Broken cable in electric window mechanism

Mikkels · Post by **Mikkels** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 2:22 pm

Hi my MX5 drivers side electric window has just suffered a broken cable. Well that is my assumption as there was a decided ping just as the window reached the top and now no go other than the motor noise. Does anybody know if you can buy just the cables? I guess I can get a motorcycle cable maker to make replacements but that means quite a bit of hassle. John Andrew parts guy reckoned there was not a listing for just the cable.

Anybody out there with experience doing this job? Happy to tackle and have read the stuff on Miata net just want to source the cables

Cheers in advance

Don

Habanero666 · Post by **Habanero666** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 4:02 pm

you will need to by the regulator kit.

DBM58 · Post by **DBM58** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 7:54 pm

I have had success in replacing this cable with a bicycle brake / gear cable. The difference in cost is $10 compared to $100 and more for the regulator. You will have to spend the time dismantling / rebuilding whichever option you choose. If you have a mind to fix it yourself, I can send you some notes that I made on the repair.

I am in Royal Oak, Auckland if you would like a hand.

sprsta · Post by **sprsta** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 8:05 pm

had a flyer from north harbour ford come to work acouple of weeks ago
they have regulators on special at the moment cant remember price but wasnt too bad i thought

Mikkels · Post by **Mikkels** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 8:59 pm

I have found that Ross has the regulators for $185 Ouch. My car is my daily driver so got to balance the inconvenience against the cash. Would be keen to take a look at the notes on fixing with bike cabling though.

Will also give North harbour a call. Thanks guys

Don

brownie · Post by **brownie** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 10:20 pm

ross's price is quite resonable,New regs less motor thru Mazda are around $220+gst,It is a pain in the arse jog to change cables over as well unless you know what you are doing.
We sell them thru work (mazline) for $250+gst ,with a 12 mth warranty and run out of stock.
Cheap way out is the manuel window winder conversion i have advertised.
If other people have a cheap way out then you have nothing to lose,go for it.

DBM58 · Post by **DBM58** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 11:14 pm

The problem started when my passenger side power window stopped moving when I operated the up / down switch. I could still hear the motor humming and a quick look - after removing the inner door panel - confirmed that the one of the cables had broken ie. it was no longer under tension.

The following websites have good information detailing repair methods:

http://www.Miata.net/garage/window.html
http://www.Miata.net/garage/Miata_window_tlc.html
Pages 10:9 to 10:15 of the "Mazda Miata 1.6 liter Enthusiasts Shop Manual" also has comprehensive notes and photographs.

In addition, I can add the following:

i) The cable was not in fact broken, the ferrule (not sure if that is the correct term, had come off one end. This is easy to repair by cleaning out the hole with a small drill, then re-inserting the cable. It can be held securely in place by running solder along the cable until it fills the chamber of the ferrule and drips through the hole. Whilst you have the assembly apart, you may as well treat the end of the other cable in the same way (ie. two cables per window). If you can braize / wled this on then that my be more secure.

ii) If you remove the cover off the motor assembly to have a look at the cable wound around the capstan, remember to put it back on again before operating the window mechanism - you need to do this to maximise the length of cable available to allow the re-assembly. Also remember that you can only put it together again by first unclipping the combined guide and stop from the lower end of the regulator, it is impossible to stretch the cable enough to fit it without doing this. If you do not put the cover back on, the cables can easily become bent and tangled. This can cause fraying and also kink the cable enough to reduce it's total length. It can then be too short to use.

iii) If you read all of the instructions properly you will not need to know about point ii) above.

iv) If you do find that you need to replace the cables, they are not available for sale from Mazda - you could buy the complete motor assembly. However, they are the same cables that are used for bicycle brakes. However, the larger cycle stores that I contacted are only able to offer stainless steel cables, and you cannot solder to stainless steel, so you would be unable to re-attach (securely) the end ferrule. I was able to find the older style non-stainless cable from two smaller stores though, Howick Mowers and Cycles, and Green Bay Mowers, both in Auckland, at a cost around $8 each.

v) Trim the cables to the length of the old ones and re-fit. You do not have to worry about how many times that they are wound around the capstan, they only fit one way, and you use up all of the moulded channels. This description makes more sense when you are doing the job.

vi) Before fitting the cover back on, spray the wire cable inside liberally with white lithium grease. This grease does not degrade any of the plastic components.

vii) Also apply the lithium grease to the channels in the regulator assembly.

When you re-install the regulator assembly, do not tighten the nuts up too much. This can prevent the window from moving freely.

And there you have it.

Mikkels · Post by **Mikkels** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:54 pm

Hi David

I'm a DIY man so would like to have a go at doing the cables. I will see if I can source the cable. Thanks for the offer of a hand. I will PM you with my contact details.

Don

Growler · Post by **Growler** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 5:51 pm

Mikkels wrote:Hi David

I'm a DIY man so would like to have a go at doing the cables. I will see if I can source the cable. Thanks for the offer of a hand. I will PM you with my contact details.

Don

I tried that originally when mine broke. It can be done but make sure the cable diameter you use is the correct one.

Mikkels · Post by **Mikkels** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:07 pm

Good point. Anybody out there know what the diameter should be? I can take my calipers to the bike shop but need to know the correct size. I have not begun the disassembly yet.

Cheers

Don

DBM58 · Post by **DBM58** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:26 pm

The spare one that I bought has an OD of about 1.6mm. The main difficulty
that I had was finding a cable that was not made of stainless steel. Let me
know if you are not able to find one right away and you can use this one to
fix the window. We can find a replacement cable later.

Mikkels · Post by **Mikkels** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:12 pm

Thanks David

I have contacted Howick and they say they have cables that are galvanised. I'm not going to get there until next week as away this weekend. A very kind offer that I may take you up on yet but will try and get some for myself so you can keep your one.

Don

Mikkels · Post by **Mikkels** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:54 pm

OK this weekend I will have a go at doing the job. I'm assuming you can recycle the end pieces of the cables by desoldering them and attaching to the new cables ?

DBM58 · Post by **DBM58** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 9:27 pm

I used a solder sucker to remove the old solder so that the hole was clear
enough to accept the new cable. You will need to be very careful not to
loose the old end pieces as the mouldings are sized to accept them. You will
need to make sure that you have a lot of spare swear words if you do
misplace them and have to fabricate new ones.

Mikkels · Post by **Mikkels** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:56 pm

Went out to Howick today and got two lengths of cable. Looks ideal. my calipers said 1.45mm in diameter. Cable is magnetic so should be solderable. Don't have a solder sucker so would be appreciative of a hand with that bit. Have had the doors apart when I had the car resprayed so not too worried about that part. Cheers

Don

kiwipete · Post by **kiwipete** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 7:52 pm

Hey guys and girls

Whats with the nanny state here... locked subjects? Thats just plain weird!

ell my little convertable mates... anyone with a spare GB for sale... 6 or 5 speed for a NA... must be good...

BTW.. still interested in the turbo'ed plonk but really.... thread locked.... goooood grief!

Peter in AKL

dynofiend · Post by **dynofiend** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:53 pm

Isnt it more normal to post in a new thread if you want a gearbox, rather than tag it onto the end of a thread about window mechanisms?

kiwipete · Post by **kiwipete** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:43 pm

so u don't have one

ok

I'll ask in another thread as well..

Peter

viscarious · Post by **viscarious** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 10:35 am

Hey there. My passenger window mechanism was broke when I baught the car. However the previous owner sent me the regulator he had taken out ( it is currently held in place with welding wire ). Here is a picture of it. It seems the likely problem is that the 'ferrule' has come off the end. However, I was wondering, is there supposed to be another 'long grey stick' attached to the broken end? or do I just need to solder on another ferrule to fix it?

Thanks for any help.

Regards.

Dave

Mikkels · Post by **Mikkels** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 8:23 pm

Thanks all for your help. I have completed my repair successfully. A full how to description is attached.

Don

viscarious · Post by **viscarious** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:03 am

Thats very helpfull.

Thanks for that.

Mikkels · Post by **Mikkels** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:55 pm

Looking at your photo it looks like you are missing most of the down cable including the outer. the missing parts may be in the bottom of the door. If you are missing the cable outer you will need to know the length and the cable guy I used can supply. Sorry I did not measure that part while I had he thing apart. If you are reasonably confident with a soldering iron etc it is possible to fix really cheaply.

PM me and I will send you my contact details if you need some more help.

Don