i cant roll down my driver side window!

[khargis]

howdy yall, so i went to roll down my driver side window and it started to roll down and began to slip and then spin. i thought it was just the lever and pulled that and checked it, no dice. the sprocket or wheel or whatever it is called? is spinnin, like it is stripped. my bus is a 78', maybe original part? any thoughts on this one? it is the nicest weather all year in portland and i am rollin around with my window up like i have the a/c on! look forward to hearin yalls thoughts. thanks people, k

[steve74baywin]

I'm sure more/better advise is to follow by others.
You need to make it so you can see it better. Take off the (I can't think of what it is called) decorator door panel, it is still hard to see the whole mechanism, but you need to get a better look and you are probably going to have to take it off to repair it. We've had some problems like that around here on our VW's, I can't tell what the exact issue was, but seeing it helped us find the broken part.

[khargis]

hey steve, ya man, i pulled the door panel and the guts are spinnin. it is still pretty damn hard to see what is goin on in there. i reach my left hand up under the metal of the opening in the door and can feel, but a little perplexed as how to remove, access, fix? thanks kh

[Gypsie]

sounds like the little gear or cogs from the flexible rail that actuates the window has broken.

You may need to get one of these:
http://www.mamotorworkstv.com/vw/produc ... ft-355339/
Man the prices ar ell over the place: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&cp=9&gs_id ... 24&bih=614

Or go to a upullit to find it.

But first get in there and look at the crank pivot area. I think you will find little broken teeth.

IIRC you will need to remove the glass and the vent window frame to get at the regulator to remove it.

[tristessa]

Sounds like it could very well be the window regulator. Driver side is trickier to find .. because that's the one that wears out sooner. Check with Trafton's out on SE Stark or Avery's Aircooled in Woodland, WA for a used one around Portland-ish -- there weren't any Busses at the N Columbia or SE Foster Pick-n-Pull yards when I was out last week, and nothing at U-Pull-It-U-Save in Boring as of two weeks ago.

New, I would've suggested Bus Depot but after checking their site I only see "EuroMax" brand listed, which could be semi-decent Brazilian OE VW or it could be aftermarket Chinese crap...

edit: Checked Pick-N-Pull's online inventory thingy and it shows a '74 "Vanagon" at the N Columbia yard, went out in the yard on 8/8/2011. http://www.picknpull.com/check_inventory.aspx