My heated rear window has never worked since I've had the car ........ since 1995. There were so many cracks in the heating element that no amount of silver "electric" paint would fix. I don't know why it was like that, but I've a suspicion that my Mum might have given the window a quick scrape on the inside to get rid of the frozen condensation!!! Nooooooo!
Anyway, a chap (Simon Owen) I met on the Rover Forum (best Rover Forum around!) was offering a free heated rear window along with the best part of half a gearbox. He was only 40 minutes drive away so I took up the offer (thanks Simon). The window was green and had been sitting in his back garden for over a year. I cleaned it up, brought the copper elements back to the right colour and connected a battery ......... it all worked, superb.
As I had plans to fit a boot mounted spare wheel (another blog entry!) I waited until then to fit it. It is so much easier with the boot lid off.
First thing to do is to remove the petrol cap so that we can remove the rear decker panel. By undoing the jubilee clip and wiggling the pipes will dislodge the sealant sticking the pipe to the rubber tube.
Remove the four screws that fasten the petrol cap to the decker panel and pull the petrol cap out.
Next, to remove the rear decker panel, remove the 3 bolts near the boot hinges - one at either side and one in the middle.
Then underneath the decker panel, on each side there is a nut and washer on a bolt that is attached to the decker panel. you can see it in this photo. remove these nuts/washers.
The decker panel should now lift off, it will be a little stiff and tight but it will wiggle free.
Remove the centre screen support and the nylon spacer underneath.
On each side there is a screen "jack" like this photo. Remove the dum-dum covering the thread and nut and turn the nut to wind the jack down as far as it will go. Do the same for the other side.
There is now nothing left holding the screen in place, except whatever sealant was used when the screen was last fitted.
Open each rear passenger door, remove the seats and inner rear quarter panels and disconnect the heated rear screen wires. With one hand on the inside, and one on the outside of the screen, wiggle and push the screen in a downward movement to try to slide the window out.
You might find it useful to slide a blunt instrument underneath the
rubber seal around the stainless steel trim to free off the sealant
there.
Constant wiggling and pushing from alternate sides will eventually free the screen and rubber from its hold and it will come out.
Here is a photo of the old screen upside down. You can see on the bottom, a metal piece of angle, the same shape as the window, this needs to come off along with the rubber underneath so that it can be fitted to the new window. This (after 39 years) took some removing, and I think the rubber was glued to the glass in a spot each side - probably to help the fitters originally building the cars, so that it doesn't fall off when you hold the window the right way up!
Remove it, along with the sealing rubber from the top and sides and clean them up. Apply screen sealant and fit to the replacement window.
Insert the replacement screen by reversing the removal procedure - by sliding the window up into the aperture, make sure that the rubber seal goes inside the aperture with the rubber lip around the stainless steel trim.
Jack up the window gradually on each side to push the window firmly home. Periodically pull the window up into the aperture by hand (one hand inside the car, the other outside) to make sure that the window is being correctly seated and to check how much play is left to be taken up.
Continue to jack up the window until it is fully home. You should be able to see where it was before by the marks left on the stainless steel trim by the rubber seal and you can 'feel' the jack getting tighter. Don't over tighten, otherwise it could crack during use as the car will flex while driving.
Another view.......
Refit the rear decker panel and the petrol cap. Apply a gasket compound around the petrol pipe and connect the rubbers and do up the jubilee clips.
Refit the four screws holding the petrol cap to the decker panel - use a magnetic screwdriver, if you drop on of these down the pipe, it'll end up in your petrol tank!!
All Done!!
Anyway, a chap (Simon Owen) I met on the Rover Forum (best Rover Forum around!) was offering a free heated rear window along with the best part of half a gearbox. He was only 40 minutes drive away so I took up the offer (thanks Simon). The window was green and had been sitting in his back garden for over a year. I cleaned it up, brought the copper elements back to the right colour and connected a battery ......... it all worked, superb.
As I had plans to fit a boot mounted spare wheel (another blog entry!) I waited until then to fit it. It is so much easier with the boot lid off.
First thing to do is to remove the petrol cap so that we can remove the rear decker panel. By undoing the jubilee clip and wiggling the pipes will dislodge the sealant sticking the pipe to the rubber tube.Remove the four screws that fasten the petrol cap to the decker panel and pull the petrol cap out.
Next, to remove the rear decker panel, remove the 3 bolts near the boot hinges - one at either side and one in the middle.Then underneath the decker panel, on each side there is a nut and washer on a bolt that is attached to the decker panel. you can see it in this photo. remove these nuts/washers.
The decker panel should now lift off, it will be a little stiff and tight but it will wiggle free.
Remove the centre screen support and the nylon spacer underneath.
On each side there is a screen "jack" like this photo. Remove the dum-dum covering the thread and nut and turn the nut to wind the jack down as far as it will go. Do the same for the other side.
There is now nothing left holding the screen in place, except whatever sealant was used when the screen was last fitted.
Open each rear passenger door, remove the seats and inner rear quarter panels and disconnect the heated rear screen wires. With one hand on the inside, and one on the outside of the screen, wiggle and push the screen in a downward movement to try to slide the window out.
You might find it useful to slide a blunt instrument underneath the
rubber seal around the stainless steel trim to free off the sealant
there.
Constant wiggling and pushing from alternate sides will eventually free the screen and rubber from its hold and it will come out.
Here is a photo of the old screen upside down. You can see on the bottom, a metal piece of angle, the same shape as the window, this needs to come off along with the rubber underneath so that it can be fitted to the new window. This (after 39 years) took some removing, and I think the rubber was glued to the glass in a spot each side - probably to help the fitters originally building the cars, so that it doesn't fall off when you hold the window the right way up!
Remove it, along with the sealing rubber from the top and sides and clean them up. Apply screen sealant and fit to the replacement window.
Insert the replacement screen by reversing the removal procedure - by sliding the window up into the aperture, make sure that the rubber seal goes inside the aperture with the rubber lip around the stainless steel trim.
Jack up the window gradually on each side to push the window firmly home. Periodically pull the window up into the aperture by hand (one hand inside the car, the other outside) to make sure that the window is being correctly seated and to check how much play is left to be taken up.
Continue to jack up the window until it is fully home. You should be able to see where it was before by the marks left on the stainless steel trim by the rubber seal and you can 'feel' the jack getting tighter. Don't over tighten, otherwise it could crack during use as the car will flex while driving.
Another view.......
Refit the rear decker panel and the petrol cap. Apply a gasket compound around the petrol pipe and connect the rubbers and do up the jubilee clips.
Refit the four screws holding the petrol cap to the decker panel - use a magnetic screwdriver, if you drop on of these down the pipe, it'll end up in your petrol tank!!
All Done!!
4 comments:
wow!! i am planning to change my rear windscreen for my car, this is a pretty cool blog and i wanna try it too. thanks a lot for the very informative blog
Windscreens are important for your safety, as these provide overall protection from potential risks and accidents.
windscreen repair bacchus marsh
Lip seals are often used on motors and compressors and other components with high speed rotary shafts for their ability to resist extreme pressure.
does the bottom of the screen have a seal.
I have a new seal for the top and sides of the screen but cant find any mention of a bottom seal ?
Post a Comment