replacing power window motor
- Thread starter gula187
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GM was nice enough to not leave you any access to the bolts from the factory lol. However, if you look close on the sheetmetal of the door, there are actually little dimples. These dimples indicate where the bolts for the power window motor are. I think there are 3 or 4 of them. If you drill those holes out big enough, you should be able to get to the bolts that hold the motor in.
I think the motors were originally installed with rivets.
these are the 3 locations where you will find the dimples
these are the 3 locations where you will find the dimples
Opie Knievel
Rum Fueled Midnight Mechanic and Moderator
Opie Knievel
Rum Fueled Midnight Mechanic and Moderator
What I'm saying is, if you don't want to drill holes in your door, drill the rivets that are holding the regulator to the door. Remove regulator and motor together and separate them on the work bench.
the rivets are not for the regulator, you'll see the holes that were drilled to access the fasteners for the regulaor
edit...I was incorrect, I was thinking motor, those rivets are for the regulator.
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Opie Knievel
Rum Fueled Midnight Mechanic and Moderator
Instead of drilling holes in a hard to find door, why not take the regulator and the motor out together? Don't drill any holes. I'm my experience, it's twice as easy to do it this way. You'll be able to inspect your regulator while you have it out and you'll have so much more room to drill out the rivets holding the motor to the regulator on your drill press or work bench instead of trying to drill them out through a hole in your door. 3 holes, actually. I'm sorry guys but to me it sounds silly to drill holes in your door. That's my opinion. I've removed a LOT of window regulators.
I have replaced the window motors quite a few times and I have always removed the rivets and taken out the regulator with the motor attached.
I have no issues drilling out access holes in the door to remove only the motor but typically if you are replacing an original motor the regulator itself needs to be cleaned up and re-greased which makes a significant difference in how smooth the new motor will move the window.
I have no issues drilling out access holes in the door to remove only the motor but typically if you are replacing an original motor the regulator itself needs to be cleaned up and re-greased which makes a significant difference in how smooth the new motor will move the window.
The following write-up for replacing the power window motor by GP403 was a great help to me and can be found with a search but will post a snippet here of his method:
Well, the driver's side window motor finally went out after 26 years. lol. Was hoping it was just the switch but no luck!
Grabbed the body manual to see how much of a PITA this was going to be. Really wasn't as bad as I thought. I expected I'd need to remove the entire assembly but as it turns out the motor is a separate piece and just comes right out...
... but only after you drill out a couple holes in the door (!) to get at the bolts that hold the motor in!
Of course the hole saw bit I bought broke the pilot after 1 hole so I had to take the die grinder to the 2nd hole... :evil:
I took a couple of photos (will post later), but the gist of it goes something like this:
- remove the inside door panel
- drill out 2 or three ~3/4" - 1" holes over the bolts holding the motor in. The manual says three, but one was already accessible, there are a couple of little dimples that'll tell you where you need to drill. The bolts are located so there's no way to get a wrench behind there, and even if you did, you couldn't back them out. They were 13mm on mine btw.
- tape up your window, just in case, so it won't fall. Mine didn't move, but YMMV.
- pull the 3 bolts and drop the motor into the door so you can disconnect the wiring connector. I couldn't reach the plug until I did that, again YMMV.
- The replacement motor had a bracket so you could install it on either door, put this on the correct way. It also came with some other brackets and screws which I didn't need. Maybe they're for a different application or something. Put some grease on the new motor gear.
- pull the old motor out through one of the access holes and put the new one in. Plug the power back in, line it up and make sure the gears are connected, and then bolt her up.
- Take the tape off yer window and test it out. Hopefully it worked!
- Put your door back together again!
Will add photos to this when I get them off the camera...
Well, the driver's side window motor finally went out after 26 years. lol. Was hoping it was just the switch but no luck!
Grabbed the body manual to see how much of a PITA this was going to be. Really wasn't as bad as I thought. I expected I'd need to remove the entire assembly but as it turns out the motor is a separate piece and just comes right out...
... but only after you drill out a couple holes in the door (!) to get at the bolts that hold the motor in!
Of course the hole saw bit I bought broke the pilot after 1 hole so I had to take the die grinder to the 2nd hole... :evil: I took a couple of photos (will post later), but the gist of it goes something like this:
- remove the inside door panel
- drill out 2 or three ~3/4" - 1" holes over the bolts holding the motor in. The manual says three, but one was already accessible, there are a couple of little dimples that'll tell you where you need to drill. The bolts are located so there's no way to get a wrench behind there, and even if you did, you couldn't back them out. They were 13mm on mine btw.
- tape up your window, just in case, so it won't fall. Mine didn't move, but YMMV.
- pull the 3 bolts and drop the motor into the door so you can disconnect the wiring connector. I couldn't reach the plug until I did that, again YMMV.
- The replacement motor had a bracket so you could install it on either door, put this on the correct way. It also came with some other brackets and screws which I didn't need. Maybe they're for a different application or something. Put some grease on the new motor gear.
- pull the old motor out through one of the access holes and put the new one in. Plug the power back in, line it up and make sure the gears are connected, and then bolt her up.
- Take the tape off yer window and test it out. Hopefully it worked!
- Put your door back together again!
Will add photos to this when I get them off the camera...
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