/unfortunately, you wouldn't have access to some s/h ones would you? I'm feeling tight in not wanting to spend £45 on two bleedin switches!

MonkeyBusiness

3,936 posts

187 months

Wednesday 4th February 2009
quotequote all
franv8 said:
I think it's the switch fortunately/unfortunately, you wouldn't have access to some s/h ones would you? I'm feeling tight in not wanting to spend £45 on two bleedin switches!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mazda-MX5-MK1-Electric-Windo...

If its the window mechanism,the worm drives mentioned above are good.

entwisi

727 posts

191 months

Wednesday 4th February 2009
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I replaced one on SWMBOs when we had one. Was ~ 40 quid IIRC and took about 2 hours start to finish( a bit fiddly but not a hard job). The original used cables which rust and snap, teh improved version used as mentioned a worm drive.


hotpurple

3 posts

206 months

Sunday 8th February 2009
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I had a similar problem with my passenger side window. I fixed it on my MK1 Eunos in the end by doing the following:

Check the fuse, IIRC it is in the interior fuse box above the driver's feet.
Clean the switch contacts, take it out and you can see the PCB has some solder blobs on it, which are the contacts. Clean them up with a bit of meths then put it all back together.
If it still doesn't work then you will need to look at the regulator mechanism.

Take the door card off and carefully take the plastic film off the door. You will need to put this back later as it stops water from getting into the car via the back of your door cards.
Remove the regulator mechanism and the motor/gearbox with the associated cables. To do this mark the position of all bolt heads, you will need to put it back in the same position later. There are (IIRC) 7 on the inside of the door and 2 on the bottom that need to be romoved. You will also need to remove the window glass stops to allow the mechanism to come out of the door.

If you look at the rails you will see some little nylon rollers that go up and down the channels. These should be covered in grease, but your probably look like they are covered in bright yellow fudge. You need to clean the old grease off and replace it with new grease. I used lithium grease because I had a load for my mountain bike and it's waterproof.

While you are in there take a look at the cables. If they look rusty it's probably a good idea to replace them. They can be bought from www.mx5parts.co.uk if you need them, along with a workshop manual if you need it (recommended one is the rod's guide). The cables do tend to seize in the outers, which slows the windows down a lot, and, if they break, can stop the window from moving alltogether (usually when it's down).

If all is well, put it all back together, making sure you've line the bolts up again. As a side note, the bolts can be moved to allow the window to be lined up with the soft top if you have a leak. Also the stops can be moved to allow the window to be highr or lower in the fully closed position. Useful if you have a leak from the top corner!

Make sure you have replaced or refitted the plastic film or the inside of your door card will be soggy next time it rains.

Hopefully you will have a working window again after this.

franv8

Original Poster:

2,212 posts

238 months

Sunday 8th February 2009
quotequote all
Thanks for all the info on this - to everyone, particularly hotpurple's detailled explanation.

Well, two things have happened since:

I won the auction on EBay for a later Mk 1 switch, £7 + p&p (well impressed, P7P only £40... only joking!), follwoing this,

Window started working again next day.... and the day after...

..so I think it may have frozen in the door somewhere, I thought on the way home (I was sure I lowered it and put it back up when I started the journey) - also I was convinved there was some effort upward (against the stop) and could feel it in the door card, and a little dimming of dash lights, but nothing when switched down.

Maybe I've got a lose connection or dodgy contact. but it's started working again so the new switch will go on the shelf until it's needed.

NiceCupOfTea

25,289 posts

251 months

Monday 9th February 2009
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If you think it is the switch you can always swap the contacts and see if the duff window is the other side...