How do you replace a window motor and regulator on a Ford Windstar?

Answer 1

Photo How-to Guide

Here is how I changed my power window motor and regulator with pictures:

(clickable "Related Link" below)

http://sites.Google.com/site/powerwindowregulator/home

Sidebar: Let's hear a round of applause for D0gB0one! If you benefit from his how-to guide, recommend him and add a note to this page's Discussion.

Parts prices

Autozone has motors alone $45-75, regulator plus motor combinations are $70

All are remanufactured units

Check the fuses first

1995-1998 Windstar - Engine compartment fusebox / distribution center: fuse letter "G"

1999-2003 Windstar - fuse #'s 106 (passenger side) and 113 (drivers side) in the ENGINE COMPARTMENT fusebox control the power window motors.

The above information was referenced in the respective OWNERS MANUAL.

See "Related Questions" below for more

Stuck Armature Brushes

Make sure the motor is in fact bad... Many times they just stop working because the armature brushes hang up and will not make contact with the motor armature. Sometimes you can slam the car door and this will jar the brushes and they will make contact with the armature. If this doesn't work you will need to remove the door panel and reach inside the door where the window motor is located and tap the electric motor with a small hammer or some other suitable object. While you are tapping the motor have someone hold the window switch in a functioning position, either up or down depending on the position of your window. I have done this many many times and hopefully it will work for you and you will not have to replace the motor. Good luck

***I tried the above tapping the motor suggestion (what did I have to lose--didn't think it could be so simple) and THANK YOU VERY MUCH! It worked for my 2001 Windstar.****

***Ditto!! I tried the tapping on the motor solution and the motor sprang to life! This just saved me anywhere from $70 for motor alone to $150+ to have the motor replaced. Thanks again!!!!!

****Double ditto! The hammer tap worked the trick. Thank you for the very good advice

Procedures

I just replaced the LF window motor / regulator on our 2001 Windstar.

Here are the basic steps it took me to get the new motor / regulator assembly installed.

NOTE: The window doesn't have to come out for this repair.

Remove inside door panel -

1. remove plastic corner piece - it snaps out, a clip and tab hold it in place.
2. remove lock stem.
3. remove plastic fascia piece around door handle, it also snaps out, single clip and tab.
4. remove 5 panel screws (7mm), 2 at base, 2 in arm rest, and 1 in upper corner, where the corner piece was.

   The door panel can now be lifted off some plastic molded hooks that hold it on the frame.

   1. there are 3 wiring quick disconnects that need disconnecting from window/lock switches on the arm rest
   2. The courtesy light needs to be rotated out from the panel as well.
5. As you work the panel loose from the door:
6. Remove the foam from door frame.
7. You should also remove the speaker - the hole it vacates is useful for working on the regulator / assembly replacement

Now, the regulator is held in place by 4 rivets and threaded stem & nut and 2 tabs. With the panel and foam removed, you can easily see them. It is also attached by rivets to the window in 2 places at the bottom of the window. And, it is attached to a guide bar across the large opening in the frame.

The guide bar needs to be removed first. Remove the 2 nuts (11mm) that attach it to the frame and it can be worked off the regulator assembly and out of the opening.

Then, The rivets need to be drilled out, the 4 in the door frame and the 2 holding the window to the regulator assembly., the window rivets can be a pita - I used a Dremmel with a cutting wheel. Before starting the rivet removals, I used Duct Tape to hold the window up in place. But once the guide bar, 4 frame rivets, and stem nut are removed, the whole thing, window and all can be moved up/down in the door frame - and need to be to get at the rivets that attach the window to the regulator assembly. Move the window to a place so that you can get to the attaching rivets, you'll obviously have to loosen the tape to do so but then tape it where it works for getting at the window rivets (the pita part of this job).

Once the window rivets are removed, the regulator assembly can be removed through the large opening in the frame. New one goes in as old came out. Attach window to it - I used nuts/bolts, short enough to ensure there wouldn't be any interference. Not too tight, need the bushings to move as window goes up/down. Now - the new regulator assembly i got was slightly different in that the threaded stem was about 1/2" forward of the old one - so the hole the stem goes through had to be opened up toward the front of the van about 1/2" (turned it into a slot). With some time, a few choice words, and patience, the stem and tabs can be put in place in the frame and the new regulator assembly reattached to the frame. Again, I used nuts/bolts and couldn't replace the 2 inner rivets because of space constraints. I figured that the tabs, stem and 2 that I could replace could do the job of holding it in place.

Then, replace things as they came off. Don't for get the courtesy light and quick connects!

I've had to replace both assemblies and I was informed of a shortcut (after my first replacement job) that allows the replacement without having to remove the rivets...

once you have the door cover and foam removed look for two small divets/dents located in the area of the four rivets. Once you locate them drill them out with at least a 1/2" drill bit. Right behind the new holes are the two nuts holding the regulator in place. remove the two nuts and remove the regulator then reverse the procedure to put the new regulator in place.

Removing the door panel is the easy part. A redesign of the regulator means that a new motor will not fit on the old original 2001 regulator. Not only are the mounting holes different but so is the electrical connector. You could perhaps find an old motor at the junk yard but it will most likely fail just like the original design. There are six rivets. Two hold the window to the regulator and four hold the regulator to the door. The new regulator requires you enlarge one of the mounting holes. The difficult part for me was the window being riveted to the regulator. I did not want to drill out the rivets on the window and did not have a rivet gun that could handle a 1/4" rivet. Most homeowner rivet guns are for 3/16" and smaller rivets. The door rivets can be replaced with short 1/4" bolts. After many hours and hassles with wrong parts I opted to take the vehicle to an auto glass business and gave them a new regulator/motor assembly ($87 from Ford). Depending on how nice the glass people are it is still cheaper than having Ford do it. If you have the correct tools and rivets plus don't mind working with the glass it can be done at home.

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I just removed mine by drilling 1/2" holes in the metal door over the two 5/16" nuts that hold the gear assembly to the regulator(there were dimples in the door above each nut). That allowed me to remove those two nuts. Then the third fastener was a bolt that projected through the door, which could be removed with a 5/32" socket on the torx type bolt head.Once those three nuts were removed the gear assembly fell away from the regulator without having to touch the glass or remove the regulator.

First you remove the back window corner panel. It pulls right off. Then you pop off the black cover from around the handle. There is a screw on the top holding the panel on , remove screw and remove the screws at the bottom of the panel and lift off panel. Roll plastic down. Drill out the 3 rivets holding the motor in place and remove bolts to swing motor to opening. Install in reverse order .Bolt new motor in place. Be careful with spring inside door can cut you use gloves, and watch out for window track, it locks into place.

Answer

Remove the door panel first,and the inside cover you'l see three pilote holes drill these out with a 1/2 inch bit this will expose the three small bolts holding the motor remove them with a small ratchet unplug the motor and replace.

How to check...

To check the motor remove the door trim panel, disconnect electrical connector at motor, using a test light put one end of light into one side of connector and other end into other side of connector, (install light in place of motor), activate window up/down switch, if light illuminates change the motor, if not you have a wiring problem.

I am having the same problem as you are with my 95 Windstar but my windows work intermitantly. First thing I would do is check the fuses. There are separate fuses for driver and passenger windows. If this isn't the problem then I would check the relays for the windows. They might be sticking or something. You can buy new ones from NAPA for about $7 each.

I personally try the cheap approach first. If this isn't the answer, then get a tester and see if you have power to the window motor. If you do have power when the door switch is activated, then you have a bad motor. I would then recommend that a dealer replace because glass breaks easily.

Also Try this!!!

Stuck Armature Brushes

Make sure the motor is in fact bad... Many times they just stop working because the armature brushes hang up and will not make contact with the motor armature. Sometimes you can slam the car door and this will jar the brushes and they will make contact with the armature. If this doesn't work you will need to remove the door panel and reach inside the door where the window motor is located and tap the electric motor with a small hammer or some other suitable object. While you are tapping the motor have someone hold the window switch in a functioning position, either up or down depending on the position of your window. I have done this many many times and hopefully it will work for you and you will not have to replace the motor. Good luck

Stuck Armature Brushes

Make sure the motor is in fact bad... Many times they just stop working because the armature brushes hang up and will not make contact with the motor armature. Sometimes you can slam the car door and this will jar the brushes and they will make contact with the armature. If this doesn't work you will need to remove the door panel and reach inside the door where the window motor is located and tap the electric motor with a small hammer or some other suitable object. While you are tapping the motor have someone hold the window switch in a functioning position, either up or down depending on the position of your window. I have done this many many times and hopefully it will work for you and you will not have to replace the motor. Good luck

Remove the door trim panel. Pull off plastic cover. Unplug the regulator. Position glass by hand until you can remove rivets from door glass. Tilt glass and lift out. Drill out all the rivets holding the regulator in. Remove regulator. Install new regulator. Rivet new regulator. Reinstall glass. Rivet glass to regulator. Plug in regulator.

Answer

I have a 1995 Windstar and the passenger power window kept getting stuck and wouldn't come down for weeks at a time,then it would work. I pulled off the door panel there are 1 or 2 screws by the arm rest you need to unscrew,then pull off the electrical connector for the power mirror,locks and window.first check if you have power to the switch with a test light,if yes then switch looks ok,then pull off the connector to the power motor ,put the window switch back together.if test light goes on at the connector when you press the power window switch,power is making it to the motor.To remove the motor you have to drill out the rivets that hold the motor to the door,remove the connector then to replace you have to drill out the rivet holes to a larger size cause you have to replace them with bolts to put the nw motor in. BEFORE YOU REMOVE THE OLD MOTOR try hitting the old motor with a hammer not very hard to damage but give it a good hit,because some times the gears bind and that's why the power window doesn't work even when you have power to the motor. It's a pain in the @#$# to change that motor,the the hammer first. I chg the motor then afterward found out the motor was still good. The gears were binding that's why the window would work sometimes and sometimes not. See "Related Questions" below for more

TAke it to a garage and have them do a wet and dry compression test on it and listen for unusual noises.

Worked for me on 1999 Windstar, Thanks!

Just want to say thanks to all for posting the detailed instructions! I generally limit repairs to things I can do with a can of spray lube and an adjustable wrench. What I feared might blow my whole Sunday afternoon was done in under an hour to reinstall ( i.e. after I determined it was the motor, and had the partl). Wife was totally impressed!

$61 US for full motor-regulator assembly at Advanced Auto in Arlington, VA.

I followed the written and the images shown at

http://sites.Google.com/site/powerwindowregulator/home.

Thanks for taking the time to add detail

Excellent suggestion to NOT remove the channel connected to the window, but rather bend the small metal stops and sliding the nylon rollers out. With this method, you'll need to do the same to remove the channel from the new regulator / motor before installing. This is basically a good 'dry run' for what you need to do for the existing channel inside the door.

I had some trouble sliding the existing nylon rollers out of the window channel because there was a small screw from the nylon clamp holding the window. A slight pry with a screwdriver got it past. The replacement nylon slides are much narrower (perhaps for this reason) and insert easily without hitting this screw.

Duct tape was also a great idea. My window was stuck in the up position. During the install, I needed to lower to about ½ way down get the new motor to line up with the holes and everything put together and tested. Duct tape made this easy to adjust and avoided the need to have a 3rd hand, which was not readily available.