We are replacing this driver’s side window regulator in this Porsche Boxster. You need to know how best to set up the window glass for success. Watch our video and read on to see how to do this common job.
Changing your window regulator
To start this job you need to raise your window to the highest position. In a Porsche Boxster, you have to trick the car into thinking the door is closed. To do this activate the door latch and raise the glass. Because this car has a soft top the glass bumps down as you open the door. We need the glass at the highest position to remove it.
This car is equipped with a side door airbag. Because of the risk of explosion, it is safest to disconnect the battery. We do not want any chance of triggering the airbag. Your face will be next to it for most of this job! To disconnect the battery we removed the plastic shrouding and took off the negative side.
Tools you may need
Removing the door panel
The screws holding the door panel in place are hidden from sight. Look in the side pocket, under the door lift latch, and under the trim in the door handle. The perimeter of the door panel is held by plastic trim clips. We just work the clips up by hand on the outside of the door panel. Do not force anything, if it feels too tight, take a look, you may have missed something. The panel will lift up and off. Unplug the electrical and disengage the door latch to fully remove the door panel.
Under the Door Panel
Under the door panel, you will see a foam door liner. Work off the foam door liner. You can use a razor blade here to keep the sticky part on the foam by scraping the perimeter. For us, we just work the fragile foam off by hand. This door has been exposed at some time before and the foam is taped and cut but still functioning. Now that the door panel liner is removed you can work on removing the speaker box. Unplug the speaker, and undo all the screws. Gently work it until it comes free.
Removing the Glass
Now you have exposed the window regulator. Take note of how the window regulator is mounted, if it is broken, of anything else going on before you take it out. This is where you need the glass at the top of its travel to access the glass clamps. We have to manually hold up the glass to undo the clamps. This is because this window regulator has failed completely and snapped a cable.
Just loosen the clamps until the glass moves. Pull up and out with the door glass. Put the glass somewhere safe!
Removing the window regulator
With the glass safely out, you can start to undo all the hardware holding in the window regulator. The regulator is held securely in the door. There are mounting points at the top, the bottom, and in the middle. Loosen the top, then in the middle, you have the window regulator motor. Undo the motor mounts.
You access the bottom mounts of the window regulator from below. Reach down and remove the two rubber door plugs. Undo all of the holding points and work the regulator out of the door frame.
With the regulator on the bench, we can swap out the old motor onto the new window regulator. We had a hiccup here, the box contained the wrong part and we had to return and re-order. So, a couple of days later we could finish up the job.
Reinstalling the window regulator and setting it up
Wrangle that regulator back into the door frame. You will need to slide past the top mounts to get over the stud at the bottom of the door. These mount points control the angle of the door glass. To start with, we matched the dirt pattern on the door and set them back to their original position. Do up the motor mounts in the center and the top mounts. Basically the reverse of the removal.
Move the window regulator to its top position. To do this you will need to reconnect the battery. Remember to activate the latch to get it all the way to the top, and just slide the glass back in. Tighten the clamps at this time. If you need to adjust the glass angle and heights, you can use the window regulator stops. To adjust the stops, you will be going through the bottom door plugs.
Do not slam the door shut the first time, bring it in slowly. Don’t forget to open the door latch that you have had closed so far. Adjust the height of the glass using the window regulator stops. If you are leaning in or out, change the angle at the same bottom mounts.
Now you have the glass roughly in the right place, close the door. We take a wax crayon and mark the glass at the seal. We want to know how much glass is going into the trim. The goal is to have, give or take, four to six millimeters. The line is a curve and getting a nice even kind of sweep is the way to go. You can open the door and check the gap is even when the glass drops.
Paper test
To test the seal we close a piece of paper in the door. The door will hold the paper firmly. A thin piece of paper should even rip. If you do not have a good grip on the paper you will get a lot of wind noise as you drive. Go back through the angle and height adjustments till you pass the paper test.
Driving a Porsche Boxster
In this car the other door functions were working, just a broken window regulator. But many of you have a problem with the glass not dropping, or dropping when you don’t want it to. This is a function of the micro switches, the door lock, and the inside and outside handles. This is a different problem and we will cover it in an upcoming Boxter episode and write-up.
These cars are getting on in age and door problems are an everyday type of problem. Small problems can really affect the enjoyment of your driving experience. Fixing a window regulator is not a super hard job and the reward is worth the effort.
Thanks for watching and reading, catch you on the next one.
