Auto Window Repair-Do It Yourself

It is not difficult to do auto window repair yourself. You will need some tools though most of these tools can be found around the house. The shop manual for your model/make of car, a tarp/plastic sheet/painter’s drop cloth, masking tape, new window glass, and various sizes of screwdrivers, both Philips and Flathead.

I can give you a brief overview on how you will do this, but it is best to get detailed directions from your shop manual. Read these instructions over once and make sure you understand the basics. You manual will be more detailed, but will also be written in a more complex language making it harder to understand. If you have read a simpler outline, like the steps below before you read your manual, you will much better understand it.

The first thing you will want to do is get rid of all of the loose broken glass pieces. Do this with a good pair of leather work gloves so that you don’t cut yourself.

Your next step is to remove the ‘door card’. The ‘door card’ is a panel on the interior of the door. Beneath this will be a moisture barrier-try hard not too damage this -THAT will be an expensive fix.

Place your drop cloth on the ground and put the door card on top of it. Make notes on a separate piece of paper, or tape the screws in place so that you remember where they will go.

Next you will be removing the weather stripping from the door. Do this carefully! Vacuum out any extra glass shards which may have fallen inside of the door and into the weather stripping.

Use your manual to figure out where clips and brackets will hold the replacement glass inside the door. You may be able to tell this without the manual, but it is always good to double check-you never know when one may be hiding! Then replace the weather stripping.

You will want to ease the new window glass gently down the window channel until the glass reaches the lift mechanism. Now, try it out! If it works, give yourself a big pat on the back-you did it! If it didn’t, double check your manual to make sure you didn’t miss any steps, sometimes the most insignificant-looking steps are the most important. If it still doesn’t work, you may want to call an auto-glass specialist.

Auto Window Repair-Do It Yourself

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