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Old 12-01-2020, 08:24 PM
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Replaced Window Regulator, Now Rattle - SOLVED

I just replaced my passenger side front window regulator and now have a pretty significant rattle. It's only happens with the window up all the way and completely goes away if the window is lowered even a tiny amount (like just enough to take the tension off the window and not even lower it past the seal).

The rattle is coming from inside the door, but it's hard to tell where. I'd guess upper center. I can induce a similar but quieter sound on the driver's side, but I really have to bang on the door above the wood trim to get it to do it on the driver's side.

Anyone experience this before or have any ideas on where to focus when I re-remove the door panel?

I'm 99.9% sure I torqued all 5 regulator mounting nuts (even the one behind the foam). And, I did re-zip tie the cable/harness in the middle.

P.S. - it's a VDO brand regulator I put in there
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Last edited by e39_touring; 12-05-2020 at 01:52 PM.
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  #2  
Old 12-01-2020, 08:38 PM
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Had that happen to me, drove me crazy until I figured it out. It ended up being the bolt that holds the rear window rail/guide at the top of the door. Bolt goes through the guide and through the door frame and holds the track solid. In my case the bolt had somehow worked its way all the way out and had fallen into the door insulation, took me a minute to find it and once back in and right - rattle was gone.


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Old 12-01-2020, 08:44 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Purplefade View Post
Had that happen to me, drove me crazy until I figured it out. It ended up being the bolt that holds the rear window rail/guide at the top of the door. Bolt goes through the guide and through the door frame and holds the track solid. In my case the bolt had somehow worked its way all the way out and had fallen into the door insulation, took me a minute to find it and once back in and right - rattle was gone.


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Is that a bolt that would be removed when changing out the regulator? My regulator setup had 5 nuts but no bolts, but if I'm reading you right, you're talking about the rail/guide/seal that's next to the b-pillar. I'll definitely check that out, too, because after 20 years...
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Old 12-01-2020, 09:12 PM
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Replaced Window Regulator, Now Rattle

You nailed it, up by the b pillar towards the back of the door, and you are correct again - been soooo long since I’ve been in there it was a nut!


EDIT - Wow... so much for me giving advice - dog 🤪


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Old 12-04-2020, 05:15 PM
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Just following up on this in case others run into the same problem. I took the door panel back off, and it turns out I didn't miss tightening any of the nuts. So, phew, not losing my marbles just yet!

The rattle was coming from the cable that goes from the rear rail to the front rail of the regulator. It passes near the door frame in the area behind where the interior door pull/latch is. When the window is up, the cable is tighter and barely touches the metal door frame. The original regulator had a funky thing around the cable to dampen this noise while the replacement regulator did not. It wouldn't be transferrable without removing the cables from the regulator, but what I ended up doing is slitting a vacuum hose and putting that around the cable in this area. All seems good now.

For those doing this at home, if you replace your regulator, put the window all the way up and bang on the door with your fist right above where the door handle clip is. If you have the rattle, wrap something around the cable before you button everything up so you don't have to go back in like I did
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Old 12-04-2020, 06:26 PM
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Excellent! Glad you got that fixed and thanks for following up. If you can, go back to your original post and edit the title of the thread and put “SOLVED -“ at the beginning.

It lets people who find it know they’re not going down a rabbit hole with no solid at the end


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