Window issue

Hey fellas,

My drivers window is giving me a hard time. It keeps getting stuck mostly going up, gets stuck going down after I try to get it to go up. I took off the door panel and checked the guides/rollers and the rear has been changed to the new design already, and the front has been replaced with the original "hotdog" design.......in short, both are good.
What else should I look at?.....maybe the motor is weak, it will go up under its own power eventually if you mess with the switch for a couple of hours!! I usually end up helping it up by hand. A mechanic told me that it is the regulator that needs replacement, but that was without looking at it or anything. My buddy told me that he had a similar issue with his Chevy van and ended up replacing the motor to fix it.
I could end up replacing each part one at a time, that would still be way cheaper than taking it to a garage.......maybe a veteran knows what step I should take next(?)

Thanks in advance!!

When you were in there, did you slop a good amount of heavy grease in the upper and lower grooves on both sides of the rollers in all three window slides? If not, DO IT! It might solve your problem, and it's free.

jimbeau wrote:

When you were in there, did you slop a good amount of heavy grease in the upper and lower grooves on both sides of the rollers in all three window slides? If not, DO IT! It might solve your problem, and it's free.

Thanks for the tip, I did not think to do that........I feel so stupid!!

It really helps. Sometimes so much that your jaw will drop. There is a lot of friction in those dry, corroded tracks.

If that does not fix it, then it is the motor. It is much easier to replace the entire regulator with a good one from the junk yard. The motors are a pain to replace on the regulator.

I've got a couple good motors and such. Where in NC are you?

Jon

94X2 wrote:

I've got a couple good motors and such. Where in NC are you?

Jon

I'm just outside Raleigh. Do you have a regulator/motor set up, or just motor? O'Reilly has motors w/lifetime for $50. Don't know if that's good .........or bad(?)

Fred Kiehl wrote:

If that does not fix it, then it is the motor. It is much easier to replace the entire regulator with a good one from the junk yard. The motors are a pain to replace on the regulator.

Probaby a pain to swap just the motor due to space or lack of I'm guessing, other than that it is just 4 bolts to the reg assembly plus plug-up.......right?

I want to fix it fairly soon, right now I'm in the middle of a starter swap......OUCH what a PITA that is!!! You would think that such a massive car would be a simple 1/hr job, I'm almost 3/hrs into it!! Very very very tight both in and out........I am almost done though, just gotta bolt down and wire up >>> ran outa time had to go to work (I work nights) Hope to finish tomorrow. Getting the starter in and out was like some crazy chinese puzzle even after removing the cross-bar.

Is the replacement starter the same thickness as the original? Those mounting bolts should get at least a half inch bite into the block, or you might be asking for trouble.

jimbeau wrote:

Is the replacement starter the same thickness as the original? Those mounting bolts should get at least a half inch bite into the block, or you might be asking for trouble.

I appreciate the heads up, I will give it a ruler before spinning in the bolts.

I pulled the regulator, replaced the motor with a new one ($44.00), reinstalled, replaced the plastic roller guides and greased the channel. It is working like a charm now......nice and fast, up and down.

One of the rollers I took out was deformed, it is the new style roller and was in the rear of the channel. It looked like the thing was pressed in a vise to fit through the crimped end of the channel (channel was still crimped, not bent open). It was somewhat oblong and may have been binding in the track and contributing to some of the issues I was experiencing.

Anyway, I'm glad that's over and I have a working window. The only casualty was my window tint got gouged up a bit at the bottom of the window when the regulator dropped out of my hand after I drilled out the rivets. One of the arms swung up above the door and got jammed between the door frame and the window, easy fix considering.