Power Car window repair

[Dancin'Dog]

The driver's side power window crapped out on my old 97' Ford van.  I could raise the window by hand, but it would vibrate & slide down while driving.

I got on Youtube & watched a couple of videos, which gave me an idea of what to expect.  Went to ebay & ordered a new motor & assembly for $30 delivered.  It arrived in about 3 days.  The motor & lift assembly were mounted with aluminum rivets, so I had to drill them out & I replaced them with bolts & nuts.

It was a pretty simple job, except for one rivet was hard to reach & took a lot of extra time to remove.  I was happy it only cost $30 to fix.   

[Melf]

Excellent work!  I don't think I've seen one riveted in place before.  I'd expect to find that on a newer vehicle rather than an older one.

[ketchup]

Nice!  Car power windows can be a pain to deal with, but it sounds like you figured out pretty easily!

[Dancin'Dog]

Excellent work!  I don't think I've seen one riveted in place before.  I'd expect to find that on a newer vehicle rather than an older one.

They were pretty large, about 1/4" diameter.  The motor was fastened with 3 rivets & the slider mechanism was fastened with 2 rivets on the bottom end and 2 screws at the top.  I was able to tap the center slug out with a punch.  The window clamp was fastened with 2 rivets, which I couldn't use the punch on because the window would likely crack, so I had to drill them, which was the only "tricky" part of the job.

[sisto]

I've done several of these. I've only had one with rivets like you explained that I also had to drill out. I did the same and replace with nuts/bolts. I used locking nuts so that it wouldn't vibrate loo Grase since those areas tend to get lots of road vibration. Great job finding the parts for $30. I think I only got off that cheap once by getting the part from a wrecking yard. The hardest part of the job in getting the door panel off without breaking the clips. The second hardest part is pulling back the plastic without getting the glue all over everything.

[HPstache]

Those rivets can be a pain!  Just did a similar job on an early 2000's Ranger...

[MrSal]

my honda civic back windows suffer the same problem but i was watching a youtube video however i dont think the motor is the problem.

They say the windows have to keep falling to be the motor. In my case, sometimes the switch works... sometimes it doesnt. its just weird.

do you think mine should be a simpler thing then?

[sisto]

my honda civic back windows suffer the same problem but i was watching a youtube video however i dont think the motor is the problem.

They say the windows have to keep falling to be the motor. In my case, sometimes the switch works... sometimes it doesnt. its just weird.

do you think mine should be a simpler thing then?

This it typically caused by the switch. Are they working working fine on their individual switches? Sometimes it's just the master switch.

[mxt0133]

I LOVE YouTube!!!  Same thing happened to me while on Vacation on a ski town.  It started snowing and my window dropped into my door.  It was 9pm at night and no place was open to get it fixed.  I stood there for about 10 minutes trying to put plastic over the window so the snow won't get in and wet the care overnight.  After I did that I looked at YouTube videos to see if I can just mount it in the up position.  I still had to drive 5 hours home on the highway with kids inside.  Having a open window would not have been fun.  After watching a video on how to remove the door panel a few times.  I gave it a shot and took out the door panel in under 5 minutes.  I would have broken the panel if I tried to remove it myself and not knowing what screws to take out and where I can just pop out some tabs.

I got the window back on the tract and was able to get it most of the way up after 20 minutes of trying to get it mounted just right.  I finally gave up and just put it up as close as I could and then duck taped it in place.  I always carry a roll of duct tape with me, like MacGyver FTW.

When we finally got home, I called the dealer to get a quote on how much it would take to fix it.  They quoted me $150 just to look at it plus the parts and labor to actually fix it.  Considering that it only takes 5 minutes to remove the door panel and I know the motor works, there really wasn't much else to do, it just had to be aligned properly.  Which I had trouble doing in the middle of the night, during heavy snow fall with no tools. 

I said no thanks and proceeded to remove the other door panel to see what I was doing wrong.  Turns out that the window was not glued to the bracket that raises and lowers the window.  So it kept sliding down in the up position and why it fell into the door in the first place.  I don't know how it lasted 5 years without it falling in earlier.  15 minute walk to the hardware store purchased $8 all purpose car glue, plus another 5 minutes applying the glue to the window on the bracket and done.  Waited a few hours to test it and worked perfectly.

Next up change brake pads.  Just need to find some used jack stands and I'll be good to go.

[Bicycle_B]

Not Mechanical Guy here.  Ya'll are awesome.

[Dancin'Dog]

It is surprising how simple the interiors of cars are to work on, if you've seen how to do it.  Most of the parts only have a few hidden screws & a few internal clips or alignment tabs.  Nothing heavy, greasy, or very dirty like the mechanical parts often are.

I was pretty sure my switch wasn't faulty, but tested it to make certain.  I simply unplugged the left switch and swapped it with the right wires to see if it would operate the right window, and it worked fine.  I did that before ordering the replacement parts, so I wouldn't buy unnecessary parts. (I've learned that the "hard way"!)

[Metric Mouse]

I LOVE YouTube!!!  Same thing happened to me while on Vacation on a ski town.  It started snowing and my window dropped into my door.  It was 9pm at night and no place was open to get it fixed.  I stood there for about 10 minutes trying to put plastic over the window so the snow won't get in and wet the care overnight.  After I did that I looked at YouTube videos to see if I can just mount it in the up position.  I still had to drive 5 hours home on the highway with kids inside.  Having a open window would not have been fun.  After watching a video on how to remove the door panel a few times.  I gave it a shot and took out the door panel in under 5 minutes.  I would have broken the panel if I tried to remove it myself and not knowing what screws to take out and where I can just pop out some tabs.

I got the window back on the tract and was able to get it most of the way up after 20 minutes of trying to get it mounted just right.  I finally gave up and just put it up as close as I could and then duck taped it in place.  I always carry a roll of duct tape with me, like MacGyver FTW.

When we finally got home, I called the dealer to get a quote on how much it would take to fix it.  They quoted me $150 just to look at it plus the parts and labor to actually fix it.  Considering that it only takes 5 minutes to remove the door panel and I know the motor works, there really wasn't much else to do, it just had to be aligned properly.  Which I had trouble doing in the middle of the night, during heavy snow fall with no tools. 

I said no thanks and proceeded to remove the other door panel to see what I was doing wrong.  Turns out that the window was not glued to the bracket that raises and lowers the window.  So it kept sliding down in the up position and why it fell into the door in the first place.  I don't know how it lasted 5 years without it falling in earlier.  15 minute walk to the hardware store purchased $8 all purpose car glue, plus another 5 minutes applying the glue to the window on the bracket and done.  Waited a few hours to test it and worked perfectly.

Next up change brake pads.  Just need to find some used jack stands and I'll be good to go.

I had the same issue with one of my cars. I put up with not being able to roll the window down forever before I took 15 minutes to research it - $15 dollars of brackets and glue and I was back in business.