Cockeyed Glass: What To Do When Your Car Window Goes Askew

It does not happen often, but when one of your power windows on your car goes down and then slips in such a way as to end up half up, half down, and on the diagonal, you may be at a loss for words. This cockeyed auto glass problem requires skilled repair. Here is what the problem is, and how it is typically managed. 

The Mechanics Inside the Door

Inside a car door that has power windows, there is a motor. The motor is connected to a component that holds the window glass in place and responds to the motor's up/down controlling movement. There are special clips that help this component grip the window, hold it in place, and keep it from getting stuck under the rubber edges of the gaskets at its base. 

When the clips that hold onto the window break, fall off inside the door, or malfunction, then just the simple up and down movement of the component holding the window causes the window to slip out of that component. It may still be held by one clip on one corner or edge, but because the other clip is missing, the window is jerked out of place. It cannot possibly return to its original position without a mechanic's help. The result, of course, is the cockeyed window that you see before you, which can neither shut nor open. 

How It Is Repaired

This is going to have to be an in-shop job for the auto glass technicians, and you will see why shortly. The technician has to remove the door from your vehicle entirely. Then the door actually has to be cracked open by removing various screws and bolts.

This exposes the motor, the broken or missing clips that hold onto the glass, and the component that is attached to the glass and is controlled by the motor. With two halves of the door in front of him/her, the technician can now replace the clips, fix the component, shift the glass back into position, and make sure everything appears to be in working order. The two halves of the door are reconnected, taking care to slide the glass between the rubber window gaskets that you see at the bottom of the window. The door is reattached to your vehicle, and everything is tested to make sure that the window is working optimally again. If it is, the job is done.