OBS window motor replacement

[Timberwolve81]

Ok, so your window motor went out and you don't want to take it to the stealership to get it fixed (and leave you broke). They aren't that expensive (i paid 59.99 plus $14 for the core). this article will show you how to replace your old motor with the new one.

1. first and most importantly, if you can, make sure that your window is in the furthest up postion, then use tape and tape it up into that postion.



2. now time to take off the door panel, first start with the switch plate, it's held in there with small clips. All you have to do is get a screw driver underneath the panel and pry it out carefully.



3. to take the wire connectors off of the switch you have to pull up on a tab on the top and bottom of the switch, you'll see what i mean when you actually look at it. the switch should just pop out of the panel then.

4. take the screw out of the door pull handle



5. this is the tool you might want to get to pull the door panel away from the door. you can also use a screw driver but i've found this to be a superior tool to the screw driver.



6. pull the door panel out a little bit and you'll see the white door retainer clips. Insert the tool and use it as a lever to pull the door retainer out . there are 10 or 11 along the left, right and bottom sides of the door panel. when you have all the retainers removed pull up on the door panel and it should pop right out and be free.



7. This is what you'll see next, minus the duct tape. This is the second time i've done this. and it requires removing the weather shield (but i'll get into that next.). The black metal is the inner door panel and the tan colored paper is weather shielding.



8. Now remove the weather shielding, it's held on with some double sided tape. After you remove the weather shielding this is what you'll be looking at.



9. this is the motor, only the back end of it can be seen through the hole in the inner door panel. you can also see the wire connector that runs the power to the motor. to disconnect this just push down on the clip onto of the connector and pull it out. My finger is on the clip that you need to push down to remove the connector.





10. this is a picture of what you can see of the window actuator and gear. this is the gear that pushes the window up and down.



11. Now comes the hard part (or at least the part that took me the most time.) you need to remove the 4 rivets (they are actually bolts with nuts in my picture because this is the second time i've done this and the bolts and nuts are what came with the replacement motor) that mount the window motor/actuator assembly to the inner door panel. i used a grinder to get most of the rivet then a cold chisel to remove it the rest of the way. they are fairly large rivets.



12. next you'll need to remove the screws that hold the inner door panel to the door. there are about 10 - 12 of them and they are on the outside edge of the inner door panel.

13. now slide your hand behind the door panel and pull the motor/actuator assembly the the left (it might be to the right if your doing this on the driver side). by pulling the assembly to the left your pulling the wheels out of thier guides so you can remove the assembly from behind the inner door panel and make your job much easier.



14. this is the window motor/actuator assembley. not much too it really.



15. notice how these two holes line up. insert a small screwdriver though these holes, now your ready to take the old motor off the actuator and install the new one. if you do not put a screwdriver in this hole when you remove the old motor the spring will release all its tension and possibly cause harm to you or others in the area.



16. install the new motor using the screws that came with the new motor.

17. put the motor/actuator assembly back into the door, make sure that the two white wheels on the actuator assembly go into the guide that is attached to the window and the single black wheel goes into the guide that is on the inside of the inner door panel.

18. use the 4 screws that came with the new motor to attach the actuator assembly to the inner door panel, remember those 4 rivets you grounded, pounded, dynamited off?? this is where those four bolts go.

19. reattach the inner door panel to the door

20. connect the electrical plug to the back of the motor, untape the window and give it a test. hopefully it works

21. re-installation of the door panel is the opposite of the removel.

[454ss]

Nice article.....thanks for posting it.

[DTSon22s]

Thanks for the tech article. With this info I was able to replace my regulator (left/front) on my '95 Suburban.

Quintin

[stephenandannie]

Make sure you put a pin in the hole to keep in position. If you don't you will have to guess a bunch of time to get it lined up properly. I'm not sure how many times I installed, removed before I got it right.

[Jerry S]

Ok Jake....you really did a good job explaining how to replace this motor...I have an 86 Chevy with a bad motor. Problem is....I can't view the images that go along with your instructions. This would be a big help. I hate sounding stupid, but if there some link or option in this site that will let me view the images to help me with the window motor removal...??? Thanks
Jerry S

[east1la]

Originally Posted by Timberwolve81

Ok, so your window motor went out and you don't want to take it to the stealership to get it fixed (and leave you broke). They aren't that expensive (i paid 59.99 plus $14 for the core). this article will show you how to replace your old motor with the new one.

1. first and most importantly, if you can, make sure that your window is in the furthest up postion, then use tape and tape it up into that postion.



2. now time to take off the door panel, first start with the switch plate, it's held in there with small clips. All you have to do is get a screw driver underneath the panel and pry it out carefully.



3. to take the wire connectors off of the switch you have to pull up on a tab on the top and bottom of the switch, you'll see what i mean when you actually look at it. the switch should just pop out of the panel then.

4. take the screw out of the door pull handle



5. this is the tool you might want to get to pull the door panel away from the door. you can also use a screw driver but i've found this to be a superior tool to the screw driver.



6. pull the door panel out a little bit and you'll see the white door retainer clips. Insert the tool and use it as a lever to pull the door retainer out . there are 10 or 11 along the left, right and bottom sides of the door panel. when you have all the retainers removed pull up on the door panel and it should pop right out and be free.



7. This is what you'll see next, minus the duct tape. This is the second time i've done this. and it requires removing the weather shield (but i'll get into that next.). The black metal is the inner door panel and the tan colored paper is weather shielding.



8. Now remove the weather shielding, it's held on with some double sided tape. After you remove the weather shielding this is what you'll be looking at.



9. this is the motor, only the back end of it can be seen through the hole in the inner door panel. you can also see the wire connector that runs the power to the motor. to disconnect this just push down on the clip onto of the connector and pull it out. My finger is on the clip that you need to push down to remove the connector.





10. this is a picture of what you can see of the window actuator and gear. this is the gear that pushes the window up and down.



11. Now comes the hard part (or at least the part that took me the most time.) you need to remove the 4 rivets (they are actually bolts with nuts in my picture because this is the second time i've done this and the bolts and nuts are what came with the replacement motor) that mount the window motor/actuator assembly to the inner door panel. i used a grinder to get most of the rivet then a cold chisel to remove it the rest of the way. they are fairly large rivets.



12. next you'll need to remove the screws that hold the inner door panel to the door. there are about 10 - 12 of them and they are on the outside edge of the inner door panel.

13. now slide your hand behind the door panel and pull the motor/actuator assembly the the left (it might be to the right if your doing this on the driver side). by pulling the assembly to the left your pulling the wheels out of thier guides so you can remove the assembly from behind the inner door panel and make your job much easier.



14. this is the window motor/actuator assembley. not much too it really.



15. notice how these two holes line up. insert a small screwdriver though these holes, now your ready to take the old motor off the actuator and install the new one. if you do not put a screwdriver in this hole when you remove the old motor the spring will release all its tension and possibly cause harm to you or others in the area.



16. install the new motor using the screws that came with the new motor.

17. put the motor/actuator assembly back into the door, make sure that the two white wheels on the actuator assembly go into the guide that is attached to the window and the single black wheel goes into the guide that is on the inside of the inner door panel.

18. use the 4 screws that came with the new motor to attach the actuator assembly to the inner door panel, remember those 4 rivets you grounded, pounded, dynamited off?? this is where those four bolts go.

19. reattach the inner door panel to the door

20. connect the electrical plug to the back of the motor, untape the window and give it a test. hopefully it works

21. re-installation of the door panel is the opposite of the removel.

thanks. I fixing to put electric motor on mine. I going to help me alot. Its going to be fun w/ the wiring.

[moman]

I just did the drivers' window on my 97. What a pain, but exaultation to have it completed.

Notes:
1. The panel comes off easily. Just pull from the bottom because it sits in the groove at the top.
2. Buy the motor/regulator together. It was $70 vs. $60 for the motor, and saved a lot of hassle trying to drill out the rivets on the motor.
3. I removed the entire inner door frame. It required removal of the pulls for the lock and door handle. This was pretty easy, but be sure not to bend the rods.
4. Mount the regulator to the inner frame before you put it in the door. Keep the window about 3/4 of the way up, and slide the inner frame around to line up the roller wheels with the window. This takes some time and patience, and be SURE to get the lock/handle rods BEHIND (towards the inner frame) the regulator assembly. I had to disassemble the door a couple times to get it right.

It took about 2 HRS worth of labor, but I saved $250 and learned some stuff in the process. It would take about 1/2 the time now, but lets hope I never have to do this again.

Good luck.

[daleearnhardt01]

Originally Posted by Jerry S

Ok Jake....you really did a good job explaining how to replace this motor...I have an 86 Chevy with a bad motor. Problem is....I can't view the images that go along with your instructions. This would be a big help. I hate sounding stupid, but if there some link or option in this site that will let me view the images to help me with the window motor removal...??? Thanks
Jerry S

While its the same in principle, your truck is completely different than the 88-98 style. There is no removeable inner panel on those trucks. It is a much bigger pain on those to replace the motor than these trucks. The pictures wont really help you at all..

[VenomousGT]

i have a question....

i have a 91 c1500. When i rollmy window up or down it will get to certain parts and it will make a clicking noise (it sounds like the gears on the motor and the cog for the window mechanism are skipping). I took my motor assembly out completely today and looked over the gears to see if they looked stripped out. After an inspection I noticed the gears still looked great so on a whim I decided to put it all back together making sure everything was seated properly. I got it back perfect, crossed my fingers and hit the button ~~click click~~ same friggin noise! One thing I have noticed is that when the window stops and the clicking starts, I can grab the glass and wiggle the window a decent amount. There seems to me like there is too much play in the glass. I made sure the window was staying in the tracks and that the motor mechanism was installed into the window track properly.

does anyone have any suggestions??

[stoneyZ71]

Originally Posted by VenomousGT

i have a question....

i have a 91 c1500. When i rollmy window up or down it will get to certain parts and it will make a clicking noise (it sounds like the gears on the motor and the cog for the window mechanism are skipping). I took my motor assembly out completely today and looked over the gears to see if they looked stripped out. After an inspection I noticed the gears still looked great so on a whim I decided to put it all back together making sure everything was seated properly. I got it back perfect, crossed my fingers and hit the button ~~click click~~ same friggin noise! One thing I have noticed is that when the window stops and the clicking starts, I can grab the glass and wiggle the window a decent amount. There seems to me like there is too much play in the glass. I made sure the window was staying in the tracks and that the motor mechanism was installed into the window track properly.

does anyone have any suggestions??

i have the same exact problem on my 93 k1500 on my drivers side no idea what it is ive also pulled the door apart and tried seeing if i cud find anything but came up empty i'm assuming its the motor just doesn't make sense cause when i roll the window up i'll grab the top and pull it all the way up and get it completely closed with manual assistance and even with the window all the way up it still makes that grinding/clicking noise. probably gonna just go to a junkyard and pickup a new motor along with numerous other parts for many other projects. i'll keep you posted when i get this fixed.

[mineralgrey01gt]

my driver side window did the same exact thing. I just bought a new full replacement window motor and regulator off of ebay for $45 shipped

[VenomousGT]

Originally Posted by stoneyZ71

i have the same exact problem on my 93 k1500 on my drivers side no idea what it is ive also pulled the door apart and tried seeing if i cud find anything but came up empty i'm assuming its the motor just doesn't make sense cause when i roll the window up i'll grab the top and pull it all the way up and get it completely closed with manual assistance and even with the window all the way up it still makes that grinding/clicking noise. probably gonna just go to a junkyard and pickup a new motor along with numerous other parts for many other projects. i'll keep you posted when i get this fixed.

likewise man, i am probably gonna replace the motor and regulator this week. If i beat you to it and it fixes it, I will be sure to post up about it

[VenomousGT]

Originally Posted by mineralgrey01gt

my driver side window did the same exact thing. I just bought a new full replacement window motor and regulator off of ebay for $45 shipped

thanks for the heads up! Sounds to me like possibly the gears inside the motor are chewed up maybe.. the teeth at the big gear look fine so the only thing I can think is maybe the gears inside the motor are gone.

[VenomousGT]

just so you guys know.. i bought a motor today. and with the way the gear is on the arms there is now ay to mount the motor to the arms without using the rivets or using a spot weld. I have just enough clearance between the gear and the hole that mounts the motor to put a thin washer.. i have no clue what kind of kid this guy used that came with the bolt that are 1/16" thick but I am in envy.

it sounds to me like for some reason my window mechanism is different than the one in this thread.

ow I have no truck to drive and the window is taped up in it.. looks like I get to ride the harley to work in the 28 degree temps in the morning. DAMNIR!!!!

[VenomousGT]

yeat another tidbit on information.. went back down to try and order the motor/regulator assembly.. they wanted $135 for it and it wont ship till nov 8th

looks like i got a problem

[VenomousGT]

even though I keep replying to myself I thought I would post up my results!

I finally got my motor fixed after having to track down a bodyshop that had one of the large rivet tools. I had them rivet the motor to the regulator and I put it back in last night. My clicking and not going up in my motor was fixed! It now works like a dream!

[stoneyZ71]

good to hear you got yours all fixed up wish i could say the same my trucks on stall mode till i get back from vegas on the 12th. which kinda sucks cuz i got the new tires comin in next week i won't even be able to touch them till i get back. i will be attacking the tires, window and countless other minor projects soon as i'm back in town.