Hey, all,

This afternoon I tried replacing the power window motor and ran into a bit of a roadblock. I was well into the repair (door panel off, vapor barrier off, all switches disconnected, etc) when I ran into 4 bolts at about the center of the door. I removed 3 of them and disconnected the electrical supply to the window motor but didn't know what to do next. I just replaced everything, minus one bolt (it wouldn't go back in due to a slight shift of the hole downwards) instead of proceeding and creating more trouble.

Do I need to remove all 4 bolts and yank out the entire regulator to get to the motor? Or is there a way to remove just the motor from the regulator while it's still in the door?

It seems I was so close to being able to repair the window myself but I just need a little nudge in the right direction.

Any help/advice/suggestions?

 

1) Remove trim panel
2) Remove glass from regulator roller channel, secure glass in the up position
3) Disconnect wire connection
4) Loosen screw attaching regulator scissor channel to door panel
5) Loosen screw and bolt heads from keyhole slots in door panel
6) Loosen bolts attaching regulator to door panel
7) Remove regulator from door panel
8) Slide regulator rearward and rotate forward end of roller channel through access hole in door panel

When you are ready to remove the motor from the regulator, clamp the sector gear with a C-Clamp as the thing is spring loaded and with the motor disconnected, can rotate dangerously.

Let us know how itworked out.

 

Thanks, dcotter0579 for your help. I tried again today (even went out and bought a c-clamp and some white lithium spray) but I still wasn't able to replace the motor.

My window is in the closed position and, thus, the bolts to release the regulator from the window glass cannot be reached. The only solution that I can think of is to unbolt the entire regulator assembly from the door and let it drop into the bottom of the door cavity. That should hopefully give me access to those bolts.

Any other suggestions? I'm determined to not let this thing beat me or pay ridiculous labor prices to have it repaired.

 

I think the instructions contemplate that you have control over the motor operation when starting this procedure. That's why it says to remove the glass from the regulator, THEN secure the glass in the up position. If your motor is shot, then you are left to get the glass down however you can.

Keep us posted.

 

I was able to get the motor temporarily working with the help of one handy trick: a hammer. If you see the lights dim but hear nothing when you press the switch in the down position, you might be able to use this trick.

Assuming you can actually access the motor, turn the car to the "on" position, hold the window switch down, and hit the motor body with the hammer and give it a few good whacks (in my case, it only took two). If all goes well, your window will work again.

Why does this work? It was explained to me that sometimes as motors age, the internals start to "jam" together. So, while the motor is still drawing power, the internals prevent the motor from turning. Thus, when the motor is hit with the hammer while the switch is pressed down, these internals unjam and you've got a working window.

After that, everything was easy and it only took about an hour and a half with me being slow and cautious.

Hopefully this will help someone else out. Now onto other issues.

 

After starting the replacement process of the motor, we tried the "tap twice" method and it worked like a charm! Thanks for the suggestion!