Car window motor problem

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

My driver’ side window had been making a thunk sound when first lowered from the full closed position for the last 6 months. I opened the door and couldn’t see anything wrong. Now it won’t go down at all, although I can hear it seem to try when I push the button. Any thoughts on if the motor is likely shot or some sort of other problem?

It is a 20 yr old car and starting to drink oil, so I want to try to fix if possible cheaply.

2

You may need to replace the regulator for the window. It is the device the window rests on and allows it to move. It may be broken.

3

Then just leave the window up.

4

the window is up, there is no choice!

It sounds like a new motor is pricy. Is it possible to do a DIY retrofit of a manual crank for these things? Would it be cheaper?

5

I’m not sure it’s the motor, they don’t usually clunk. When my motor went out, it got weaker and weaker. Like Cougar said, it sounds more like something is broken in the regulator, which is all the mechanism that makes the windo go up and down. You said you had the inner door panel off. You might do that again, hook up the switch, and see if ou can tell what’s wrong.

p.s. - the window motor’s about $40 at rockauto.com, and the regulator’s another $40 or so, not too bad.

6

My independant mechanic was suggesting $225 over the phone to fix, assuming the worst. How difficult might it be to replace the motor and regulator on my own, assuming no greater skills than ability to change oil, plugs, radio, etc.?

7

$225 sounds about right for a mechanic, it takes some work to do it and make sure everything is correct when you’re done. Definitely more that the jobs you list, along with needing a decent set of tools.

8

You should pull the door panel and make sure every thing is lubed and in the proper place. You can see what is causing the thunk. A used motor from a salvage yard, probably drilling out some rivets and replacing them with bolts will probably be 75 bucks and a lot of curse words if you do it yourself. The springs can be dangerous so be careful if you do it yourself and try to find some instructions.