What I did to fix my window motor
#1
What I did to fix my window motor
A while back i got tired of my passenger window not rolling all the way up without stopping. I did the rewire, it seemed to improve the problem a little, but didn't cure it.
I took the motor out and took it apart. I cleaned the armature and brushes, put a bunch of lube in it, etc. While i had the armature out i tried spinning the main drive gear. It would spin freely for about 3/4 turn in either direction, then become difficult to turn.
I pulled that main drive gear off and noticed there is a wound spring and a coupler with two opposing ears. The backside of the drive gear has the mating end to this coupler. The spring is supposed to be behind the opposing ears of the coupler inside the motor assebly. The spring that was supposed to be on either side of the coupler had come off one of the ears, so both ends of the spring were between ears on one side.. When the motor tried to turn it, it would push on the wrong end of the spring causing it to expand inside the motor assembly and bind on the housing.
I put the spring back on either side of the coupler ears and reassemled the window motor. Upon re-installing it and lubing up the guides, the window now goes up and down 10x better than my drivers window! Its been working good now for a few months.
I should have written this up sooner and taken a few pics....
I took the motor out and took it apart. I cleaned the armature and brushes, put a bunch of lube in it, etc. While i had the armature out i tried spinning the main drive gear. It would spin freely for about 3/4 turn in either direction, then become difficult to turn.
I pulled that main drive gear off and noticed there is a wound spring and a coupler with two opposing ears. The backside of the drive gear has the mating end to this coupler. The spring is supposed to be behind the opposing ears of the coupler inside the motor assebly. The spring that was supposed to be on either side of the coupler had come off one of the ears, so both ends of the spring were between ears on one side.. When the motor tried to turn it, it would push on the wrong end of the spring causing it to expand inside the motor assembly and bind on the housing.
I put the spring back on either side of the coupler ears and reassemled the window motor. Upon re-installing it and lubing up the guides, the window now goes up and down 10x better than my drivers window! Its been working good now for a few months.
I should have written this up sooner and taken a few pics....
Last edited by danbo313; 10-30-2008 at 12:56 PM.
#2
Sounds like some good reverse engineering. I'm definitely interested in doing the same before mine burn out.
Maybe you can do the same to the driver's side and take pics while you're at it.
Maybe you can do the same to the driver's side and take pics while you're at it.
#3
This probably isn't the cure for all, but if the window goes up a few inches then stops, wait a while, goes up a few more inches and stops, wait a while, etc. This could be the cause.
You can also tell if this will work if after removing the armature, the drive gear turns freely for about 3/4 turn then gets difficult, then will turn freely 3/4 turn in the other direction, then back in the other direction, etc...
My drivers side goes all the way up and down ok, but is kinda slow. I could probably make it better with a little lube.
Maybe someday i'll get my hands on another window motor and tear it apart for more detail/some pics.
On thing to be careful of is the one way washer/clip that holds the drive gear on the shaft will probably break when you take it off. I reused the broken one, but i'm sure you could find a new one at the hardware store.
You can also tell if this will work if after removing the armature, the drive gear turns freely for about 3/4 turn then gets difficult, then will turn freely 3/4 turn in the other direction, then back in the other direction, etc...
My drivers side goes all the way up and down ok, but is kinda slow. I could probably make it better with a little lube.
Maybe someday i'll get my hands on another window motor and tear it apart for more detail/some pics.
On thing to be careful of is the one way washer/clip that holds the drive gear on the shaft will probably break when you take it off. I reused the broken one, but i'm sure you could find a new one at the hardware store.
#4
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Thats a good idea. When you said the rewire thing did you mean the AutoTrix Window Fix kit?
This may be a fix for some motors but on average the problem is a voltage issue. You can do a search for AutoTrix and see what people have to say
You can get the kit at the ws6store.
This may be a fix for some motors but on average the problem is a voltage issue. You can do a search for AutoTrix and see what people have to say
You can get the kit at the ws6store.
#5
I did my own rewire. The kit looks good though. It definetly upped the voltage at the window motor. Before the rewire with the car off, i had about 9v at the motor. After, I had around 11-11.5v. I did this before ripping the motor apart, but it still didn't cure the problem.
#6
Can anyone shed more light on the express down kit? What is different about it that makes it worth it?
http://www.autotrix.net/products.html
I know it makes it so you just hold the button down and it makes the passenger side go down also.... but there's a kit for the driver's side too. Will that just make the drivers side faster also? Would be nice if they could both go up and down at the same speed, but not $260 nice. The $30 kit seems very well priced for just the passenger window, but sheesh....
http://www.autotrix.net/products.html
I know it makes it so you just hold the button down and it makes the passenger side go down also.... but there's a kit for the driver's side too. Will that just make the drivers side faster also? Would be nice if they could both go up and down at the same speed, but not $260 nice. The $30 kit seems very well priced for just the passenger window, but sheesh....
#7
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The driver side kit replaces the factory express down module which improves the voltage drop to that window. The drop is very minimal and within specifications but it is there.
Lots of people requested a kit for the driverside and in order to make one we had to replace the factory express down module. Our module is also true one touch express down so you don't have to hold the button for a little bit before it express downs.
The passenger express down kit adds our express down module to the original window fix kit to not only isolate the passenger side circuit but also add express down from both the passenger and driver side switches.
Hope this helps.
Lots of people requested a kit for the driverside and in order to make one we had to replace the factory express down module. Our module is also true one touch express down so you don't have to hold the button for a little bit before it express downs.
The passenger express down kit adds our express down module to the original window fix kit to not only isolate the passenger side circuit but also add express down from both the passenger and driver side switches.
Hope this helps.