'47 Cadillac hydroaotomatic windows

[Kathi]

Hello everyone, I am looking for any information I can find to help me figure out the problem with my hydroautomatic windows. The windows on my car are down and I can"t get them up. Unfortunately I also cannot find anyone in my area that has even heard of this system. All the old timers I have known in this area(St. Louis Mo.) have either retired elsewhere or have long since gotten rid of their repair manuals.Any help or direction on where to search for this information will be greatly appreciated.Thanks in advance.

[Peter J.Heizmann]

Kathi...Welcome to the AACA Forum.

My thoughts are leave this post here, scroll down the Menu Page to near the bottom. Post the same query within the Cadillac and La Salle Club.

Should you receive unsatisfactory information, go to the Antique Automobile Club of America in the Main Page, scroll down to the Library & Research Center. There is a self-explanatory form to submit. The L&RC retains extensive information with a staff that is great.

Regards, Peter J. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[K8096]

Hi,

We need to clarify one thing first here. Did the windows work recently and then just stop working, or did car sit a long time (more that a few years) and now you're trying to get them to work? The answer to this question will make it easier to help you with what direction to go here. These power window were called "hydro-electric" and consisted of basically a starter motor under the fenderwell running a pump that pumped hydraulic fluid into cylinders to raise & lower the windows. Most replacement parts are available, but are not cheap. So let us know if the windows worked recently or not & we'll go from there.

Also, can you hear the window motor run when you touch the switch?

[Restorer32]

Is only 1 window affected or all of them? If a convertible, does the top operate? Is the paint peeling from any of the door bottoms or rocker panels?

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

Kathi,

To expand a bit on the previous posts...

Most of the Hydro-Lectric power window systems up through the mid '50s used the big pump on the firewall; the lift cylinders in each door were used to close the windows, and springs inside the doors lowered the glass once the control button released the hydraulic pressure...

I once looked a '54 Packard Patrician that had power windows...the car was garaged, but I noticed all the windows were down...while I was checking out the car,I played with the window control buttons, and the pump on the firewall began to work and the windows slowly began to rise-up out of the doors, until the battery went completely dead...further inpsection revealed that the paint was bubbling and peeling at the bottoms of all the doors - the lift cylinders or hoses were leaking hydraulic fluid (probably brake fluid), which caused the windows to slowly drop to the full-open position, and also began to dissove the paint at the bottoms of the doors...

I would definitely see if the Cadillac club can help you out here...

Good luck with it!

[Kathi]

Just want to say thank you to everyone who replied. Finally got the windows working. In regards to some of the questions that were asked, yes, the windows had been working, yes, the car had set for quite some time, no, the paint was fine and the hoses had been replaced within the past year. Problem turned out to be the previous owner had not bled the system properly after having replaced the hoses (filled to the bottom line instead of top line) and I wasn't sure how to get the resevior open. Thank all of you once again. Kathi

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

Glad to hear it was something "simple" !

I was mighty disappointed when those Packard windows came half-way up, and every one of them was cracked !

The gooey paint at the door bottoms was a later discovery...fortunately, Dad steered me away from that particular car (not a good project for a fresman college student !).

Enjoy your Caddy!