What wears in the window mechanism?

M

Maylar

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Location
Connecticut
Buick Ownership
1999 Park Ave Ultra; 1985 Olds Delta-88 Royale
It seems a lot of people complain about the driver's side window having issues on the Park Ave. But the only replaceable component in the mechanism is the motor itself. Everything else is contained in the "door lock module" which is a $$$ item from GM. There's no such thing as a regulator for these cars as far as the aftermarket goes.

I've had my doors apart to this level...

6168638061_c09cb8d6c3_z.jpg


It's easy to se the "module" here, with some X shaped thingie in the back. Can someone tell me exactly which part wears out? My window won't go down sometimes, and it rocks back & forth on the way up.

Help, please.
 
These cars have a different mechanism than more recent models. I'm not sure what is causing your window to rock back and forth (maybe a loose window track?), but the not going up or down is usually an electrical fault.

What switch or switches fail to work? Sometimes only the drivers switch or passenger switch will not work. This information will help to identify where the electrical fault is.
 
The window works in both directions, but going down the first inch or two are very slow and sometimes stops. Pushing down on the glass with my fingers helps get it moving. Once past the two inch point it goes the rest of the way no problem. Going up is fine.

On warm dry days it goes down fine. Rainy days it moves but slowly and on cold days it hardly moves at all. Winter is comming.

Thanks for the reply. You got me thinking maybe I should replace the driver's window switch and see what happens.
 
If you figure it out please post it. My driver's window does the same thing.
 
Mine both (proud owner of 2 Park Ave's as of yesterday) are like this, too. My guess is, maybe they were trying to defeat physics, as maybe the angles changing towards the end of travels put more pressure on the motor than it has torque to overcome?
 
Update -

Whilst inside the door for another reason, I lubricated the window tracks with NAPA SylGlyde (silicone grease) and it made a huge difference. I'm thinking that the window tracks are the parts that wear here, allowing the glass to skew and get wedged in the tracks. Not sure how hard it is to replace them, but I'm good for now.
 
I recently opened my door again to address this ongoing problem. What I did differently that seems to be working is, besides lubing all the tracks and recoil spring liberally, I also wiped and sprayed inside the rear vertical track all the way up the door. I got on both sides of the glass edge as best as I could with a lubed up scotch brite. It's been about two months now and the window is even working when it's wet out!
 
I had the same problem with both of my front windows.
While in the garage this weekend a friend of mine noticed it. He walked over to the bench and picked up a can of some kind of silicone spray and sprayed both the verticle tracks at the upper part of the door and also sprayed down in both corners of the lower window tracks.
Windows are both working great now.
 
Thanks to the posters . . . window having trouble going down, but not up (especially when cold). Lubricated the assembly, but not the tracks holding the window. Hope this works.
 
m002922 said:
Thanks to the posters . . . window having trouble going down, but not up (especially when cold). Lubricated the assembly, but not the tracks holding the window. Hope this works.
Click to expand...
no. it will not
The problem is the clips that hold the window into the regulator. They get worn. You may notice your window rotates a bit and is "loose" when its not all the way up
 
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m002922 said:
Thanks to the posters . . . window having trouble going down, but not up (especially when cold). Lubricated the assembly, but not the tracks holding the window. Hope this works.
Click to expand...
You should start a new thread, rather than posting in a 13+ yr old thread. "Yesterday is dead & gone & tomorrow is out of sight".
 
HotZ28 said:
You should start a new thread, rather than posting in a 13+ yr old thread. "Yesterday is dead & gone & tomorrow is out of sight".
Click to expand...
Good call . . . didn't think it was going to go in this direction.
 
For anyone like me using this thread for research purposes . . . the clips are available (as of 2025) on ebay for around $10-$20 each. Also, my windows were having this issue despite having new motors.

But my clips were fine.

Instead I used CRC 3-36 spray lubricant to re-lube the horizontal part of the mechanism (I didn't do the vertical parts of the channel - maybe I will though). And that alone worked, the window goes up and down pretty well (for now). I had previously used a grease thinking it would stay in place better and stand up to the elements in the door better. Maybe that was a mistake.

I might be out of the woods for really cold temperatures for a while (which I think makes the problem worse), so maybe I won't see this issue crop up until next winter.

If it crops up again I'll go to a silicon lube or teflon lube. ( How to Lubricate Car Windows for Smooth Operation )

Till next year.
 
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Help support this site so it can continue supporting you!
m002922 said:
For anyone like me using this thread for research purposes . . . the clips are available (as of 2025) on ebay for around $10-$20 each. Also, my windows were having this issue despite having new motors.

But my clips were fine.

Instead I used CRC 3-36 spray lubricant to re-lube the horizontal part of the mechanism (I didn't do the vertical parts of the channel - maybe I will though). And that alone worked, the window goes up and down pretty well (for now). I had previously used a grease thinking it would stay in place better and stand up to the elements in the door better. Maybe that was a mistake.

I might be out of the woods for really cold temperatures for a while (which I think makes the problem worse), so maybe I won't see this issue crop up until next winter.

If it crops up again I'll go to a silicon lube or teflon lube. ( How to Lubricate Car Windows for Smooth Operation )

Till next year.
Click to expand...
so you didnt even bother to share the part number..
 
BuickGirlFromMars said:
so you didnt even bother to share the part number..
Click to expand...
Here is the part number from the listing . . .

1997-2005 PARK AVENUE FRONT WINDOW GLASS RETAINER NEW GM # 25687641​

Here is what the part looks like:

1740923023606.webp

Here is it on the diagram (though the part on the diagram looks nothing like it:

1740923093822.webp


Here's a video about it:

@BuickGirlFromMars

Your responses to this thread seem different in tone than all the others I've seen - I hope everything is OK and you're doing well.
 
m002922 said:
Here is the part number from the listing . . .

1997-2005 PARK AVENUE FRONT WINDOW GLASS RETAINER NEW GM # 25687641​

Here is what the part looks like:

View attachment 48327

Here is it on the diagram (though the part on the diagram looks nothing like it:

View attachment 48328


Here's a video about it:

@BuickGirlFromMars

Your responses to this thread seem different in tone than all the others I've seen - I hope everything is OK and you're doing well.
Click to expand...
Well someone else was smart and did some research and you came back to tell us this, yes proud parent moment

Then you didnt list it 😵😱😢

but now you did, good job

no im not upset lol
 
Had this same issue on 2005 Park Avenue. Ordered oem window tabs tabs from Ebay for the job. Tabs turned out to be fine. All seems to be intact while the whole window assembly rocked slightly. Lubricated side channels with silicone lube from inside the door panel and on top channels. I mean lubed close to flooding. Working well since. Hope this can help someone.
 
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