R129 electric window drive mechanism

[Flying Scot]

A while ago the drivers window stopped going all the way up it was stopping about 1/4 to a/1/2" shy and started knocking and clunking as it got to its 'new' top most position. Today i removed the door card and had 'a look see' it is rather difficult to see the top end of the drive rack as you can only peer into the door with the window down but it looks like there is a a worn tooth at exactly the wrong place. Has anyone out there overhauled the electric window drive mechanism on a 129 and if so what were the problems and issues also what 'parts' are replaceable - the RU site is down so i cant have a look at the parts list.

thanks in anticipation

seasons greetings to all

kindest regards

 

[roofless]

sounds like some teeth have gone on the regulator http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merc...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

[Flying Scot]

sounds like some teeth have gone on the regulator http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merc...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

yes lovely picture thanks looks like only one tooth is duff from what i could see from peeking in of course the drive gear on the motor could be a bit stuffed too. Not having any means of holding the window closed and as it was getting dark and cold i just pulled the window up at the same time as SWMBO operated the switch. IF it is nice tomorrow will have it all out for a real good examination

thanks again

 

[roofless]

this link is for the russian r129 sl500 page if you can get it to work http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb1.asp?TP=1&F=129068&VIN=

 

[television]

Why not have a weld tacked onto the rack, then file it up, this is an old trick

 

[Flying Scot]

Why not have a weld tacked onto the rack, then file it up, this is an old trick

Remembering i am an old hand like you Malcolm and used to fixing things not just replacing parts - assuming the drive sprocket is fine i will probably being doing a weld the tooth and re profile it job.

Is there a good place for used SL spares?

Still cant get on the RU site must be a Scottish thing :-( for sure none of my PC's can see it on IE or FF of course it might be my ISP's (O2) server that is not holding a copy of the RU site and the site is actually down whereas your guys ISP's are holding a copy of this site.

Just called my son (Orange) and he cant see it but my sister can (Pipex) so i guess it is an ISP server cache issue and the parent/hosting site is down.

kindest regards

 

[television]

I use Pipex for now,, I will look around for a rack

 

[Flying Scot]

next problem,

Set about removing the window regulator and motor mechanism today and after cleaning off the goop that MB had covered the fixings with - i discovered that the mech is not fixed to the door with screws but what looks like big gold/brass pop rivets GRRRRRRRR looks like Five in total Two that also hold a bracket for the door card as well. I am not at home and dont have my digi cam here or the USB cable for my phone to the PC - so i cant post any pictures - could someone confirm that this mech is fixed to the door with pop rivets.

WOW i got on the RU site and yep it is rivets GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

thanks in anticipation

 

[television]

next problem,

Set about removing the window regulator and motor mechanism today and after cleaning off the goop that MB had covered the fixings with - i discovered that the mech is not fixed to the door with screws but what looks like big gold/brass pop rivets GRRRRRRRR looks like Five in total Two that also hold a bracket for the door card as well. I am not at home and dont have my digi cam here or the USB cable for my phone to the PC - so i cant post any pictures - could someone confirm that this mech is fixed to the door with pop rivets.

WOW i got on the RU site and yep it is rivets GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

thanks in anticipation

You know the drill, just a little larger than the rivet shank

 

[Flying Scot]

yes Malcolm and sum soooper glue to fix them back in BUT if i drill them out today i am stuffed unless i can fix the window in the closed position with a wooden wedge or sumfin similar now if MB had just used screws i could have had it out and had a look see at the problem and then pop it back in and get/order the right parts to fix it - got about 5000 pop rivets of various sizes at home and two good pop rivet guns as well GRRRRRRRRRR

UPDATE

Well i drilled the heads off the five rivets removed the feed wires to the motor and the mech almost fell out the door. Three teeth on the rack are stuffed at least 40% worn and all of the other used teeth are showing signs of wear the unused teeth at both ends of the rack show a square tooth form - the teeth that are used to drive the window up and down are worn to a point. Sadly but not unexpectedly the drive gear on the motor us showing some serious wear when it drives the rack (the gear is around two to three times the width of the rack) on at least 50% of its teeth so it is a new window regulator and a new drive motor. After 170K miles i suppose that is not too bad really. Two wooden spoons and some brown tape are holding the window closed pics ASAP.

 

[Flying Scot]

Pictures

 

[television]

Oh not good and all worn,, as the 124 uses the same parts,,could not you get one say from the rear doors that would not be very worn and transfer the parts

http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...GM=717.433&CT=F&cat=15U&SID=72&SGR=045&SGN=03

 

[Flying Scot]

That might be an idea Malcolm what model am i looking for in badge terms not very good with MB model codes.

I am going to try and remove the worn gear as it would appear that the Ford Escort Mk4/5 has almost the same drive motor. Same drive gear with 8 teeth but a slightly different mounting height - it sits lower in the regulator frame so if i cant remove the gear easily and swap them over i could easily shim up the Escort motor. I now have the Bosch part number so that helped a bit with a web search but only to show me how expensive these motors are. Got a silly quote from one of the parts search engines the rack was almost the same price as from my local Merc Stealer the motor was much more sensible though BUT they quoted £25 + £15 for delivery for another part that the local dealer says costs £10.30 i am waiting on a quote from my distant relative who is a MB parts person in the Frozen North of Scotland.

Now have access to the RU site - that picture looks different to the regulator that i have - but seeing it is a wind up one i suppose that is to be expected i did see that the E/L one has the same part number as the 129.

The problem with RU access was not an O2 ISP issue but was an O2 router problem at my end - the router would not do auto DNS so i have set up the DNS manually on my PC and things are good - pre that i did find the IP address of the RU site so if any one wants that just ask.

 

[Flying Scot]

seems to be a common problem

Common W124 Estate problems by W124 expert Nicholas Froome

* front windows u/s because top three teeth of the regulator quadrant
are worn out

 

[television]

My thoughts of getting one from a rear door of a 124 are that they use the same 129 motor,,so the gears will be the same, is it worth the work doing it

 

[Flying Scot]

My thoughts of getting one from a rear door of a 124 are that they use the same 129 motor,,so the gears will be the same, is it worth the work doing it

kunfoosed is me now Malcolm why do you say the motor is identical - from having a look on the RU site i get the following INFO

The regulator on the W124 is P/n 127400446 or 127201846

The regulator on the SL 500 is P/n 1297200846

The Motor on the W124 is P/n A 004 820 52 42

The Motor on the SL500 is P/n 1298207642

More kunfusion well it would seem that i have a quote for a S/H regulator complete with motor from the O/S/R door of a W124 that is 60% less than the same thing from the same people for a SL500 - strange that dont you think - a bit like parking the SL across the road before you have anyone come to give you quotes for work on/in your home.

Looks like it will be some new parts needed - if i can remove the gear from an escort E/W motor and press it on the SL E/W Motor with a new window regulator that will reduce the cost significantly and that looks looks like the sensible way to go i have nothing to loose by trying to take the worn gear off the SL E/W motor. SWMBO is going to the USA in early Feb shame the pound dollar exchange rate is the pits now.

 

[television]

I looked at this one

http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...GM=717.433&CT=F&cat=15T&SID=72&SGR=045&SGN=03

 

[Flying Scot]

ok more kunfoosed now but have discovered a Classic Range Rover has a similar motor with the eight tooth sprocket £5.00 on ebay might even get a Range Rover regulator chop off the Rack and do some welding - watch this space

 

[Flying Scot]

Bought the new rack and fitted the Range Rover 8 tooth drive gear to my MB window drive motor after cutting off the old gear. BUT the MB electric window drive is not fully repaired - the gearbox is a glass reinforced plastic moulding - sadly once assembled i can see a lot of sideplay in the drive shaft the bearing hole in the plastic is worn. Even sadder the Range Rover motor/gearbox has a lovely alloy gearbox (different mountings to the MB one though) with a bronze bearing - had i noticed this wear i could have fitted the Range Rover bearing in the MB plastic gearbox. I guess this is the first part that wears - once this bearing is gone then the drive gear is no longer fully meshed with the rack so it is going to eat the rack at the heavily loaded full up position. The 8 tooth drive gear is a tight fit on the shaft (very fine splines so it wont be easy to remove - doubly so as the end is peened to hold it on - discovered this when i had to grind down the end of the Range Rover shaft to remove the good gear) The Escort gearbox is almost a 100% perfect fit - it just needs a few washers between it and the window regulator to get the gear at the right height (this gearbox has identically placed but has shorter feet than the MB one) a low friction removable pad on the gearbox rubs on the regulator drive cam (you can see the marks from/on it on the pictures) to keep everything meshed properly but the motor is smaller (less power) but i can swap that for either the MB or the RR motors easy peasy More soon.