This "fix" was only temporary. The real solution was to have the door latch rebuilt. There are new aftermarket door latches for the Chevy S10 that can be slightly modified to work in the SSR. That's probably the best solution for this issue (long term). You might want to check on the ssrfanatic.com website for this issue and there's a user on that site that sells the S10 door latch that he modifies to work with the SSR.
One word of caution. I later found out that the window indexing issue I was able to get around with the steps in this video was only a temporary fix. I ended up needing to get the latch refurbished to completely solve the random window indexing (several months after this video was released).
FYI, that same door latch ended up having a problem with its internal switch. This ended up only being a temporary solution. I created another video where I dig into the internals of the SSR door latch. ua-cam.com/video/dejDW7qFJEY/v-deo.html
In my case, I was able to slightly adjust the door latch and the door jam side of the latch to not have the latch catch pushed all the up against the fixed metal portion of the latch assembly. Pushing it to the edge of its travel like that seems to be what provoked the random window movements.
I tried the instructions in this video first, but it didn't help in my situation. I ended up replacing the whole door latch assembly with new old stock (NOS) from ebay (it took a loooong time to locate one). That fixed it.
Thank you Robert for all the great and informative video's on the Chevy SSR. I am new to the SSR world and have just purchased my first 2005, manual transmission SSR and have found your videos extremely helpful. I am in the process of purchasing a number of items from Simple Engineering which has been a great find for me as well. Thanks again for all the great information in your video's they have been a life saver, keep up the good work!
There is a white plastic stick like piece on the door latch that is pulled when either door handle is first pulled to open the door. That white plastic stick looking piece is connected to a switch within the door latch assembly. If that switch is not working correctly, the window will not index downward when the handle is pulled to open the door. There's a second switch on that same circuit that makes contact when the door latch rotates to allow the door to open. That's what keeps the window indexed downward while the door is open. Make sure the stick like piece is still attached and moves when you initially start to pull the door (inside or outside) handle. I have another video that covers the details of the door latch assembly and the various circuits/switches. ua-cam.com/video/dejDW7qFJEY/v-deo.html
Hi, Retrocarguy. I’m a new subscriber and my wife recently inherited a 2005 SSR. Her windows, when rolled up stay on the outside of the weatherstripping at the top causing lots of wind noise. Could you point me in the right direction of how to fix it? Thanks for you time.
There are two potential solutions. If this condition has been occurring for a long time, it's very likely the rubber window seal on the roof has been tweaked. The rubber piece that should be on the outside of the window glass will often get pushed inward (towards the center of the vehicle). Many SSR owners have been able to retrain the rubber seal over a period of time by rolling the window almost the full way up and gently pulling the outer rubber piece so the window glass fits in where it should go and then fully rolling up the window. You then take some flat plastic shims (something about the size of credit cards or even just a bit thicker) to act as a wedge to force the outer seal even further out. Leave the shims in place for several days or as much as possible and parking the SSR so the window seal will be exposed to sunlight to heat up the rubber a bit may help as well. Over a period of a few weeks, the rubber's "memory" of being in the wrong position should be reduced or eliminated allowing the window to roll up into the correct position. In extreme cases, there may be a need to adjust the window glass "tip in" amount. There are two adjustment points (behind the door panel) that can be used to adjust the placement of the top edge of the window glass. I've not found that adjustment to be necessary or all that helpful, because in most cases the rubber seal is the root cause of the problem (as stated above). A PDF document from Dick Bellville (Dicktator on the ssrfanantic.com website) discusses this adjustment. Here's a link to that PDF file in his Microsoft OneDrive file library. onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AGf6FcPQkiAbwEk&cid=3EF39D9F5ADCE5E5&id=3EF39D9F5ADCE5E5%214295&parId=3EF39D9F5ADCE5E5%21853&o=OneUp
Thanks for the very informative videos. I have a 2006 SSR and I am experiencing an issue with the driver's exterior door handle not fully opening the door when pulled. The interior handle works perfectly each time so I think the problem is limited to the exterior handle/linkage. The problem is that if pulled gently the window indexes properly but the latch does not release to allow the door to open. I have attempted to adjust the latch but because the interior handle works correctly, I have not continued to make any adjustments. I have found that with a quick, very hard pull the door will open about 60% of the time. However, this is annoying and I want to fix it. Questions: Where to find a replacement door latch? and linkage? Any suggestions appreciated.
The symptoms you listed match up with a somewhat common problem for the exterior door handle itself. There's a 3mm allen headed bolt on the exterior door handle that loosens over time. That bolt acts as the pivot point for the door handle / connection rod to the door latch. With the bolt being loose, it will reduce the amount of travel transferred to the connection rod so it doesn't cause the latch to unlatch and open the door. The solution is to remove the interior door panel ( I show those steps in this video ua-cam.com/video/eASU42wgPEw/v-deo.html ) and then pull back the door water guard plastic and you can see the back side of the door handle. You should be able to see the 3mm allen headed bolt (bolt head is much larger than the 3mm allen would suggest). It would be best to remove or loosen the bolt to expose the bolt's threads and put some blue or orange thread locker on the threads to help prevent this issue from happening again. Insert the bolt and tighten to a moderate hand tightness level. Reinstall the door panel. That should hopefully fix this problem. I've run into this problem a few times and addressing the bolt tightness has resolved it every time. I hope that helps!
I have the same problem with my driver's side door. I open it, the window rachets down a little, open the door and then the window goes back up within seconds. When it does, and I then close the door, the window does not seal on the rubber gasket and it hits the roof top, not allowing for a seal against the rubber gasket. I tried your door jamb and door adjustments in your video with no results. After loosening the bolts on both items, I found no movement, or adjustment of either part. What would you now suspect, obviously something more complicated, or expensive.
The next and probably only solution is to have the door latch assembly refurbished or purchase a new aftermarket door latch assembly (listed for the Chevy S10 pickup). The aftermarket door latch assembly is virtually identical to the SSR door latch assembly except one of the holes in the metal brackets must be drilled out larger to accept the plastic piece from the SSR door latch assembly. Here's a link to a thread on the SSR Fanatic website about the aftermarket door latch assembly. www.ssrfanatic.com/threads/door-latch-actuator-front-left-are-available-brand-new-and-under-40.259104
There's a couple of things that come to mind for this behavior. I'm assuming the windows will go up/down by pressing the center console button(s). If they do not, then there could be a fuse blown or a Roof Door Module (RDM) problem. 1) The RDM may have lost the indexing info for both windows. This can happen at unexpected times or after the battery has been disconnected. I have a video on my channel showing how to re-index the windows so the RDM learns this info to allow the windows to index like they should. Window re-indexing video: ua-cam.com/video/BMCcjq3keHw/v-deo.html 2) The door latches are responsible for informing the Body Control Module (BCM) when the door handle is being used to open the door and that the door is open after the door handle has been released. I recently created a video "Chevy SSR - Door Latch Overview". ua-cam.com/video/dejDW7qFJEY/v-deo.html That video shows a that a switch that exists in the door latch can become corroded due to water intrusion. That can result in the BCM not getting the right signal that the door handle has been pulled to open the door resulting in the window not indexing down to allow the door to be opened easily. If that is the case, a refurbished door latch is required to resolve the issue. Since both sides are not working at the same time, I would tend to guess that reason #1 is the likely problem with an easy solution being to re-index the windows.
@@RetroCarGuy530 The battery has been dead for over a year and I just put a new one in. Engine fired right up! Windows will go up and down with pushing center console buttons. Just no indexing on both sides. I watched your re-indexing video and that didn't solve the problem. It's weird that they BOTH don't work, right?
If the windows move based on the center console button presses, then the RDM seems to be working. Having both windows fail to index at the same time 99 percent of the time means the RDM has lost the window indexing information. With a battery being dead for so long, the RDM definitely lost the window indexing position information. Please make sure when you perform the window indexing steps that you press and hold the center console window switch for 5 seconds when the window has reached the full down and full up positions. The fact that the window button continues to be pressed when the window stops moving lets the RDM know that you want it to memorize the window position for the down or up position.
My problem is when I push the window switch to raise or lower the motor won't stop running and the window regulator cables binds up in the window gear. Is there a shut off switch when the window goes all the way up or all the way down?
If I recall correctly, the roof door module (RDM) stores the fully Up and fully Down "Window Positions" for the two side windows. The scan tools present the window position in "Counts" of the window regulator motor rotations. Fully down is in the 0 to 3 count range and the fully up is in the 887 to 890 range. I've not heard or observed a SSR side window behave in the manner in which you describe your SSR's side windows behaving. I thought there was logic in the window regulator motor to stop moving the window if it encounters too much resistance (for safety reasons). It sounds like the window motors are not either reporting the correct info back to the RDM or there's something internally wrong in the window regulator motor to have it behave in this manner. With it behaving in this manner, I don't think you can perform window re-indexing procedure safely since it won't stop when it reaches the top/bottom. The only other thing I can think of is the try and reset the memory info stored in the RDM for the window max up/down positions, by removing the fuse in the center console marked "RDM" and leave the fuse out for about 5 to 10 minutes and then reinstall it. Attempt to use the windows after reinstalling the RDM fuse and if they behave themselves, perform the window re-indexing procedure to set the top/bottom locations for both windows in the RDM. You may want to open both doors before pulling the fuse because the windows likely will not index downwards when opening the doors after re-installing the RDM fuse. If the windows only misbehave when the center console window switches are pressed, then it may be something unusual going on with that unit, but again I've never heard of that behavior before. I'm not quite sure what else to suggest at this point.
Hello, I would love to buy a 2005/2006 model, but there's so much that can break and maybe you can't get a part or get it fixed. Is it still a good idea to buy one?
The Chevy SSR owner community is a wonderful resource for helping owners out getting their SSR fixed. Also, the company Simple Engineering, LLC ( simple-engineering.com ) sells a large number of OEM and aftermarket parts that help resolve many of the SSR known quirks. Simple Engineering has recently announced the ability to repair a vast majority of the failed roof door modules (RDM) which makes owning a Chevy SSR a lot less stressful.
My 04 SSR has had this problem on drivers door for over 2 years. I guess I will have to try this adjustment. Problem I saw yesterday. The window rubber across the top is folded flat. No grove for window to fit in. Window goes on top of rubber & hits the Top. I still need to know if you moved the latch & catch? You said loosen torx. But what adjustment up or down did you do? I have a 73 Riviera with the same problem with door windows. Can't get them to work either.
Hi Todd. Yes I moved the latch a very small amount. When I reinstalled the original latch I apparently let it sag a small amount (based on the marker outlines I traced on the door where the torx screw heads were positioned before removing the latch the first time). I used a T-30 torx to loosen the latch and moved it up maybe 1/32" so the torx screw heads were positioned fully within the outlines on the door. I then adjusted the door striker bar (catch) a small amount downward by loosening the two T-40 bolts and tilting the outside portion by a small amount. Neither the latch nor the striker plate has much adjustment in them but there is a small amount in each to allow for this adjustment. For the window seal on the top you might be able to retrain the rubber a bit by gently prying the seal lip so the window glass can get underneath it again. You can also place some plastic pry tool(s) between the outside of the glass and the window seal to help pull out seal a bit more to help retrain the seal to stay unfolded. If it's been folded over for a long period of time, it may be too far gone, but as long as the seal can be safely moved without cracking it, the retraining steps mentioned might help. You'll have to make your best judgement on that one.
@@RetroCarGuy530 As soon as my head cold lets me along with weather. I will try your description to get window rolling up. The rubber weather strip is still pliable. Maybe heat it up to get shape back. Thanks for your reply. My SSR has been a real challenge to keep running on the road.
Thank you for your response, I will stay in touch as I have a long way to go with this vehicle.
Thank you my 2004 SSR was having door handle problems thanks you teacher😊
This "fix" was only temporary. The real solution was to have the door latch rebuilt. There are new aftermarket door latches for the Chevy S10 that can be slightly modified to work in the SSR. That's probably the best solution for this issue (long term). You might want to check on the ssrfanatic.com website for this issue and there's a user on that site that sells the S10 door latch that he modifies to work with the SSR.
THANK YOU!!!!
One word of caution. I later found out that the window indexing issue I was able to get around with the steps in this video was only a temporary fix. I ended up needing to get the latch refurbished to completely solve the random window indexing (several months after this video was released).
Thanks great tip on the door problem.
FYI, that same door latch ended up having a problem with its internal switch. This ended up only being a temporary solution.
I created another video where I dig into the internals of the SSR door latch. ua-cam.com/video/dejDW7qFJEY/v-deo.html
Thanks for this. I have the same issue.
What did you do to fix your problem?
In my case, I was able to slightly adjust the door latch and the door jam side of the latch to not have the latch catch pushed all the up against the fixed metal portion of the latch assembly. Pushing it to the edge of its travel like that seems to be what provoked the random window movements.
I tried the instructions in this video first, but it didn't help in my situation. I ended up replacing the whole door latch assembly with new old stock (NOS) from ebay (it took a loooong time to locate one). That fixed it.
Thanks for this videos helps a lot
Thank you Robert for all the great and informative video's on the Chevy SSR. I am new to the SSR world and have just purchased my first 2005, manual transmission SSR and have found your videos extremely helpful. I am in the process of purchasing a number of items from Simple Engineering which has been a great find for me as well. Thanks again for all the great information in your video's they have been a life saver, keep up the good work!
Congrats on your recent 2005 Chevy SSR purchase! I'm glad you've found my videos helpful.
thanks same problem
Awesome. Now I know what causes this minor annoyance and can look into correcting it. Thanks!
New latch installed. Window indexes up after closing door. Will not index down when pulling on inside or outside door handles.
There is a white plastic stick like piece on the door latch that is pulled when either door handle is first pulled to open the door. That white plastic stick looking piece is connected to a switch within the door latch assembly. If that switch is not working correctly, the window will not index downward when the handle is pulled to open the door. There's a second switch on that same circuit that makes contact when the door latch rotates to allow the door to open. That's what keeps the window indexed downward while the door is open. Make sure the stick like piece is still attached and moves when you initially start to pull the door (inside or outside) handle.
I have another video that covers the details of the door latch assembly and the various circuits/switches. ua-cam.com/video/dejDW7qFJEY/v-deo.html
Hi, Retrocarguy. I’m a new subscriber and my wife recently inherited a 2005 SSR. Her windows, when rolled up stay on the outside of the weatherstripping at the top causing lots of wind noise. Could you point me in the right direction of how to fix it? Thanks for you time.
There are two potential solutions. If this condition has been occurring for a long time, it's very likely the rubber window seal on the roof has been tweaked. The rubber piece that should be on the outside of the window glass will often get pushed inward (towards the center of the vehicle). Many SSR owners have been able to retrain the rubber seal over a period of time by rolling the window almost the full way up and gently pulling the outer rubber piece so the window glass fits in where it should go and then fully rolling up the window. You then take some flat plastic shims (something about the size of credit cards or even just a bit thicker) to act as a wedge to force the outer seal even further out. Leave the shims in place for several days or as much as possible and parking the SSR so the window seal will be exposed to sunlight to heat up the rubber a bit may help as well. Over a period of a few weeks, the rubber's "memory" of being in the wrong position should be reduced or eliminated allowing the window to roll up into the correct position.
In extreme cases, there may be a need to adjust the window glass "tip in" amount. There are two adjustment points (behind the door panel) that can be used to adjust the placement of the top edge of the window glass. I've not found that adjustment to be necessary or all that helpful, because in most cases the rubber seal is the root cause of the problem (as stated above). A PDF document from Dick Bellville (Dicktator on the ssrfanantic.com website) discusses this adjustment. Here's a link to that PDF file in his Microsoft OneDrive file library. onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AGf6FcPQkiAbwEk&cid=3EF39D9F5ADCE5E5&id=3EF39D9F5ADCE5E5%214295&parId=3EF39D9F5ADCE5E5%21853&o=OneUp
Thanks so much for your help. I really appreciate it. Been learning a lot watching your videos. Well done.
Thanks for the very informative videos. I have a 2006 SSR and I am experiencing an issue with the driver's exterior door handle not fully opening the door when pulled. The interior handle works perfectly each time so I think the problem is limited to the exterior handle/linkage. The problem is that if pulled gently the window indexes properly but the latch does not release to allow the door to open. I have attempted to adjust the latch but because the interior handle works correctly, I have not continued to make any adjustments. I have found that with a quick, very hard pull the door will open about 60% of the time. However, this is annoying and I want to fix it. Questions: Where to find a replacement door latch? and linkage? Any suggestions appreciated.
The symptoms you listed match up with a somewhat common problem for the exterior door handle itself. There's a 3mm allen headed bolt on the exterior door handle that loosens over time. That bolt acts as the pivot point for the door handle / connection rod to the door latch. With the bolt being loose, it will reduce the amount of travel transferred to the connection rod so it doesn't cause the latch to unlatch and open the door.
The solution is to remove the interior door panel ( I show those steps in this video ua-cam.com/video/eASU42wgPEw/v-deo.html ) and then pull back the door water guard plastic and you can see the back side of the door handle. You should be able to see the 3mm allen headed bolt (bolt head is much larger than the 3mm allen would suggest). It would be best to remove or loosen the bolt to expose the bolt's threads and put some blue or orange thread locker on the threads to help prevent this issue from happening again. Insert the bolt and tighten to a moderate hand tightness level. Reinstall the door panel.
That should hopefully fix this problem. I've run into this problem a few times and addressing the bolt tightness has resolved it every time.
I hope that helps!
I have the same problem with my driver's side door. I open it, the window rachets down a little, open the door and then the window goes back up within seconds. When it does, and I then close the door, the window does not seal on the rubber gasket and it hits the roof top, not allowing for a seal against the rubber gasket. I tried your door jamb and door adjustments in your video with no results. After loosening the bolts on both items, I found no movement, or adjustment of either part. What would you now suspect, obviously something more complicated, or expensive.
The next and probably only solution is to have the door latch assembly refurbished or purchase a new aftermarket door latch assembly (listed for the Chevy S10 pickup). The aftermarket door latch assembly is virtually identical to the SSR door latch assembly except one of the holes in the metal brackets must be drilled out larger to accept the plastic piece from the SSR door latch assembly.
Here's a link to a thread on the SSR Fanatic website about the aftermarket door latch assembly.
www.ssrfanatic.com/threads/door-latch-actuator-front-left-are-available-brand-new-and-under-40.259104
My windows don’t work at all. They don’t move up or down when opening the door and closing the door. Both sides. What could be the problem?
There's a couple of things that come to mind for this behavior. I'm assuming the windows will go up/down by pressing the center console button(s). If they do not, then there could be a fuse blown or a Roof Door Module (RDM) problem.
1) The RDM may have lost the indexing info for both windows. This can happen at unexpected times or after the battery has been disconnected. I have a video on my channel showing how to re-index the windows so the RDM learns this info to allow the windows to index like they should.
Window re-indexing video: ua-cam.com/video/BMCcjq3keHw/v-deo.html
2) The door latches are responsible for informing the Body Control Module (BCM) when the door handle is being used to open the door and that the door is open after the door handle has been released. I recently created a video "Chevy SSR - Door Latch Overview". ua-cam.com/video/dejDW7qFJEY/v-deo.html
That video shows a that a switch that exists in the door latch can become corroded due to water intrusion. That can result in the BCM not getting the right signal that the door handle has been pulled to open the door resulting in the window not indexing down to allow the door to be opened easily.
If that is the case, a refurbished door latch is required to resolve the issue.
Since both sides are not working at the same time, I would tend to guess that reason #1 is the likely problem with an easy solution being to re-index the windows.
@@RetroCarGuy530 The battery has been dead for over a year and I just put a new one in. Engine fired right up!
Windows will go up and down with pushing center console buttons. Just no indexing on both sides. I watched your re-indexing video and that didn't solve the problem.
It's weird that they BOTH don't work, right?
If the windows move based on the center console button presses, then the RDM seems to be working.
Having both windows fail to index at the same time 99 percent of the time means the RDM has lost the window indexing information. With a battery being dead for so long, the RDM definitely lost the window indexing position information.
Please make sure when you perform the window indexing steps that you press and hold the center console window switch for 5 seconds when the window has reached the full down and full up positions. The fact that the window button continues to be pressed when the window stops moving lets the RDM know that you want it to memorize the window position for the down or up position.
My problem is when I push the window switch to raise or lower the motor won't stop running and the window regulator cables binds up in the window gear. Is there a shut off switch when the window goes all the way up or all the way down?
If I recall correctly, the roof door module (RDM) stores the fully Up and fully Down "Window Positions" for the two side windows. The scan tools present the window position in "Counts" of the window regulator motor rotations. Fully down is in the 0 to 3 count range and the fully up is in the 887 to 890 range.
I've not heard or observed a SSR side window behave in the manner in which you describe your SSR's side windows behaving.
I thought there was logic in the window regulator motor to stop moving the window if it encounters too much resistance (for safety reasons). It sounds like the window motors are not either reporting the correct info back to the RDM or there's something internally wrong in the window regulator motor to have it behave in this manner.
With it behaving in this manner, I don't think you can perform window re-indexing procedure safely since it won't stop when it reaches the top/bottom. The only other thing I can think of is the try and reset the memory info stored in the RDM for the window max up/down positions, by removing the fuse in the center console marked "RDM" and leave the fuse out for about 5 to 10 minutes and then reinstall it. Attempt to use the windows after reinstalling the RDM fuse and if they behave themselves, perform the window re-indexing procedure to set the top/bottom locations for both windows in the RDM. You may want to open both doors before pulling the fuse because the windows likely will not index downwards when opening the doors after re-installing the RDM fuse.
If the windows only misbehave when the center console window switches are pressed, then it may be something unusual going on with that unit, but again I've never heard of that behavior before.
I'm not quite sure what else to suggest at this point.
Hello, I would love to buy a 2005/2006 model, but there's so much that can break and maybe you can't get a part or get it fixed. Is it still a good idea to buy one?
The Chevy SSR owner community is a wonderful resource for helping owners out getting their SSR fixed. Also, the company Simple Engineering, LLC ( simple-engineering.com ) sells a large number of OEM and aftermarket parts that help resolve many of the SSR known quirks. Simple Engineering has recently announced the ability to repair a vast majority of the failed roof door modules (RDM) which makes owning a Chevy SSR a lot less stressful.
My 04 SSR has had this problem on drivers door for over 2 years. I guess I will have to try this adjustment. Problem I saw yesterday. The window rubber across the top is folded flat. No grove for window to fit in. Window goes on top of rubber & hits the Top. I still need to know if you moved the latch & catch? You said loosen torx. But what adjustment up or down did you do? I have a 73 Riviera with the same problem with door windows. Can't get them to work either.
Hi Todd. Yes I moved the latch a very small amount. When I reinstalled the original latch I apparently let it sag a small amount (based on the marker outlines I traced on the door where the torx screw heads were positioned before removing the latch the first time). I used a T-30 torx to loosen the latch and moved it up maybe 1/32" so the torx screw heads were positioned fully within the outlines on the door. I then adjusted the door striker bar (catch) a small amount downward by loosening the two T-40 bolts and tilting the outside portion by a small amount. Neither the latch nor the striker plate has much adjustment in them but there is a small amount in each to allow for this adjustment.
For the window seal on the top you might be able to retrain the rubber a bit by gently prying the seal lip so the window glass can get underneath it again. You can also place some plastic pry tool(s) between the outside of the glass and the window seal to help pull out seal a bit more to help retrain the seal to stay unfolded. If it's been folded over for a long period of time, it may be too far gone, but as long as the seal can be safely moved without cracking it, the retraining steps mentioned might help. You'll have to make your best judgement on that one.
@@RetroCarGuy530 As soon as my head cold lets me along with weather. I will try your description to get window rolling up. The rubber weather strip is still pliable. Maybe heat it up to get shape back. Thanks for your reply. My SSR has been a real challenge to keep running on the road.