Vent Windows Won't Stay Open

[gpcl16]

1988 Grand Wagoneer. Does any one have vent windows that actually work correctly? Mine will not stay open above about 25 MPH the wind just blows them shut. Seems like a really poor design and is very frustrating since I don't have working A/C right now. I have owned other older trucks and classic cars where the vent windows worked great. I'm wondering if I'm missing a spring or something or just a bad design by Jeep maybe? Anyone have a good method of propping theirs to stay open? I can hold open with my left hand but that's really annoying and unsafe. It is the same on the passenger side.

[KaiserMan]

It's something wrong with your Jeep, not a design problem. Like most (all?) vent windows there is a large spring on the bottom for the lower pivot to keep tension on them. It's possible whatever retains the spring (can't remember off the top of my head, I think it's a crimp?) came apart and they lost tension or fell off.

[Tripwire]

the pins that go into the frame have rusted away, the pin should turn with the window not ride inside the hole....its a great deal of fun to repair

[RamJetFSJ]

Yep, I have 1 that stays open but doesn’t lock, and one that won’t stay open but does lock. Most likely something has gotten messed up in that spring mechanism. Bolt can fall off, spring break, pin rusted out. It’s a pretty big job just to get the window out of the door to be able to see what’s wrong and sometimes you would have to replace the whole vent window if it’s bad enough. I would take your door panel off and try sticking a cell phone camera up in n there and see if you can see it. It’s directly below the lower pivot of the vent window.

[wiley-moeracing]

its not that hard to replace the wing window assembly, just takes a little time and a hand full of tools, agree the tension spring may have loosened up or something broke/ rusted. I have a complete drivers door and separate wing window set ups if needed but local pick up only.

[Kaiserjeeps]

I just assembled all that stuff in my build. The spring should be held on by a nut. Get a mirror or reach in and feel if it is there. Then using a socket and extensions, give it a turn or two. If it gets really tight then the spring is fully compressed and the coils are hitting each other. The nut is a swedged lock nut. So with the grease that gets put on at the factory, it may have released some.
It is probably OK to compress the spring coils till they touch each other, but I would not keep trying to tighten it from there. Most of my experience is with pre 71 wagoneers. If the design changed along the way ( I don't imagine it would have) then nevermind....

[babywag]

It's a 30yr old truck...who knows what someone has done. Stuff can also wear out and break with decades of use.

Take off the door panels and check them out.
Feel for broken spring(s)
check to see if the pin is turning or has broken loose
check to see if bracket came loose from the bottom of the window assembly

Maybe you'll get lucky and you can tighten up the nuts a tad?



I'll have a good passenger side assembly soonish if you need one.

[Tripwire]

nice picture tony - sure explains how it works.....every one i found that exhibited the symptom had the pin rusted away from the window frame, what a pain to fix.....even the re-welding was tricky

steve

[gpcl16]

Thanks for all the replies. Tony that photo was really helpful! I'll take off my door panel and check it out this weekend. Hopefully it's as simple as tightening up that nut (assuming it's even there . This truck has been in southern California it's whole life so there's not really any rust to be found anywhere, so I'm hoping that's not the case.

[gpcl16]

the pins that go into the frame have rusted away, the pin should turn with the window not ride inside the hole....its a great deal of fun to repair

Yeahp. That's what I found. Both vent windows rotate on the pin. With the door panel off, I can feel the pin underneath not rotating with the window. TYou can see where it broke off on the bottom of the window frame. Looks like I'd have to take the whole assembly out to weld it back together properly. Is that what you did? In that case I may just buy a new set of anyone has them for sale? I need driver and passenger side for 1988 Grand Wagoneer. And I'll get a new set of window seals while I'm at it.

[Tripwire]

Thought so....

YES its a big PITA, but you can make up for it by accomplishing several things whilst you are in there... its not going to be cheap or easy you may as well do all 4 doors as you will quickly get the hang of the task

First buy the new gaskets for the wings and the glass seals and Chanel seals,

2nd buy all new flex tracks from TGW or BJ's - not the local auto store, also get a coffee can 3/4 full of diesel - or gas if so inclined......( wait for it !)

if you have a set of 1/4 drive sockets you are good - you will also need a set of cheap torx screwdrivers for the window regulator parts, screwdriver set and allem wrench set as well as a rivit gun and SS rivits

get a spray can of lithium grease and electrical contact cleaner, a small wire brush is also good as well as a small tube of dielectric grease

1. remove the door pannels, - be careful with the window switches...

remove the window regulator assembelyyou have to power up/down the windoe till you can see the torx bolt in the access hole - remove the regulator - mark the screw positions with a sharpie

2. remove ALL the window Chanel guts - mark them with a sharpie

3. remove the door window seals - they sell a tool for this that looks like a pry bar - remove the main window

4. remove the door lock mechanism and toss it in the can of gas/diesel to soak.

remove the wing window bolts and the rivit holding to to the frame ( at the top) remove the wing window......go get the pins re-welded ( be sure they protect the glass)

spend some quality time degreasing the locking assy and white lube it to death....put it back in

put the windows back in whilst replacing all the wipes, channel felts ( good fun)

put the regulator back in with the new flex tracks after having cleaned and lubed everything

douch out the window switches while operating them with the electrical cleaner - i like to give them a final small shot of wd40 at the end...

remove the switches from the backplane ( careful not to split it open or break the retaining clips) clean the %^&% out the the switch pins and their female counterparts use dielectric grease to keep the water out - do this on the window motor contacts as well

reassemble and repeat for the rest of the doors......a nice full weekends work for sure

also check the drain holes and vac out the bottom of the door

Buy a microbrew sixpack and have some good swear words ready....

tell us how it went - or if you said &^*(^( it and bought a Kia LOL

Steve

[gpcl16]

Don't worry, I will NEVER buy a Kia. I've owned this Jeep for four years and plan on keeping it many more. Thanks for the detailed write-up! It will probably be a few weeks or maybe more before I have time to get to it. I actually had all 4 doors mostly apart several years ago to clean and grease everything, but they're probably due for another service. My front power windows actually work quite well but couldn't hurt to refresh everything while I'm in there. My power locks have always had issues so I'll try the diesel soaking trick. And my rear windows have always had issues rolling more than half-way down so maybe I'll address that as well. I am able to weld so I can handle that part.

My driver's window has always been missing the latch assembly so I'm hoping to find a good one of those. They seem to always be included with the wing window but very hard to find by themselves. The PO put this hokey uninversal latch thing on that has always been pita.

[661warwagon]

I have a set for sale (tinted) pm me if still interested