My first window regulator replaced outside of warranty

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Mon Aug 30, 2010 10:29 pm

My time has finally come. :banghead:

I went with the aftermarket “Steiger” repair kit. I had my mechanic do the install. He said the kit was very nicely done and the directions were very detailed. Rather than going to the Dealer, this isn’t a bad option for those who want to save a little coin.

jslibby · **Posted:** Mon Aug 30, 2010 11:07 pm

next time buy the whole regulator for 90 bucks and bolt it on yourself

kskj · **Posted:** Mon Aug 30, 2010 11:28 pm

The steiger kit is a better than OEM replacement. There are some KJ's on here that have replaced regulators 7 and 8 times. I think this is #4 for Deiselenthusiast.

jslibby · **Posted:** Mon Aug 30, 2010 11:43 pm

my replacements aren't oem, they are after market i have repalced each once i havent had mor trouble but i wasn't aware the kit strengthen your regulator if i would have know i would have maybe gotten it too. but if the give trouble again(knock on wood) i will try it then

hooperswish · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:27 pm

So dieselenthusiast, what did your mechanic charge for labor to put in the steiger? (I have read the directions online, and am a little intimidated. I do not want to screw up getting that rivet off). Also, how long did it take him if you know.
Thanks...

TnRebel · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:48 pm

Mine charged me $139.00 total.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 2:17 pm

hooperswish wrote:

So dieselenthusiast, what did your mechanic charge for labor to put in the steiger? (I have read the directions online, and am a little intimidated. I do not want to screw up getting that rivet off). Also, how long did it take him if you know.
Thanks...

$160, I think he said that a loose cable created a lot more work :?:

I really didn’t pay attention to what he said. I got the impression that it would have been a much quicker job if it wasn’t for the loose cable. This is our monsoon season, so I was happy that it was done. :pepper:

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 4:13 pm

haha, yeah that bas*ard cable will fall right DOWN THERE... block the lock cam, preventing you from opening the door..

it'll make you THINK you're gonna open the door.. then CLUNK.. nOoooooOoOo..

cable issue seems to happen more so with the rear doors,

yours was a rear door? usually end up having to pop the panel from the inside with the door shut, which sounds like a lot of fun that I ain't gonna do..

kjstinga · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 4:55 pm

If only Chrysler would get their act together and provide a similar fix. They still act like it is not that wide spread; mostly because people are getting out of warranty and just not repairing or doing it elsewhere. :dizzy:

I have had 11 replacements to date and still have about 8 months of warranty left. I beat on chrysler every time, but it does no good to change anything. :banghead:

Once I am out of warranty I'll be joining the Steiger club. Haven't heard of any failures after that replacement (Chrysler are you listening????). :ALONE:

jslibby · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:16 pm

wow 11 times mines been out of warranty for a year and only one messed up during the warranty :furious:

the other three out of warranty.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Wed Sep 01, 2010 6:09 pm

JeepinJarhead03 wrote:

haha, yeah that bas*ard cable will fall right DOWN THERE... block the lock cam, preventing you from opening the door..

it'll make you THINK you're gonna open the door.. then CLUNK.. nOoooooOoOo..

cable issue seems to happen more so with the rear doors,

yours was a rear door? usually end up having to pop the panel from the inside with the door shut, which sounds like a lot of fun that I ain't gonna do..

Yep, mine was the passenger rear door. :banghead:

MTN GTO · **Posted:** Fri Sep 03, 2010 9:30 pm

I had both front windows go after eight years. Mech. charged $300 for the fix. I got tired of having to open the door at toll booths. :furious:

stevebaz · **Joined:** Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:25 am **Posts:** 10

Last week we had to repair our first regulator on our 2006. We repaired the passengers front window with the Steiger Kit. It took me about 2 hours to do it but next time I doubt it will take 20 minutes to do. On 2006 and 2007 the factory repair replaces the window and regulator and puts in the same junk from an earlier model that will fail again so that is not an option for me. I was at first intimidated with the repair but in the end it was all a non issue. Pointers I would add for anyone doing this. I burned out the fuzz in the cable with a BBQ propane lighter and a pair of tweezers to pull out the remains. I had a little trouble getting the cable coil to screw into the Steiger unit and it was due to the way jeep flaired the wire cable when they made it. I had to take a pair of wire cutters and trim 1/8" off the end of the outer wire spring over the cable. Steiger says to grind or file this but it was far easier to trim a little coil off. As for removing the rivit, it is a thin aluminium rivit and using an old knife under the rivit head and tapping the back of the blade of the knife with something heavier you easily chisle the head right off. It takes seconds instead of grinding and filing. Then you need something to drive the remains of the rivit out of the remaining part I just used a small hammer and nail to push it from the same side you cut the head off out through the back. No big deal. Other than that, on the Steiger instructions they say you can loosen the mounting bolts on the window regulator. Just take them out it is easier to get the assembly out without fighting the space the bolt heads take. It saves you nothing to leave them in place. Dont try to remove the wiring plug from the motor if you havent done this before you just cant see what your doing and you need to pull out the red lock on the plug before you can remove the plug. It is easier to get it all unbolted and rotate the assembly to one of the access points so you can see the plug and then disconnect it. The Steiger part is excelent and their service is great. I ordered the part online and paid by paypal and they shipped it to me from east coast to west coast in 4 days by priority mail. This is the part Jeep should have made not the crap they used and Jeep should be buying their repair part from Steiger instead of replacing crap with new crap of an older design just to standardize replacement parts.
Have fun,
Steve

hooperswish · **Posted:** Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:26 pm

stevebaz wrote:

Last week we had to repair our first regulator on our 2006. We repaired the passengers front window with the Steiger Kit. It took me about 2 hours to do it but next time I doubt it will take 20 minutes to do. On 2006 and 2007 the factory repair replaces the window and regulator and puts in the same junk from an earlier model that will fail again so that is not an option for me. I was at first intimidated with the repair but in the end it was all a non issue. Pointers I would add for anyone doing this. I burned out the fuzz in the cable with a BBQ propane lighter and a pair of tweezers to pull out the remains. I had a little trouble getting the cable coil to screw into the Steiger unit and it was due to the way jeep flaired the wire cable when they made it. I had to take a pair of wire cutters and trim 1/8" off the end of the outer wire spring over the cable. Steiger says to grind or file this but it was far easier to trim a little coil off. As for removing the rivit, it is a thin aluminium rivit and using an old knife under the rivit head and tapping the back of the blade of the knife with something heavier you easily chisle the head right off. It takes seconds instead of grinding and filing. Then you need something to drive the remains of the rivit out of the remaining part I just used a small hammer and nail to push it from the same side you cut the head off out through the back. No big deal. Other than that, on the Steiger instructions they say you can loosen the mounting bolts on the window regulator. Just take them out it is easier to get the assembly out without fighting the space the bolt heads take. It saves you nothing to leave them in place. Dont try to remove the wiring plug from the motor if you havent done this before you just cant see what your doing and you need to pull out the red lock on the plug before you can remove the plug. It is easier to get it all unbolted and rotate the assembly to one of the access points so you can see the plug and then disconnect it. The Steiger part is excelent and their service is great. I ordered the part online and paid by paypal and they shipped it to me from east coast to west coast in 4 days by priority mail. This is the part Jeep should have made not the crap they used and Jeep should be buying their repair part from Steiger instead of replacing crap with new crap of an older design just to standardize replacement parts.
Have fun,
Steve

Thanks for the great tips. Next time I will give the steiger a shot. What a pain, but at least it will actually be a REAL fix.

dgeist · **Posted:** Mon Sep 06, 2010 3:26 pm

Just put a Steiger left-rear kit in today. Took about an hour to soup to nuts. Would have been a little shorter, but I was taking my time so I didn't break anything and the broken plastic got pulled up inside the angle section, thankfully the instructions recommended how to fix that (put vice grips on the other end and thread it back out).

I'm not sure WHY the fuzz needed to be removed... I took about half an inch off mine and then tried threading it on, and it was fine with or without. I suppose some folks with badly mangled tips need to clean up the threads before they'll go on, but if anything, I'd venture to say having the fuzz remain would be a good thing if you can swing it. Just my $.02.

Dan

JCyrus · **Posted:** Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:18 pm

When I bought my '06 used in March, I had heard about crappy window regulators (and even saw a neighbor who had both of his rear windows being held up with duct tape at the time) but didn't think much of it.

At which point, I noticed that my driver's side window creaked/squealed something awful when you were closing it. I was really considering proactively getting the regulator replaced, but decided against it. A few weeks later, I was driving down a dirt WV road with lots of bumps and my windows down, I pulled up to where I was heading went to put my windows up, and the PASSENGER side regulator crapped out. All along I was expecting it to be the driver's side to go, but the passenger side hadn't been making any noise...

So this noise, is it a sign of impending doom? Should I grab the Steiger part and be proactive? Or should I just wait it out until it actually breaks?

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:25 pm

JCyrus wrote:

Should I grab the Steiger part and be proactive? Or should I just wait it out until it actually breaks?

Here’s my opinion. You can’t predict when these windows may go. So, I would either have the funding set aside for when it happens or buy the part “now” so you don’t have to wait 3-4 days for it to show up in the mailbox. I’m going to have the window regulators on standby for when they do go. I’ve got one down, and three to go………… :pepper:

dgeist · **Posted:** Tue Sep 07, 2010 1:34 pm

Buy a full set and keep them in the toolbox in the back of the KJ so you can fix it when it breaks

My first window regulator replaced outside of warranty

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