Stuck window

M

mutski

New member
Does anyone have a solution for sticky sliding windows in the 22 Cruiser? I couldn't get the driver's window open when I brought my boat up from Seattle, but I finally got it opened after a rainy night. It stuck again, but opened on a dewy morning. The passenger side also sticks, but not as badly.

Today I got them both opened, cleaned old pine needles and debri from the tracks and sprayed a bunch of silicon lubricant in the tracks. The passenger side seems to work better, but I closed the driver's side and now it is totally stucik. It seemed to slide freely except the last half inch at closing. Until I let the latch close, it was easy to slide back and forth. Now I'm hoping it will o pen on a cool dewy morning.
 
What we found that worked when the windows didn't want to open: push them forward (as when you're closing them), then squeeze in the latch to open. Sounds counter-intuitive, but it seems to break the "seal" from the gunk in the windows. Once you get the window open, clean the track thoroughly with a vinegar/water solution in a spray bottle. Let that dry, then spray on a dry lubricant like Mary Kate Liquid Rollers.

If you are able to hose down the boat after each use in salt water, pay extra attention to the window tracks, then spray with that vinegar/water bottle (also works good on salt spray on the front windows).
 
Jim always great advice. I carry a micro crow bar, with vinyl over the tips. I put this between the latch and the frame, and pry very gently to get the window started. I use an old toothbrush to scrub out that track. A liquid silicone seems to make the tack more "sticky". Also using a low pressure--pressure washer to get the entire "felt" clean. Mold and other undesirable things will grow in that track.

Don't loose the window latch--they are expensive to replace. I know from experience...
 
thataway":2m4wpxl9 said:
Jim always great advice. I carry a micro crow bar, with vinyl over the tips. I put this between the latch and the frame, and pry very gently to get the window started. I use an old toothbrush to scrub out that track. A liquid silicone seems to make the tack more "sticky". Also using a low pressure--pressure washer to get the entire "felt" clean. Mold and other undesirable things will grow in that track.

Don't loose the window latch--they are expensive to replace. I know from experience...
Click to expand...

I've used the push it forward technique to get my stuck windows open.

Using a crowbar is taking a chance on breaking the window.

Keeping the tracks clean is the proper solution.
 
I got them opened after the sun went down last night. I was trying to see where they stick. Either the sharp edge of the rubber seal stuck in the window track or the fuzzy seal where the back of the window meets the vertical frame? It's hard to tell. It's just the last little bit when the window latches when it gets stuck. I thought about using something to pry the glass, but that seems like too much risk of breaking it. If silicon makes it worse, maybe that's my trouble now. I ordered some Mary Kate Liquid Rollers. :-)
 
I have used Dry Silicone spray, directed into the tracks with one of the WD-40 spray straws AFTER hosing with copious amounts of fresh water and letting that be dry. I'm pretty sure that the Mary Kate Liquid Rollers is the same thing.

The push forward and press on the latch is a good tool too. The combo has always worked for me. I do the Silicone spray twice a year, the fresh water hosing every time the boat comes out of the water. And I use the vinegar water mist mist for washing the windows pretty often, sometimes more that once a day depending on the amount of salting the boat gets.

Hope that helps.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

January_2010_344.thumb.jpg
 
Using a crowbar is taking a chance on breaking the window.
Click to expand...

Perhaps I should not have called the 6" long pry bar, covered with vinyl over each end, a "Crow bar". The way it is done, only prying very gently between the handle (pushing it aft) and the frame, there is ZERO chance of breaking the window.

However, pushing the handle forward, does rely on the handle staying glued to the glass, and there is some risk there. Under those circumstances, way in the past, I had loosened the glue--and then lost the handle on the next push forward.
 
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