Front Door Window - Remove & Replace?

I broke the belt on the driver’s side, without any warning that window was sticking etc. Luckily I had 2 spare belts, when I purchased my OKA now 4 years ago. Maybe the previous owners had them replaced and then bought some spares? Or maybe they had bought some “Just in case…”. Either way, a ‘thank you’ to them as I didn’t have to go through sourcing a belt.

I have the 2 Volumes of manuals but I could not find a description of the window assembly. So I used common sense, or what I think I have, might not be much ‘sense’.

Tip #1: cut a 445 to 450 mm piece of timber, ie 20 x 50 mm will do. This will support the window on 2 different levels when you insert the window again.

I took the plastic inside cover off and (tip #2) found out that I should have removed the bolt on the door damper first, I broke the plastic this way.



I removed the 3 bolts (with hex head) that held the window winder assembly.

I also removed the small philips head screws on the door, bottom right and left that hold the window channels. In hindsight I think this was not really necessary.

Then I removed the 2 nuts/bolts (to the right of the winder assembly) that hold the window against the winder mechanism.




Sofar I worked from the inside of the door standing on the ground, but for many of the following steps (pun not intended) a small 3 step ladder will help or is needed.

As my belt was broken, I then could rotate the window anti-clockwise in the channels and easily pry out from the inside. If the belt would have been intact, the joiner would have to be loosened first, more about that later.
After that the window-winder assembly could come up with some wiggling. BTW, remove the plastic, hex nut from the winder first!



Then laying it all out on the ground, I figured out how it all fitted together.






Oops, could not fit all text and photos in one post, see next one for the remainder of info

I proceeded to cut the new belt, and shorten the belt to same length as the broken one…. Possibly a mistake as I found later another ‘tooth’ of the belt in the bottom of the door. So my belt was a tad too short. Although that piece could have belonged to a previous breakage. When I stretched and compared the old and new belt, it looked that the old belt had stretched 3-5 mm over the total length.
For sizes and belt number see photos.










It was very hard to fit that belt, either that is the way it is or the belt tensioner has to be removed. Which I did later on. Then it was a lot easier.





The hardest part is still to fit the belt joiner with the small hex screws.




Anyway this is the order I fitted:
- Remove the winder tensioner
- Pre-load the new belt though the winder, and guide it though the bottom roller, teeth of the belt are on the 'inside'
- Put in the winder assembly loosely; do not fit any of the screws. Note you may be able to fit the window if one or two screws are fitted, but I could not.
- Put the previously cut timber inside the door (just to the right of the window winder assembly), so the window will sit on top of this
- Fit the window by pushing the sliders of the window into the ‘open’ space of the winder assembly on top, wiggling is a necessity.
- With the window resting on the timber or resting on the steel that is part of the window you can adjust the ‘height’ of the window and therefore access to the belt joiner block.
- Fit winder assembly only with 2 screws, leave the top screw out for the moment as that might make it more difficult to guide the floppy belt
- And indeed joining the end of the belts with the joiner-block is the hardest part of all. I dropped that block several times inside the door and had to remove everything to find that damned piece, and then re-install it again. The only positive point is that I got quit proficient in that task!
- After the second or third attempt, I removed the belt tensioner, that made it easier, leaving me more belt to work with
- I used a long handled hex key as I could turn that easier
- When the belt was fitted, I installed the third hex screw of the winder assembly
- Fitted the tensioner
- Fitted the 2 bolts ( to the right) that allow the window to slide up and down, at first I had this too tight and window up-down movement was sticky. Then I gave it approx. 0.5 mm play, that was working better
- Fitted the 2 philips screws that held the channels
- Adjusted the belt tension
- Fitted the plastic doorpanel and alu strip on top
- Fitted the door damper-strut
- Fitted the plastic hex nut on the winder, and fitted the winder and door opener

I found no need to clean or attend to the rollers as they all turned smoothly and were well greased, no signs of dirt, rust or water.

The whole job took me approx. 6 hours. Next time I can do it in 1 to 1.5 hours. I still have one belt spare………

Thanks Hank, lots of useful info for the next time...

Hello there,

we completed a wonderful bush camping trip with the OKA making our way through Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique back to South Africa.

Thanks a lot for all the help and advice along the way from the OKA forum!

Regarding the side window:
The side window is replaced with a shatterproof glass (6,38mm thick). I damaged the window winder belt during the repair but was able to replace it with a timing belt cut to size.
Took the other side window out of the door and copied the outline on a piece of paper. I then took the measurement and put the dimensions on the paper.

In case somebody is interested, here is the drawing...

OIA,6.38mm is laminated glass,as a matter of safety laminated glass is not permitted in Australia for side windows. also is quite heavy for the winder as the maximum thickness should be 5mm,4mm toughened glass with pencil edges all around will be the optimun.
Cheers,Joe