Was going to drive the car today but when I unlocked the car the driver side window was moving up and down continuously without stopping for at least 10 seconds. I believe the passenger window was moving weirdly too and all this caused the battery to be drained so I could not drive the car.

About one week ago, I found my car with the passenger window down (luckily in my garage), and the car had the battery drained. I heard similar attempts from the windows to move with the doors closed.

I assume it's the micro-switches on the doors?
Can anyone give more insight to the problem?

 

I had a car do that when the window regulators started to fail. Then one day it failed with the window stuck in the down position.

 

Thanks, is there a way to know if the problem is the door lock, micro switch or window regulator?

 

Run the window to the Top.. Close the door and see if it lowers 1/4" If the window shutters down, up and then down then it's most likely the regulator.
Another test is to open the door and if you can move the window down with your hand a 1/2 or more>>it's most likely the regulator..
In extreme cases, you can have a broken micro switch AND regulator..

 

Did some more tests now and when the car is charging everything works fine. Could everything be because the battery is bad and not the other way around?
Got an error code on the battery now while trying to charge it, so it seems like I have to change it either way.

I operated the windows maybe 20+ times on both side and everything seemed to work perfectly. The only thing I noticed was that on the passenger side it lowered only 5mm, while the driver side was the normal 2cm.
Is this something that needs to be fixed, or can easily be adjusted?

EDIT:
I could actually push the passenger window down with my hand. So I think the regulator is broken there. Do you know what causes the error? I assume you need to change the part and can't fix it?

 

Is the only problem with the regulator that the wire is getting stretched?
If so is it possible to just change the wire or shorten it instead of changing the whole mechanism?

 

You will need to change the entire regulator.
The nylon cable ends break.

Part number is 996.542.076.04

 

Bummer! Thanks for the info though!

 

Cable stretch isn't the only failure a regulator can have, but one of the most common.

Yes, you can "fix" a stretched cable on a regulator by retrofitting a bicycle barrel cable adjuster. IMHO better than an aftermarket regulator and much less work.

In the picture below, the silver part is a bicycle cable adjuster, free at my local bike store. There are a bunch of different sizes, so grab a few and see what works. They are slotted on the side, so you don't have to remove the cable to thread it on. The green part is the original cable stop, the cable adjuster just self-tapped and screwed into it. You can see the cable adjuster (and a zip tie for good measure) "stretches" the cable a fair bit. I did this mod about two years ago on my drivers side regulator and it worked great, though I think i just had a microswitch go out as well...

Aftermarket regulators are widely considered to be garbage, often bad right out of the box. The OE regulator is a bit pricey, but even beyond price, it's just a PITA to install. The typical symptom of a stretched cable is the window not dropping far enough, or not dropping at all, on a partial handle pull of both the inside or outside handle. If it drops with one handle but not the other, than it isn't stretch, but likely a microswitch.

 

Thanks! so does the cable adjuster pull or push the cable to adjust it?

I found a guy selling an new OEM cable for a good price, so I already got that. Am NOT looking forward to install it. But I guess I will get it fixed properly straight away at least. I also found repair kits after getting the cable...

 

It 'pulls' on the bare cable by spacing out where the shroud contacts the cable stop where it transitions from shrouded to bare cable.

With a stock setup:
The cable shroud (black) would normally sit just inside a recess in the cable stop (green). This is where the cable transitions from a shrouded cable to bare wire to wrap around a pulley...
With the barrel adjuster (silver):
You are essentially making the cable stop longer, pulling the shroud back and putting more tension (or taking up slack) on the cable itself.

It is really no different than cable brakes on a bicycle... You use the brakes for a while, the cable stretches, so you turn the adjuster to make up for the stretch.

But Porsche designed no such adjustment mechanism into the regulator and it's equivalent to replacing your entire bicycle brake cable every time it stretches a bit....

[img]https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlist.com-vbulletin/550x309/image_8a94c813d6e78efac5318b35bd2979deec8d477d.png

 

Brilliant fix! Wish I had seen it sooner :/

 

What do you do to the membrane when you open the door. Is that not what makes the door waterproof. Is it possible to warm it up and reused the seal?

 

You have that issue opening up the door for anything of course... I just re-used the membrane, there seemed to be plenty of 'goo' left on it and I think it reseals itself from temperature and pressure. I think you can buy a new one if you prefer.