Solved Window Gear Bushings Replacement trouble

[MistahYebba]

Using that popular guide on this website I have tried a few times to conquer the task of changing the bushings in my motor gear for my '92 Explorer Sport.

I am mechanically inclined (not that this is a tough job or anything..) so the task as a whole should be a piece of cake...

However, I have run into a few complications.

The pictures provided with the guide on these forums are great and very informative... but here we go:

1. I don't have the "dimple". In fact, it appears to have already been drilled out. That's good, right?! Well... you would think so.. but that means the motor has already been repaired/replaced before... and whoever did THAT.. did this...

2. Looking at the motor bolts head on, I have the top left corner bolt. To the right of that is where the dimple should have been (already drilled out) which counts as the top right corner bolt.

The only bolt left (in theory) should be below and relatively centered with the other two. But, I believe the previous repair guy chose for some reason to replace that bolt with a rivet-sort-of-thing (if that's even what it's called...).

What this mysterious thing looks like is.. imagine thin silver bolt threading, but then also imagine that the bolt is missing it's head (the nut part). Replace the nut part with a silver disc-shaped piece. Yes--similar to a rivet, but it's TWO separate pieces; the bolt and the disc. So is that a rivet? I thought a rivet was 1 piece?

Does anyone have a picture of a rivet so I can confirm this?

Whatever this thing is, I don't know how to get it out.

There's only a few possibilities...

1. The dimple IS NOT drilled out and it's actually still hiding somewhere with no dimple (for some reason maybe they didn't dimple my truck?)... and that "rivet" has no involvement at all.

2. This rivet is a jerry-rigged replacement for a bolt the previous repair-man... it is the last thing holding the motor on (with the other 2 bolts removed there is still no give)

3. I should drive the truck into the lake since the window doesn't work.

Thanks for your help guys

please let me know what steps I can take. I really want to get this window out of the way so I can work on the passenger side.

 

[FR-425]

Don't remove that rivet!

It is holding the regulator and spring. If you cut that one it will violently let go of the spring. (you can lose a finger or two) or bust the glass

The one to the left (where the dimple is/was) and the upper forward one are all you need to remove.

Now you need to lift the window all the way up by hand to let the tension off the spring and hold it in place. The motor can then be pushed inward and off the shaft. (it will still have some spring tension but just a bit)

 

[MistahYebba]

Hiya FR-425,

are you sure about it being part of the regulator?

I understand where you're coming from and I actually have consistently thought the same thing.. not to mention I read that post on here about that very spring cutting someone's thumb badly..

but since the dimple has been previously drilled out (or so it appears to have been), I truly figured that this "rivet" used to be a bolt.. and whoever drilled out the hole must have replaced the old bolt with a new rivet? To hold the motor in more snugly?

I'm probably wrong.. why would anyone do that, right?

But in that case, why is there only 2 bolts holding in my motor? When every post on here says there should be 3 bolts?

And secondly, why when those 2 bolts are removed is there no play at all in the motor? I can't wiggle it out. There must be something more holding it in place, no?

 

[trozei123]

i did the same thing on my ex. it sounds challenging, but it really wasn't.

there are three bolts on the motor. the third one is where the dimple is. it was a little tough for me to find at first too. remember, you have to take off the speaker to access the dimple.

as far as the motor itself, once the bolts are out, you will have to grab the motor and the place on the cable where it attatches. the gear is firm in there. just pull the two apart, and it should come out with not much fuss.

 

[MistahYebba]

Sooo.. I'm a moron.

The guy above you was right Trozei.

The dimple was already drilled out for me.. I was right about that.

HOWEVER; I was totally looked past the other 2 bolts holding in the motor.

This is because the dimple hole was 1/2", but the other 2 bolt holes were like 9mm... so I was completely over looking them... therefore I was assuming that the nearby rivets MUST have been bolt-replacements by the previous mechanic..

However.. today I got fed up and took the door panel off again.

I gave a closer look and I felt dumb when I realized that the other 2 bolts were in plain sight! I just needed a ratchet extension with an 8mm head to take them off.

Once off, it was all self-explanatory after that..

Took out the gear, cleaned it up, squeezed in the new bushings real tight with a flathead screwdriver, greased it up, mushed it all down with a huge socket piece, and then put it all back together..

the hardest part was putting the screw on the end of the 8mm extension and feeding it through the hole in the door to get it to the motor threads... it kept falling off!

So I used some of the same grease I used on the gears to act as a temporary "glue" and did it that way... easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Window works great now.

TIME TO DO THE PASSENGER SIDE!