'98 Sonata Power Windows

I posted the topic "Sonata Power Window Lift???" a little over a year ago; the responses were, for the most part, unrelated to the original query. Now, we have a related, but somewhat different problem, and we would be most appreciative of any advice you all can provide.

We obtained a window regulator for our 98 Sonata through a Korean company that sells new parts on eBay (they were very helpful and cooperative) at a much better price than we could get locally (either new or used). After installing the new regulator in the driver's door, the window did not operate (this is the 5th one of these that I've installed, so I know the problem was not with my installation technique). The window had been fixed in a slightly down position for several months while we shopped for a cheaper regulator, etc. and we assumed water leakage from rain (yes, it does rain here in PHX once in awhile, even though we just broke a record for days without), coming in the window and leaking into the switch in the door panel.

We bought another switch panel from a salvage yard that was from a Sonata with about 40K miles on it and they said it worked fine (it looks like new), installed it and the window still does not operate... All the other functions of the switch panel work fine, so we are wondering, is there something we are overlooking in getting this window to work properly?

Has anyone else run into a problem like this? Any suggestions on things to look at or consider would be greatly appreciated.

Lee

Reply to
leesun1
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Reply to
Jody

The first thing I would look at - soley based on what you write, is water damage. Water and electrical things do not go well together. Take your voltmeter and get inside the door. Look for voltage at the switches, at the motor when you hit the switch, etc. You could well have a bad motor or even corroded connectors inside the door.

Just out of curiosity - why 5 regulators? That's too much experience.

Grab that voltmeter. Especially with electrical parts - always check before buying.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

Here's the information on Four Green Auto Parts:

Jane Kang is the person I dealt with and she was very knowledgable and helpful.

FourGreen Auto Parts Phone : +82 (2) 2242-2121 Mobile : +82 (11) 9905-2120 Internet Fax : +82 (2) 6280-4444 Fax : +82 (2) 2215-2455 Email to snipped-for-privacy@YaHalaUSA.com Home :

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Lee

Reply to
leesun1

Mike, Thanks for your thoughtful suggestions. I'll work with the voltmeter this weekend to see what I can find.

As for replacing the regulator 5 times, it was always a case of the cable overwrapping on the grooved nylon pully. All but the first were while our son was using the car, so it could have been from too fast switching from down to up or something similar. My time the same thing occurred but I was very normally lowering the window at a fast-food drive-thru when it locked-up. In that case, the car was 4 years old and had about 80K miles on it. It was probably about time for the cable to frey and tangle itself as it went over the pully.

Lee

Reply to
leesun1

Reply to
Jody

Man Lee - you're working too hard on this window. I was hoping you'd say you'd done 5 regulator replacements on 5 different cars. I'd be looking inside, or at what you're doing. I can't really suggest that you're doing something wrong without seeing things, but you should be able to activate the window in any direction as often and as fast as you'd like with no problems. Something is definitely wrong inside there. I know - that's an easy statement.

Absent a series of preceding problems the cable should not fray over the life of the car. Of course, in your case you do have preceding problems. Are you replacing the cable and pulley when you replace the regulator? Are you ensuring proper alignment of things inside the door? I've never looked inside the door so I really don't know if there are things you can improperly install, but I have installed some regulators in my lifetime. I'm assuming some standard stuff inside your doors. Gut intuition suggests you've got an alignment issue with the regulator.

Do yourself a favor and stop by the dealer's body shop - or any good body shop that you may know of. Talk to the guys in there and describe what you're experiencing. The dealer has the advantage of most likely having worked on other cars like yours and may be aware of some issues you should know about. Or - may be able to suggest something based solely on your description of things. I'm sure they'll chat with you for no charge. Can't hurt. I do all of my own work on all of my vehicles and I've leveraged the experience of the dealers on many occasions. It might not even hurt to take the car to the dealer with the door panel removed already, and let the body guys have a look inside. Again - I'm sure they'll give you a few minutes for free and you might just discover the root cause of this problem.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

Mike, Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I'll insert responses/comments between the lines of yours.

Absent a series of preceding problems the cable should not fray over the life of the car. Of course, in your case you do have preceding problems. Are you replacing the cable and pulley when you replace the regulator?

Yes, in each case, the whole regulator assembly was replaced which includes the cable, pullies and the rigid parts.

Are you ensuring proper alignment of things inside the door? I've never looked inside the door so I really don't know if there are things you can improperly install, but I have installed some regulators in my lifetime.

The regulator assembly attaches to the door with 4 metric bolts that look like about 1/4 inch diameter that are fixed to the regulator frame and come through holes in the door and are affixed with 10mm nuts and lock washers..

I'm assuming some standard stuff inside your doors. Gut intuition suggests you've got an alignment issue with the regulator.

There's very little movement through the holes in the door, so alignment issues are almost non-existant. And, when the window goes up and down smoothly and there are no air leaks, I'm quite sure the window is aligned properly.

Do yourself a favor and stop by the dealer's body shop - or any good body shop that you may know of. Talk to the guys in there and describe what

you're experiencing. The dealer has the advantage of most likely having worked on other cars like yours and may be aware of some issues you should know about. Or - may be able to suggest something based solely on your

description of things. I'm sure they'll chat with you for no charge. Can't hurt. I do all of my own work on all of my vehicles and I've leveraged the experience of the dealers on many occasions. It might not even hurt to take the car to the dealer with the door panel removed already, and let the body guys have a look inside. Again - I'm sure they'll give you a few minutes for free and you might just discover the root cause of this problem.

I've done that too, and am told by my local dealer's bodyshop staff that they experience this quite often on this model. It seems that the plastic used in the pullies does not handle the high heat of the desert very well (interior temps. in cars can easily exceed 200 degrees (F) when the windows are up and summer temps. are in the 115 range... Apparently Hyundai recognized this problem after 1998 and started using a plastic that withstands high temperatures better.

Again, thanks for your helpful suggestions. Lee

Reply to
leesun1

Ahhhhh... the plot thickens. Or the thot plickens, or something like that. Now things make a bit better sense. BTW - I likes the way you think Lee - did every one of the things I would have done. Either we're a couple of brilliant thinkers or you're in some deep trouble my friend, because we think too much alike.

I guess at this point I'd be looking for a regulator out of a later model Sonata. Aren't they the same right up through 2005? Hell - take one of your old ones apart and have a local machine shop machine one out of aluminum - that'll fix it dambit!

But Lee - what the hell are you doing with your windows down in the desert anyway? Aren't you supposed to keep them up and the air conditioner blasting out there?

Reply to
Mike Marlow

anyway? Aren't you supposed to keep them up and the air conditioner blasting out there?>>

Thanks for your suggestions Mike; I think your ideas are good, and worth while. Since I have so many of the old ones, I think I'll try the machine shop route first.

As for your question on the windows being down, a week after spending $1,300 on new axels, tires and brakes, our a/c compressor and some related parts went out. Our budget was busted at that point, so we had no choice but to proceed without a/c for the summer. Right now we're looking for some used parts so we can get it back in working condition before our high temps. arrive (we're only at 83 degrees today).

Hope you have a great weekend. Lee

Reply to
leesun1

anyway? Aren't you supposed to keep them up and the air conditioner blasting out there?>>

Thanks for your suggestions Mike; I think your ideas are good, and worth while. Since I have so many of the old ones, I think I'll try the machine shop route first.

As for your question on the windows being down, a week after spending $1,300 on new axels, tires and brakes, our a/c compressor and some related parts went out. Our budget was busted at that point, so we had no choice but to proceed without a/c for the summer. Right now we're looking for some used parts so we can get it back in working condition before our high temps. arrive (we're only at 83 degrees today).

Hope you have a great weekend. Lee

Reply to
leesun1

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