Keenan

My driver's side window will go up under it's own power about a 1/4 to 1/3 of the way and then it stops and I hear a ratcheting sound, as if the regulator is slipping or missing gear cogs. I manually pull it up while continuing to give it power, let go, and it will go up to about 3/4 before it stops and repeats the above noted behavior. Another manual pull, and application of power and it will finally close all the way. Once closed, applying up/close power to it will induce the ratcheting, gear slipping sound.

I'm guessing something is amiss with the regulator assembly but I wanted to see if I could get some ideas as to what it might be before having it taken apart - maybe what parts I may need for example.

The motors were replaced in both windows not more than 10K miles ago.

Thanks!

JakeRobb

The regulator is a single part, and you need a new one. There's nothing more to diagnose.

If you didn't already, install a hotwire kit so this set of motors doesn't die too. I got mine from AutoTrix.

shoebox

I would open it up and observe what is going on. If the new motor has come loose, it might be losing the gear mesh to the regulator.

Keenan

This is the assembly being discussed I presume, window regulator and that either the gear in the motor has gone bad, or as shoebox notes, the motor itself has come loose?

And opening it up seems to be the best way to go at this point as it could be as simple as re-mounting the motor I suppose.



That Autotrix window fix, it appears to send more voltage to the motor to insure faster up/down and not let the motor burn itself out prematurely due to insufficient power? Does this help with the driver window as well?

A question about parts. Is there a significant difference between this regulator assembly and this one? The first one is about $160 and the second is about half that amount. Unless I missed something they both appear to have the requisite parts and both are AC Delco parts, maybe some of the parts are after-market?

Thanks

GaryDoug

The new motor has come loose. The screws probably were not tightened enough. I don't like the small screws that are supplied with the replacement motors. I drilled out a few of the motor holes and installed larger screws with self-locking nuts on the one I replaced.

GaryDoug

The passenger side wiring is longer and goes through the driver side door, that's why the need for larger wires. The driver side is different and goes through the Express down module behind the dash. Bypassing that inside the door will speed up the driver side window.

Those part numbers seem to indicate that the cheaper one includes "all makes (manufacturers)". I would guess that includes China. GM lists both of those numbers as well, with similar price differences.

Keenan

Thanks for the info, and I'm glad to hear that it's likely just the motor coming loose as that sounds like a much cheaper fix than replacing the whole regulator/motor assembly.

On the parts, I figured it might be something like that and for a device that gets used as heavily as a driver's window I would probably opt for the more expensive AC Delco-built model.

On the Autotrix mod, I rarely ever use the passenger window anyway but I might look into getting the modification, it seems like cheap insurance for motor burnout.

Thanks folks and I'll post back upon a successful repair.

Keenan

Not sure if I should have started a new thread or not as this is really the same problem as posted above.

Apparently the reason the motor/gear has gone bad(a second time in fact) is the roller on the window sash, which I believe is this part here, is bad. Its attachment point to the metal sash is very loose and the swivel-like attachment at the roller end is bad as well, the assembly is well worn and loose and has been putting excess stress on the motor/ratchet assembly.

Below are some images of the part I'm referring to.





My problem, and the problem my shop is having is located the part itself.

So my questions are, does anyone know where I might find the part, and if it's not available, is possibly the roller assembly itself available and/or is there another solution? Possibly detaching the existing bad roller and re-attaching a new one, or something that would work as a new one?

The sash itself appears to be riveted to the window itself so I'm not even sure that part(if even found) can be attached to the new window.

My body shop is still looking for the part but I said I would check with the brain trust here to try and get some insight on a path to take on getting the window working again.

Thanks much!
Jim

Treazure Queen

Just a little observation, I have replaced the power window motors at least 4 times and paid a professional. The design of the car itself is the problem. A curved body and window make it hard for the motor setup to keep the window on track. I wish I could put the old fashioned crank up windows since I have a Z28 convertable. Any thoughts? I have been rebuilding my 1995 for the past year. Thanks. Carole

GaryDoug

The manual crank options were available in the release year but not anymore. Most cars have curved windows, not unique to the F-cars.My 98 has worked well for 25 years now with two window motor replacements. Wish I could say the same for me ;-)

Injuneer

My 94 still had the original motors when I sold it in 2022. Never had a problem of any kind with the windows.