Power Windows. - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

XCHASR · 03-15-2003, 08:05

hey guys,

my passanger side power window has once again had the d*ck. This time it wont wind up at all. So I took the door skin off and it revealed that a cable had snapped i guess which has something to do with winding the window up and down? So ive got it up finally but it wont stay.

has this happend to anyone and do u know how much it costs to fix and whats actually wrong with it??

cheers, rob

TopGhia · 03-15-2003, 10:20

Check out our good mates at:

http://www.fordmods.com/

has all the details there.

Muzza · 03-17-2003, 04:08

Sounds like you need a new regulator.
The regulator assembly is not repairable unfortunately.
The unit is around $200.
Don't bother getting one from the wreckers as they generally charge $120 to $175 and may not last.

They are not hard to change over. The most difficult bit is the pop rivets that secure the motor unit and bolting up one of the motor mount flanges.
Use a hammer to gently tap the pin in the middle of the rivet into the inside of the door. Then use a 1/4" drill bit to drill out the rivet.
Use 5mm or 6mm bolts (10 or 12 mm long) and nuts (nuts should be nylock or shake-proof types) to secure the new assembly.
Note that one of the flanges is very close to the motor. I bend this one outwards, insert one of the bolts through and bend the flange back. The thread ends up coming through the door panel and there is enough room behind the flange to insert a spanner.

Rivets are much easier is you could borrow the correct size rivetter. New pop rivets are available from Ford spares (@ $1 each) but one would need a 1/4" rivetter and these cost $80 for an el-cheapo and around $200-$300 for a good tool.

I've done a few of these and it takes about 30 minutes to do the job.

XCHASR · 03-17-2003, 16:13

yeah, got told it was the regulator yesterday as well. how do they actually work? I can pull my window up but it just falls down with vibrations and bumps in the road.

JC-XR8 · 03-17-2003, 18:15

What you need is.....gaffer tape/duct tape/100mph tape.

Muzza · 03-18-2003, 01:02

The reason your window is falling:-

The glass is attached to a slide that slides up and down a guide.
The slide has each end of the cable connected and these cables are routed to each end of the guide.
From the ends of the guide the cables go to a motor assembly via flexible sheaves.
The cable is wrapped around a drum in the motor assembly.
The motor rotates the drum which pulls the cable around which in turn raises or lowers the slide (to which the glass is attached.

Because of the gearing between the drum and the electric motor the drum will not rotate due to pressure from the cable.
The window stays up or down because of this.

Your cable is broken hence the slide can just freely move up and down the guide resulting in glass down.

As JCV8 suggested - use gaffer tape to hold the glass up until you wack in a new regulator.

Strange - it's usually the clutch in the drum assembly that goes crook.

XCHASR · 03-18-2003, 04:56

thanks for that response, youve been a great help. as for the duck tape, ive used a cd case instead. lol ill get it looked at and priced on the weekend.

thanks again.

cheers, rob

XCHASR · 03-24-2003, 06:12

got it fixed.

$290 later.. :(

kryzak260 · 04-22-2003, 07:15

I had to do the same thing on my EL drivers door this week. somewhere in the drive was shagged.

Muzza, what clutch are you talking about? As far as i know, there isnt a clutch in there, because if you hold down the button when the window has finished its travel, the motor sits at stall current.

IRPACAUS · 04-23-2003, 00:32

I had the same thing on my ED fairmont ghia. I fixed it my self with a push bike brake cable (Inner and Outer). You just have to have patience and pull the regulator apart carefully and work out how much cable you need. Etc. Cost me $5.00 and about 2 hours.

The window will not wind up and down because of the screw (worm) gear on the motor to the drum. If that makes any sense.