My driver side window motor is going bad and I'm just wondering how difficult it will be to replace it. What steps are needed in order to get it done??

 

There's a tech article "power windows 101"on this site.
That gave me a good start on mine.
It's not fun, but the motors are pretty cheap now and the dealerships charge a bundle to do it.
Best to have a friend to help, holding the glass in place during parts of the operation.
-Rich-

 

not hard to do if you have the right tools. need a trim remover, big pop rivet tool, uses 1/4 rivets, or if you can you might get by with 1/4" bolts. i use the big suction cups on each side of the window to hold it up, but you can use a wedge of some sort. what you don't want is the window to drop and break or fall on your hands and break a bone or two.

 

I have the same problem - I have two 3rd gens and both their power windows suck. Is this a common problem in 3rdgens?

 

Thirdgen power windows always suck. Vader or somebody around here has a good article you should read on power windows. I'm not sure if it's a tech article or not. Basically what it says is that if your window is slowing down, it may not be necessary to replace the motor. You might be able to fix it by just greasing the window tracks or replacing these little brush things in the motor's electrical plug.
As for replacing the motor, it was a little bit of a pain, I ended up with several bloody nuckles. Suction cups are a good idea to hold the window up, or you could do like I did, and con your buddy into holding the window for you. Trim removoer? I didn't use one of those. I didn't have a industrial-sized rivet gun either, I just used regular 1/4 bolt.

 

Ede is right - use the rivets. The bolts will eventually work loose and you'll be back in there repairing it again.

Before you do anything, you should diagnose the problem a bit and read this:

Power Window Motors.pdf

If you don't already have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you'll need it to open the file. It's free here:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

It might save you some time, money, and headaches. More often than not, the motor and gearing themselves are just fine, and only need a little attention to be brought back to life. A replacement unit is only $49.00, but can be a serious PITA to exchange.

 

Thank you Vader, thermal overload just started happening, sounds like it may be an easy fix.

 

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you do TWO Things when replacing power windows motors...

When I was a GM service tech I learned these things the HARD ( read: PAINFUL ) way..

Rule #1

MAKE USER the person, or device, holding the glass up while you work is sturdy or at least paying attention. I didn't...cost me 3 fingernails and 15 stitches...'nuff said


Rule #2

If your hands are big enough to palm a baseketball ( or even close) find SOMEONE ELSE to do this!!! My hands are pretty rough with scars etc from working on cars and physical labor etc, but I ended up bleeding heavily inside a customer's car from slicing my thumb on the unfinished metal edge inside the door.


And finally...yeah I said TWO THINGS, go hire a lawyer...

When you're done...it will STILL be faster if you had "el manual" windows.


Rant mode off...

Later