Window Regulator DIY Replacement Adventure on my 2004 V8 Phaeton - Courtesy of TheAmazingDave

[ciscokidinsf]

Hi all!

It's been awhile but I still have my Phaeton. However, the shrinking economy has made my Phaeton my daily driver and furthermore I have to fix things on a budget. I now have 110,000 miles on it.

Let the record reflect the window regulator died at around 108,000 miles, and I also have one more soon to die as well.

In August, my front passenger side window regulator died making awful crunching noises. The window was stuck in the up position, but required to be pulled up every day by hand. I was scared of rain and I hadn't give my car a proper wash because of it.

I had to wait for a while to get the $236 part and then recruited the help of my friend TheAmazingDave to dare do this replacement ourselves (and sans special VW tools)

Thanks to the instructions already posted here we were able to work it out, (thanks Michael!) , although 90% of the work was done by TheAmazingDave. Instead of special tools we used a plastic card and a slightly kinked bike wrench, the flat type.

Also, sad to say there are quite a lot of cheap plastic parts holding the window tracks and in my case, they broke in several places. I see a rash of regulator having to be replaced soon.

There are better threads with better pics and instructions - this is the ghetto version of those threads.

The job gets started, removing the top trim first. Had to be firm when pulling the cable connections out



Then, we used a plastic card and the bike wrench to get to the fasteners. We popped them out, mostly unopened. We did break one of the white brackets





Note the wrench is slightly kinked:



See the broken fastener:



Speakers and Window motor have to be removed:





The damage can be seen:





To quote several manuals, the installation is the reverse of removal:






Some notes:

The tricky part is also aligning the window correctly when placing it back

We held the window in the open position, taped it to the frame while we were doing repairs

We removed most of the fasteners unopened, but were able to do the job OK nonetheless

Took us about 4 and half hours to do the job.

Thanks to TheAmazingDave who took the call of duty!

[PanEuropean]

Archival Note:

Related posts with similar content -

Repair / Replacement of Window Regulator

Keyless Entry Issues (consolidated discussions)

Michael

[Paximus]

Once again, there is so much useful information on this forum. Thanks to ciscokidinsf for adding more real-world experience to Michael's precision information.

Chris

[TheAmazingDave]

Cisco, always glad to help a friend.

A few notes:
1) The Phaeton's door construction is standard to other VWs of the era. If you've taken one apart, you've taken them all apart. In fact, once the wood trim panel was off, it was an easier job than it is on a "lowly" VW. There were only a few small variances. For instance, the regulator panel in a Golf/Jetta, Beetle, or Passat has the latch module connected to it and comes out of the door as one unit; this is not the case on the Phaeton which shaves much time off of the job. Otherwise, behind the door trim panel, the door is essentially the same as any other VW what with a few more wires and an extra speaker. The latch release handle linkage, the regulator panel mounting, and the attachment of the window to the regulator is all standard to VW. Going in to the job I was a bit concerned, but after getting the door open it was good to see that if you've done one, you've done them all.

2) Removal of the wood trim is sketchy. It's the same style wood trim in other VWs, that is to say it is a wood veneer encased in plastic. I know from experience that they crack easily and took my time to remove it. I used my Safeway card and a small hard wood wedge that I fashioned after looking at pictures of the official plastic wedge VW uses. Starting with gentle pressure in front of and under the speaker, I slowly worked the panel off front to back. The door latch release handle must be fully extended to remove this panel from the door. There are various electrical connectors that must also be carefully removed. The handle cup LED connector takes a good tug to remove, If you do it yourself make sure to use needlenose plier and only grab the plug itself. Do not pull from the wires as you'd destroy it.

3) I fashioned my bike wrench as close to the official tool as possible. The bends enabled me to slip the wrench over the fasteners, but the wrench was too big to engage the release collar. It didn't make much difference, applying firm and steady pressure over the fasteners released them from the door anyway, which is my experience from past jobs as I only made the tool to ease Cisco's concerns, and I was able to re-engage all fasteners to the door in their "closed" position by applying gentle pressure to the panel over the fasteners.

4) That one fastener mentioned was already broken before I got to it; there was nothing there for me to pop loose when I removed the panel and a small tear in the panel's vinyl seems to reveal someone was tugging on the panel previously. It had no effect on the sturdiness of the panel before or after the door was opened however, and if there were no time constraints, I would have had enough material to fix it properly.

VWs

[AudianerA6]

thanks for the info. But I still can't figure out how to remove the wood trim. I was able to move the trim on the outer leftside (drivers door) but the rest was still tight and didn't moved what ever I tried or put in between.
Maybe I was also to afraid to destroy the trim.

Any advice?

thanks

ps.: I talked to a VW tech guy in germany about the fasteners. Believe it or not, they are MENT to break, when trying to remove the door trim. New ones just cost 40 cents and a replacement is standard procedure when disassembling the door.