Tweet
This should help guide you through replacing the window channel seals in the front doors.
If your Festiva is like most the original window channel seals are dried, shrunken, and split. This causes water and air leaks, and the windows no longer roll up and down smoothly.
Start by removing the door panel. There are phillips head screws (circled areas) and a spring clip behind the window crank that have to be removed. Be careful not to lose the spring clip, it can go flying when it's pushed out of it's slot.
A clip tool helps to undo the door panel clips. Be sure to pry behind the clip and not on the door panel itself.
Carefully pull back the splash shield, you'll need to reuse it.
Remove the 10mm bolt on the bottom/front corner of the door, this hold the front glass track in place. Removing the bolt lets the track move forward so the channel can be removed/installed more easily.
The old channel probably looks like this. In both of my cars the channel had come apart inside the door, making it hard for the window to roll up or down smoothly.
Pull the channel out of the window track up top, then begin pulling it straight up our of the lower tracks inside the door. It helps to wiggle the glass away from the end you're pulling on.
The new channel has molded ridges that snap into matching grooves in the glass track. I start with the rear verticle track, and cut the new channel so that it's long enough to stick out of the bottom of the track inside the door by about 1". Start installing it by pushing it into the track near the top and sliding it as far upward as possible. I don't miter the corners here, I install them butted together as shown on the table top. I also don't glue them in place, the ridges/grooves do a good job of holding the channel in place. If years later the new seals shrink you can simply readjust them in the track; another advantage of not mitering the corners or gluing the channel in place.
Once you have 6-8" of the top snapped in place, start working the channel down inside the door. Again, moving the glass to the opposite end of the door helps gain a bit of room to get the channel inside the lower track.
The new window rubber is flexible enough to turn the front corner at the mirror without cutting and splicing. You'll want to use the clip tool or similar tool to make sure the channel is fully seated in the track in this corner before seating the channel into the front/lower vertical channel beside the mirror and farther down inside the door. It should look like the pic below when it's fully seated.
Once the channel is fully and squarely seated in the track all the way around you can reattach the front window track with the 10mm bolt. This is a good time to lubricate the window regulator slider and add sound deadener while the door panel is still off. Stick the handle back on temporarily to check that the glass rolls up and down smoothly.
I include a strip of adhesive backed foam weatherstripping with the window channel I sell. This is meant to be trimmed to fit the back edge of your mirror to prevent wind noise. Trim and apply it as shown. Its easier to trim the ends once the strip is stuck in place on the mirror. Make sure to thoroughly clean the edge of the mirror so the adhesive can stick the best.
This shows the mirror with and without the foam weatherstrip applied.
Reassembly tips:
The spring clip on the window winder goes like this. You can snap it in place as show, then the handle will easily snap over the regulator splines once the panel is back on.
You'll probably have the window handle stuck in place temporarly to move the window up and down... don't forget to pull it back off before sticking the splash gaurd back in place like I did.
If your Festiva is like most the original window channel seals are dried, shrunken, and split. This causes water and air leaks, and the windows no longer roll up and down smoothly.
Start by removing the door panel. There are phillips head screws (circled areas) and a spring clip behind the window crank that have to be removed. Be careful not to lose the spring clip, it can go flying when it's pushed out of it's slot.
A clip tool helps to undo the door panel clips. Be sure to pry behind the clip and not on the door panel itself.
Carefully pull back the splash shield, you'll need to reuse it.
Remove the 10mm bolt on the bottom/front corner of the door, this hold the front glass track in place. Removing the bolt lets the track move forward so the channel can be removed/installed more easily.
The old channel probably looks like this. In both of my cars the channel had come apart inside the door, making it hard for the window to roll up or down smoothly.
Pull the channel out of the window track up top, then begin pulling it straight up our of the lower tracks inside the door. It helps to wiggle the glass away from the end you're pulling on.
The new channel has molded ridges that snap into matching grooves in the glass track. I start with the rear verticle track, and cut the new channel so that it's long enough to stick out of the bottom of the track inside the door by about 1". Start installing it by pushing it into the track near the top and sliding it as far upward as possible. I don't miter the corners here, I install them butted together as shown on the table top. I also don't glue them in place, the ridges/grooves do a good job of holding the channel in place. If years later the new seals shrink you can simply readjust them in the track; another advantage of not mitering the corners or gluing the channel in place.
Once you have 6-8" of the top snapped in place, start working the channel down inside the door. Again, moving the glass to the opposite end of the door helps gain a bit of room to get the channel inside the lower track.
The new window rubber is flexible enough to turn the front corner at the mirror without cutting and splicing. You'll want to use the clip tool or similar tool to make sure the channel is fully seated in the track in this corner before seating the channel into the front/lower vertical channel beside the mirror and farther down inside the door. It should look like the pic below when it's fully seated.
Once the channel is fully and squarely seated in the track all the way around you can reattach the front window track with the 10mm bolt. This is a good time to lubricate the window regulator slider and add sound deadener while the door panel is still off. Stick the handle back on temporarily to check that the glass rolls up and down smoothly.
I include a strip of adhesive backed foam weatherstripping with the window channel I sell. This is meant to be trimmed to fit the back edge of your mirror to prevent wind noise. Trim and apply it as shown. Its easier to trim the ends once the strip is stuck in place on the mirror. Make sure to thoroughly clean the edge of the mirror so the adhesive can stick the best.
This shows the mirror with and without the foam weatherstrip applied.
Reassembly tips:
The spring clip on the window winder goes like this. You can snap it in place as show, then the handle will easily snap over the regulator splines once the panel is back on.
You'll probably have the window handle stuck in place temporarly to move the window up and down... don't forget to pull it back off before sticking the splash gaurd back in place like I did.
Comment