Driver's side window - regulator, water intrusion, slow operation

[GFrosty]

Project for the springtime -- Opening up the driver's side door panel and rejuvenating the power window performance.

Vehicle: 2016.5 Mazda CX-5 GT 2.5L AWD
Mileage: 135Kmi

What issues are you experiencing with the drivers door window. I've changed a few of these cable type regulators on a previous vehicle and know they don't last forever.

Having the following issues:

• Water intrusion when washing the car -- gets past the seals and down the outside of the window (inside the door), causing squeaking and slowness when operating the power window ... at least, for an hour or so until most of the water dries up. Problem is, I would think that little to no water should be getting in there. I'm worried about it causing longer-term damage, rusting. Time to replace/fix the water seals on the window and ensure there's no water damage, at minimum.
• Slow operation, particularly in the cold -- The window doesn't move as quickly as it should. It's noticeably slower than the other three windows, by a bit. When very cold, during the winter, often the speed cuts by two-thirds. Quite likely, slight water intrusion results in freezing, causing slowness. But I'm not sure, yet.
• Parts check -- Want to verify the regulator + cabling, window alignment, any other parts in there that could affect function and which might go weak or bad over time.

Anybody got specific tips or pointers on which particular parts to go after, to validate function of, to replace?

 

[Jmaz]

Before pulling the door panel and running the window up and down while observing for discrepancies I'd verify that the outside rubber seal isn't causing excessive drag on the window. The rubber definitely stiffens when cold. Maybe spread something slick like dish soap or silicone grease on the inside of the lip and see if the window speeds up. Also spray silicone in the vertical guide tracks (the fuzzy/felt like one's in the door frame). I'd look for dragging /binding before pulling the panel. My drivers window glass can be moved fore and aft so it's a little loose which may allow it to self align and not bind. It goes up and down fine.

If you pull the panel and decide to clean and lube the the metal tracks on the regulator, never use white lithium grease. It really thickens in the cold. I did that on a previous car and had to pull all 4 panels and regrease because the windows were so slow in cold weather.
The grease I've seen on replacement regulators resembled a thin clear-like silicone grease. Also, I'd check if the thin regulator lift cable has cut deeply into a plastic guide.

I've had a regulator fail where the cable broke and jammed and knotted at the gearbox leaving the window jammed partially down (winter time naturally). These things can ultimately fail fast. I used to carry (maybe still do -- must check tool box in back) a roll of clear packing tape to tape the glass shut if it's not jammed when a failure occurs. When doing repairs I initially used that same tape to hold the window fully up when removing the regulator and then found that a 1" c-clamp worked better but that was on a previous car. It's probably still in the toolbox.
Let us know what you find. Cheers.

ETA: I just remembered. Being unsure of quality of aftermarket regulator I kept the original failed one in case some parts could be used if problems with new one. They were almost identical. The motor in the new one failed about a year later and the OEM motor was a direct fit which was still working for another 2-3 years until it got traded in.