Hey folks,

My '87 Cherokee has the same symptoms that many do that come with age, slow power windows (if they work at all) and crappy, non-working (but they try to work) door lock actuators. My question today is regarding the terrible dying chicken noises I hear every time I try to put the passenger side windows down. I *just this weekend* replaced the exterior window swipe seal...this is the easiest thing in the world to do and I wish I'd have done it months ago...and it has seemed to help with the dying chicken sounds.

That said, the damage from the cracked/old seals is already done on two of the windows. The passenger front/rear are terribly scratched from the metal seal clips that apparently ride too close and are unprotected from rubbing against the window, thus causing the scratches. I will be replacing these windows with fresh glass in the future, but before I do, I'd like to know if there is a way to prevent this from happening in the future? I'd hate to replace them just to have the new ones scratch the same way.

Also, kind of related, but the passenger front window will go down and up by itself as long as I don't go *all* the way down. If I do, it gets stuck. The felt covered screw deal (reminds me of an industrial sized pipe cleaner) seems to just travel too far and can't "bite" onto itself again to pull the window back up (it makes noise like the motor is spinning but the gear is grabbing nothing). Is this a fixable issue or do I just need a new regulator? Is there a way to get these things to go up and down with speed like they used to or is the slowness just something that cars from the '80s suffered (I'm too young to remember cars from the '80s being new )?

Thanks gents, y'all help me keep this ole gal on the road.

S/F,

-Matt

 

Drop the windows down. Douse the rubber channels above and below with silicone spray.

 

Thanks Cruiser.

Any tips on fixing/avoiding the scratches from those metal brackets that hold the exterior window swipe seal in place? It didn't look like they were bent when I had the seal out. Seems like pretty poor design having metal riding against glass like that.