Newbie ST owner

[Cyborg]

Hey folks, I am a new owner of a'97 D90 ST and have a few questions. I have searched the archive for answers but have had no luck.

I am having an occasional problem during rainy/cold weather with my odometer LED display going nuts. It pulses and flashes random segments that eventually gets better with warmer/dryer weather until it is perfectly fine again. Anyone have an idea of how to fix this? I think there is a connector on top of the transmission that may provide the signal for this but an unsure. I have diconnected this and reseated it but must wait for bad weather again to determine if I made any difference.

My window frame(Door top) on the driver side flops a bit and windows rattle. I have tightened the speed nuts as tight as I dare and there still seems to be a lot of floppiness and flex. I have not removed the top to investigate in depth yet but suspect the door is fatigued where this window assy mounts. Any suggestions for a fix or reinforcement? Also the lever that you pivot to pinch the window and hold it closed is not pinching very well on either of the windows. I have yet to remove that unit to determine what is worn or broken. Seems like there is probably a rubber friction pad or something that is simply worn. Anyone seen this before?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Larry

[chrisvonc]

Hi Larry, welcome to the community!

For the door top rattle, this is not a terribly uncommon thing, one thing that was suggeted a while ago that someone did was to put a layer of foam tape on the outside edge of the posts and then put the window back in, and then tighening down the quick nuts.

You should get some other suggestions shortly from the gang here.

[Craigd]

Also there are plastic inserts that fit into the holes in the door and the posts slide into. IF the plastic inserts are missing I could see where the tops would move around.

[Mike Hippert]

Some info on the door tops:

http://www.d-90.com/mod/stseal/index.html

http://www.d-90.com/mod/seal.html

http://www.d-90.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=591&highlight=door+top

http://www.d-90.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=526&highlight=door+top

http://www.d-90.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=435&highlight=door+top

As far as the OD LED I have heard of them going nuts before, I would check the grounds behind the dash as they are always a problem.

[wicks]

Larry - same problem with the flickering odometer on my 97. No fix. As long as it keeps tracking mileage, remain calm. Very common (and bizarre) problem.

[Eric Siepmann]

Yup, the Speedo's are very weird. When I still went to the dealer, they said it was aknown problem that could only be solved by replacement. And then you have to have a sticker in your door jam verifying the mileage is exact. Bummer.

EwS

[newfD90]

My door tops do that too. Not a big deal with the soft-top on, but annoying with the hard-top on (whistles like hell).

I tried foam tape, etc. to no avail. What finally worked for me was two adjustable bungee cords.

Adjust bungee length until elastic part is about 1" long. Then, attach fat plastic hook end to sun visor pivot point and attach pointy metal hook end to window track. Works great at freeway speeds!

[Cyborg]

I finally took my door tops off and discovered that the plastic inserts between the door mounting studs and door holes are missing. This leads to a lot of slop in the door top but seems to only affect the drivers side though. I have cleaned off a lot of the rust and have came up with a pretty good solution. I got some 1/2" tubing that is the type that requires flaring at the end to be put onto connectors in the plumbing of some equipment I work on. This tubing is a stiff,clear type and it is really slippery. I think it may be referred to as PFA tubing but not certain.I think it is a Teflon tube.

Anyway I found that this slips onto my door top studs with force. You need to tap it into place and to set it you need to use another piece as a driver tool to get it on far enough to use the nuts as final driving tools to finish getting it on. Now I have these very slick covers on my studs that fit into the door top holes fairly easily but take care of 100% of the slop and rattle. I am very pleased with the result and the door tops do not seem to be hard at all to remove.

I think this sounds like it is a lot better than the door inserts that apparently come stock since I have heard they are a pain and fall out and jam up studs during removal. So far none of those problems with my fix. Also it is a LOT cheaper than replacing with the SS studs that are available.

Larry

If anyone is interested I could research exactly what this tubing is and get you some specifics.