[Stan]

A couple weeks ago my son noticed wind noise coming from the passenger side window. With the window all the way up, we spotted this:

See the gap? I wondered if my soft top seal had gone bad or the window itself or something else was causing the problem. It's about 45 minutes to the dealer for me so I decided to check it out myself. Even though there was a gap, very little extra water gets into the car during rainy weather since the soft top edge overhangs the glass edge.

Ten minutes later the problem was fixed! The nut that locks the window height adjustment in place had come loose. So the height adjuster could change positions on it's own. The nut is supposed to be all the way to the top so that the adjuster cannot move up or down. I turned the adjuster a few times so that my closed window height increased. That way it could properly press against the soft top's rubber seal. Below is a PIC showing the loose nut.

BTW the door skin is very easy to remove. And our side impact door beam is HUGE!

PS: After I buttoned everything back up I adjusted the window angle for the heck of it. Now that window seals better than ever. This is a very easy adjustment as the two adjusters are readily accesible when you open the door. They are those two flat head screw gizmos you may have noticed. When the door was opened up I could see how they operate...basically they move the vertical window tracks inward or outward so the window itself will tilt inward or outward. Front and rear are independently adjustable.

 

[Thomas Praetzel]

Stan,
Great post. What do you think of the LSS? I'm thinking of getting rid of mine, roads here on Maui simply weren't made for it.

Aloha,
Thomas Praetzel

 

[Zero]

Did you have to rip a vapor barrier to get to the adjusters?

I see bits of clear plastic in the picture

 

[Stan]

>>>Stan, Great post. What do you think of the LSS? I'm thinking of getting rid of mine, roads here on Maui simply weren't made for it. Aloha,<<<

Thomas, most of the LSS firmness/harshness comes from the tires. You might try some max perf tires known for decent ride quality such as the Goodyear GSD3 / Toyo T1S & T1R. I've tried AD07 and AO48 tires along with LTS and LSS springs. The biggest factor is the rubber. One aspect of the LSS ride is better than LTS - things that are greatly affected by unsprung weight. The lighter sport wheels, especially in the back, help things out in that regard. You can also put AD07s on the sport wheels. Just put the stock 225/45s there and the soon to be available 205/45s.

Stan

 

[Stan]

>>Did you have to rip a vapor barrier to get to the adjusters?
I see bits of clear plastic in the picture<<

You can peel it off pretty easily. I was a bit of a gorilla in there, but this cleared the way for a decent photograph! The plastic film doesn't do much in the Elise anyway.

 

[Stan]

Here is the same PIC marked up so that you can more easily see how the adjuster works.

 

[lateapex]

Stan, did you take a pic of the side impact door beam?

I'd love to see what's between us and the hulking SUV in the next lane over.

 

[Stan]

>>>Stan, did you take a pic of the side impact door beam? I'd love to see what's between us and the hulking SUV in the next lane over.<<<

It's pretty massive...it's taller than the hinge and extends through the door at hinge height. The door beam is what the whole door molding hangs on and is why our hinge is so huge. A steel bracket attaches to it along with the latch mechanism at that end. The latch attaches to the piece on the door jam which is directly bolted into a roughly 3 inch round steel roll bar vertical element. If I am not mistaken, you can see some of the door beam through the tinted glass in the PIC. It's the same color as the other aluminum. I'll have to get some better PICs of it. The slowest part of yanking the door skin is undoing the four visible allen bolts. They use the 3 mm allen wrench in our tool kit for removal/install. The bottom edge of the door skin velcros on, the rear edge hooks on and requires a rearward withdrawal and the front edge has one small plastic screw retaining it. That last one live around the corner from the interior door release. The window switch is easy to plug/unplug.

The car has so many areas that exhibit simple, clean, crisp design. It's pretty easy to work on. The designers also had to use some parts bin Engineering which has been integrated into the big picture. And this was all done for a pretty affordable price considering.

I'm glad I spent a few minutes straightening this window thing out. It saved me time and aggravation and it was fun.

 

[kidcool]

how do you get the panel off the door - - I see the top screws, but the panel seems stuck on pretty good at the bottom of the door

 

[Stan]

Kidcool...see the middle of post # 8. HTH.

 

[kidcool]

got it thanks!1

 

[arandolph]

More Helpful Hints

Stan, thank you for this post as it helped me fix exactly the same problem this past weekend. However, I would have benefited from more information on how to remove the door panel. Here is what I learned for anyone else performing this procedure:

1) The top four Allen screws attaching the door panel are easily removed.

2) The black fastener securing the lower front of the panel is a 2-piece push pin. The outer piece is the body of the push pin, and the inner piece spreads the pin to engage it in the hole. Pull the inner piece out with a pair of pliers and then work then outer piece out by placing a screw driver under it.

3) The lower rear of the panel is held in by a plastic fastener that is glued to the panel on one side and attached to the door via a pin with serrated edges on the other side. However, the assembly is open on forward side, such that the panel can be removed by sliding it towards the rear of the car. Alternatively, you can simply break the fastener off like I did!

Hopefully this helps anyone else repairing a loose window stop. Good luck...

 

[Stan]

Thanks for your suggestions, they are nice and clear!

 

[Steve W]

I thought I'd add to this post as the moving stop is not the only problem that prevents the window qgoing all the way up. My window suddenly stopped short of the top by about 1 inch overnight. I took the door apart as outlined above and found out the window was stopping about 1" short of the stop and the stop was tight.

A call to Qais at South Bay lead me to a phillips screw at the top of the runner at the end away from the door hinge. This screw can be seen and tightened though the top of the door with the window all the way down. No need to take the door panel off at all. (See picture)

 

[EdHahn]

It may be obvious...

FWIW, the manual windows appear to have a completely different window height stop adjustment (I had my door apart this past weekend). FWIW, it's dead simple, and the manual provides enough information for one to figure out everything one needs to do to get the glass to align perfectly.

ed

 

[R T]

search function doing it's thing!

Great thread!
My passenger side window was going way too far up and upon removal of door panel found the "stop" rolling around in the bottom of the door. Interesting thing is the lock nut has the green witness mark (as well as it's mating surface) which I thought implied that fastener was torqued up :shrug:
Checked the drivers side for kicks and it was tight.

 

[TimMullen]

the lock nut has the green witness mark (as well as it's mating surface) which I thought implied that fastener was torqued up

The paint is there to indicate if the nut has been turned (it scrapes/breaks the paint) - it's an anti-tamper thing. That's about it...:shrug:

 

[R T]

Yeah, that too (we used to use stuff they called cracking lacquer in the aerospace industry), but the point is, procedurally, you apply that stuff right after you final torque the fastener (implying the fastener is "torqued-up"). As in, you don't apply that sh!t unless you just torqued it up, get it? :shrug:

 

[TimMullen]

you apply that stuff right after you final torque the fastener (implying the fastener is "torqued-up"). As in, you don't apply that sh!t unless you just torqued it up, get it? :shrug:

That's the way it should be, but it could be that one guy's job is to tighten the bolts, and another guy comes along later and "paints" all the bolts (and he doesn't pay attention to the tightness of the bolt...:shrug:

 

[R T]

dude, you're killing me ......