Drivers-side window

[N2MUDN91]

When the window is up, ill hit down on the switch, and it wont come down on its own. Ill drag down on the window and hit the switch and itll go down with my help pushing it down......... When its down, ill hit up on the switch and itll come up about 3-6 inches(varies) then itll stop and the motor keeps going, but the the window stops, it sounds like its grinding, but itll go up with the help of me pulling up on it. I've taken the panel off and watched it go up and down, and it sounds/feels like somethings slipping and not gripping the window to push it up/down. Anybody have any clues about what could be going wrong ? Could it be that the tracks are clodded with dirt or something ? Thanks, Shane

EDIT: when the window is all the way up, ill hit UP on the window switch, and the motor will try to go up, but it makes the same grinding noise........

 

[udmsvt]

sounds like chipped/missing teeth on a gear. take the door apart and check the parts....i hade similar problem with my sunroof on a previous vehicle, had to replace the motor because the gear wasnt sold by itself...cost me about 100 bucks from a junkyard but the window one will cost less than that.

 

[lo_jack]

Short answer: get a new motor, unless you feel like taking the motor assembly apart and changing the gear, if it is to blame.


Long answer (feel free to skip)
I have replaced 2 of my front window motors, and both of my back gears are stripped and currently held up by fence boards cut to size and wedged in the door (those gears are plastic to drive down the cost).

If your teeth are worn, your best bet is get a new or salvage motor. Hopefully someone else on here has actually disassembled one of the front motors and could tell you how to replace just the gear. I dont remember, but i do not think the gear is simply serviced by itself. Luckily the front gears are metal. The bottom half of the assembly (the actual motor coil, from which the wiring harness descends) will dissassemble from the gear part(I think with 4 hex screws), so you might be able to save yourself some $$ if it turns out your gear is to blame.

The real question someone should figure out is if mustang window motors from 84-93 will work on explorers, because those are in repro due to the large demand, and they cost about $40 for a new one. I paid that much for a salvage for my front right. I saw a pic of one in a mustang mag, and it looked very similar, and could save us 1st gen'ers a lot of time.

One more thing...sorry for rambling, window motors are a pet peeve of mine...it could be that your motor is just wearing., though udmsvt is probably right. My driver window goes down in phases...slow quick slow. Definately bad, and definately dying.

Hope all that rain that came in my stuck down windows pays dividends to someone else. Good Luck.