Thread: Saved nearly $300 !

OK, this is only peripherally metalwork related, but I *did* use an X3 mill, with a slitting saw arbour I made on a C3 lathe.

Our Hyundai Sonata power window refused to close the last centimetre, so googling showed me what the common problem was: the window is moved by a cable, and a plastic bit should hold the cable cover just above a pulley. This bit breaks, the cable cover slips forward, so the window won't travel the last bit.

The USA Hyundai site shows how to replace just the plastic bit, but (and nobody should be really surprised by the following) you can't buy just the plastic bit. It's "part of an assembly" which costs $140 to buy, and $140 to have installed.

So, after quite a bit of thinking, I came up with a nearly zero-cost solution.

I removed the brass cable clamping bit from inside an electrical connector (effectively a small tube, with a screw entering from the side).

I slit the tube lengthwise using the X3 mill, and C3-made slitting saw arbour.

Then, slipped the clamp over the cable and clamped it onto the cable, butted up against the broken plastic bit. Achieved the same result - the cable no longer slips past where it is supposed to, and the window closes fully.
Plus $280 stays in my pocket