I was lowering the roof on the XK8 one day and heard a strange but very brief unfamiliar noise. I didn't think too much about it until I got to work and saw that my right rear quarter window wasn't all the way down like it should be. The noise I was hearing was the impending doom of a cable-operated window regulator. Well this is an awesome way to begin the new year !

The modern window regulator is operated via an electric motor that raises and lowers the window via a cable wrapped around a pulley.

The motor turns one way to raise the window, and the other way to lower the window. The glass, itself, is connected to the square piece in the center of the regulator.

Depending on which way the motor turns, the cable is wound around the pulley either raising or lowering the window glass.

Getting to the regulator meant I once again had to tear into the interior of the car. The first step was to remove the rear seats and RR quarter trim. The seat cushion is removed first, followed by the backrest. After unbolting the seat belt guide, the quarter trim can be removed.

With the trim out of the way, I unbolted the upper brace and speaker assembly and removed both.

Removing the upper brace and speaker assembly allowed access to the window regulator mounting bolts and electrical connector.

The window regulator is bolted to the inside of the body behind the clear plastic shield. The problem is that the opening seen in the photo is much smaller than the regulator assembly.

So that means the only way the window can be removed is through the top opening. Everything in the way had to be removed to make room, starting with the inner window seal.

I removed the inner window seal carrier next. Two fasteners hold it in place.

Pulling up on the outer window seal lifted it off of the carrier.

The outer seal carrier needs to be removed next. The carrier is bolted from the inside. So in order to make enough room, the window upper limit stop had to be removed.

The upper limit stop is held in place via one bolt. The hardest part of this procedure was not dropping the limit stop and bolt down in the window opening.

Now that I had enough room for my hand, I could remove the bolts that hold the outer seal carrier in place and remove the carrier.

So now I've got an opening from which to lift the regulator assembly.

The regulator assembly is held in place via three studs and nuts.

Three studs and nuts anchor the regulator assembly to the body.

With the regulator assembly fasteners removed, the whole thing lifts upward and out of the opening.

At least, that's how it's SUPPOSED to work. I twisted and turned the regulator assembly every way I could see. But the opening in the body seemed to be too narrow.

A quick check of AllData revealed that I was missing one detail.

The mounting tab for the inner window seal carrier (highlighted above), sticks out just far enough to prevent the regulator assembly from fitting through the opening.

The "Remove convertible top" step is needed so that small mounting tab can be slid out of the way. I was dumbfounded when I read this ! For the first time during my ownership, I was overwhelmed enough to think, "I've got to get rid of this car ! It's going to kill me !"

Looking at the roof mechanism, the roof arms are hinged at the large metal block seen above, which is also where the mounting tab is located. The metal block is bolted to the body of the car in three placed behind the access cover seen in the photo.

I removed the screws that hold the access cover in place and removed the cover.

I've been turning wrenches for 17 years as of this writing. My experience with shop manuals is that the manufacturer has to be overly cautious when it comes to directions. The last thing anyone wants is for the customer's car to be damaged during an "official" repair procedure. So the "Remove convertible top" step in the procedure may be aimed at reducing the likelihood of collateral damage from the repair, but may not be absolutely necessary to complete the task. My thinking was that I could remove the three bolts that hold the metal block in place and pry the block inboard just enough to get that mounting tab out of the way and remove the regulator assembly.

One pry bar later, I had the assembly out of the car.

That strategy worked ! Moving the mounting tab out of the way made the opening large enough for the regulator assembly to fit.

The window glass is bolted to the regulator assembly via three 10 mm fasteners.

I removed the fasteners and separated the window glass from the regulator.

A closer inspection of the regulator confirms the noise I was hearing.

After 15 years of up/down cycles, the regulator cable became twisted, eventually reaching the point where it slipped off of the pulley.

I bolted the window glass to the new regulator. Using the same prying procedure from the removal process gave me enough room to slide the regulator assembly through the opening into the body.

With my pry bar in place (out of view), the mounting tab can be seen in the photo above slid far enough inboard to allow the regulator assembly to fit through the opening.

I had to get creative with the installation process. The old regulator was broken, meaning the window moved freely along the regulator track. I could raise and lower it by hand whenever the situation dictated. I couldn't do that with the new regulator. So I had to make a few adjustments with the regulator fasteners. But everything worked out fine in the end. With the new regulator installed, I raised the top and made a series of final adjustments and put the interior back together.