An Interesting Tidbit about Window Rollers

[WhiteT5]

A genuine Saab window roller costs a bit over $7 and looks like this:



A genuine Volvo window roller for an 850 costs about $3.30 and looks like this:



Hhmmmm, that's funny. I'll have to get some measurements on a roller from one of my Volvo's to verify that these are, in fact, identical. Even funnier is that these are not a known issue on the Volvo, as they are on the 9-5.

[Nathan 9⁵]

They are in fact identical. I had some spares on hand since I had to replace a passenger side roller in the Saab. A few months ago I had to replace the drivers rollers in the 850 when the support arm for the window channel/guide broke. That's a common 850 weak point, not the rollers. Funny eh?

[Scottiehops]

This is a mind numbingly frustrating issue for me, this has happened to both my brother's 9-5 and mine.

[Nathan 9⁵]

My passenger side rubber guide that sits in the metal window channels bunched up and somehow caused the window to go down crooked which broke the rollers. I siliconed the rubber guide into the metal channel on both driver and passenger sides to prevent that from happening again. Hopefully I'll never have to replace another roller.


BUT I'd rather replace rollers than replace the whole window regulator like on VW's and Audi's. Those motors have relays and control circuit boards in them and they always seem to have a mind of their own, going up or down without a button being pressed, metal regulator cords / guides/ wheels break. And always at the very worse moments. And none of those parts can be ordered separately.

[Scottiehops]

After mine broke I had it fixed and now the window doesn't go up the way it is supposed to. It is destroying the outer weather stripping which now has tears about half way up and at the top. I have to pull the window towards me when raising it to guide it into place. I feel like I am driving a cheap domestic or asian POS circa the mid/late eighties, not a Saab.

[Nathan 9⁵]

But that's not the car's fault. Thats a bad repair job.

[Scottiehops]

I understand that, I blame nothing on my baby. The fault always lies with either myself or another, in this case the latter. Is it possible that one of the two metal bars that form an 'x' was bent or a part is out of place? Any ideas? This truly infuriates me.

Thanks, Scott

[Nathan 9⁵]

The metal X scissor part with the round ball the roller clips onto on mine got bent when the window went down crooked. I had to bend it back and push it towards the outter door skin because it kept popping out of the roller. It took quite a few tries to get it to line up again.

I do blame Saab for not securing that rubber guide to the metal channel. Some rivets or glue would have been a good idea. The black silicone I used seems to have done the trick for me. At least for now.

[Scottiehops]

Thank you TurboMoose, that sounds like the problem I have. I will take a look at it and see if there is anything I can do to make it work correctly. I wanted some feedback prior to trying anything.

[Nathan 9⁵]

A pair of vise grips is what I used. I took the glass out, and looked at the metal ball going up and down from the slit where the glass goes into to make sure the ball stayed parallel to the glass, (not twisting) as it moved up and down. Then I pushed the arm towards the door (away from the interior of the car) to make sure it stayed popped into the window roller.