Dr_Z
Member
- Joined
- February 23, 2003
- Messages
- 30
- Reaction score
- 9
- City, State
- Foxfield, CO
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2002 Eddie Bauer
Well, it finally happened to me. The front passenger side window failed. I wasn't sure what had happened, but the window was down and wouldn't come up. There was no sound of the regulator motor either. I had read where the replacement cost is in the hundreds if you get it done at a dealership or other service company. I really don't like to pay for something I can do myself, and with resources pretty tight, I ended up buying a new regulator and doing it myself.
There are tons of threads discussing how to do this, but not a lot of pictures. I wasted a bunch of time learning how, so I thought I'd document how I did it in hopes it might help someone else down the line. This should help show what you can expect.
This project took me about two full hours on a sunny, Sunday afternoon not including time to go get the new regulator from the car parts place. Approximately 4 beers were consumed.
Follow along as I make the switch... Also, shoot me any comments for improvement or questions if I was unclear, and I'll try to clarify.
Gaining Access
First, the door panel needs to be removed. Ford did a pretty good job of hiding all the fasteners, so this was a challenge. I finally figured out that the panel comes off in pieces.
Figures 1 & 2)
1) The first piece is the one surrounding the door opening lever (#1). Gently pry this off with something slim like a wide blade screwdriver. 2) Then remove the panel piece that holds the switches (#2). The wire connectors will separate after depressing the "button" on each one (#5, #6). Set these two smaller panel pieces aside for re-installation later. 3) Finally, the two screws at the bottom of the panel can be removed (#3). At this time, remove the screw that holds the panel at the main handle too (#4). This screw takes the brunt of the force required to pull the door shut.
Figure 1.
Figure 2.
At this point, the entire door panel can be removed as one unit. Keep in mind that the general direction for removing the panel is UP, not out. Start at the bottom and pry the lower part of the panel away from the door about two inches or so. Now lift the panel straight up using the bottom and the handle. It should come up and away as a unit. You can see the inverted L-shaped hooks that hold it to the door in Figure 3. Also, the entire upper portion of the panel sits in the window slot and holds the panel from the top. It's a pretty good design IMO.
Figure 3.
You will now see the watershield which covers most of the door. (Figure 4) This picture also shows the holes where the panel hooks fit, wiring, and access holes. I've got an Eddie Bauer edition, so if you don't, your setup may be somewhat different depending on accessories.
Figure 4.
This watershield should be removed carefully so it's not torn, since you will want to replace it exactly where it was. I started in the upper right corner and slowly pulled it back off the adhesive to expose the window mechanism. (Figure 5).
Figure 5.
Removing the Regulator
At this point, you will probably see cables or parts in the door.
To actually remove the regulator, there are six or so bolts that hold the motor and the two window lift guides (as I call them - not really sure what their real names are.) These bolts are clearly visible once the moisture barrier has been removed. You can see at least three of them in Figure 5 - they are cadmium plated (gold color).
Note: on one of the upper bolts holding a guide bar, the nut would not come off because the stud started rotating in place. I was able to remove the upper U-shaped window weather stripping channel and reach in with a pliers to hold the stud from the backside while I removed the nut.
If you need to gain acccess from the front side of the door to push out the front window guide, you will have to remove the speaker. It is held in by several small hex head screws. I was impressed by the quality and size of the speaker assembly (at least for a stock radio.)
How to remove the regulator from the window?
If your window is down, you'll need to move it about half way up. The window should slide pretty easily in its channels. At this point, you can see that the window glass is attached to the regulator with clamps on the bottom on each side. The clamps are held in place by RTV silicone. On some cars, these clamps are bolted to the regulator which would make maintenance easy. BUT NOOOOO....on mine, they were riveted.(Figure 6) However, I devised a clever (if I do say so myself) way of overcoming this problem.
Figure 6.
The clamps that hold the window to the regulator have arms that slide into the regulator mechanism. Figure 6 shows a closeup of one of these with the window removed so you can see the detail. I took a long nosed pliers and straightened the middle tang (finger) on the arm. This allows the arm to slide out of the regulator assembly glide by pushing the glide arm toward the center of the door. Both sides are removed this way. Figure 7 shows the clamp and glide assembly installed. Figure 8 shows the glide bar pushed to the left, and the arm on the clamp almost out of the assembly.
Figure 7.
Figure 8.
Be careful. After the arms are out of their assemblies, the window glass will want to slide down. I raised the glass to the fully closed position and taped it in place (blue tape in Figure 1).
The regulator assembly may be in pieces or still one unit, but either way, it will need to come out the large hole at the rear (right in these pictures). Don't forget to unplug the regulator motor from its cable at the plug.
What was the Problem?
Once the regulator was out, I found my problem. One of the small plastic cable guides was missing from the window lift guide cables. I'm guessing it broke somewhere along the way. This probably allowed the cable to fall out of position. Once the cable was out of position, it fell out of its track on the drum at the motor assembly. (Figures 9, 10 and 11) The cable had also frayed, which made it about impossible to rewind and re-use. I decided against trying to re-use the cables since, if I tried to re-use the cable and it fell off again, I'd hate to repeat all this!!
How the cable plastic thingy should look:
Figure 9.
How the cable actually looked (plastic thingy missing):
Figure 10.
Close up of the mangled cable drum assembly.
Figure 11.
The new regulator had the arms already installed and ready to bolt in. The old slide mechanisms were constructed exactly like the new ones, so I removed the sliding arm pieces from the new unit and slid on the old mechanism. This allows the use of the arms on the window clamp. (Again, you would not have to take this step if your arms bolt on - mine were riveted and drilling them out, finding reliable bolts, etc., was more than needed to be done.) Figure 12 shows the slide mechanisms side-by-side on the regulator track. You can see how similar they are. To swap the sliders, the cable tension needs to be released. This is done by removing the cable from one of the pulleys on the tracks.
Figure 12.
The ends of the cable are loose enough to remove, and the old slider can be put in place. It's easy to replace the cable on the pulleys. Start the cable on the smaller, inner pulley. (Figure 13) Then use your long nose pliers to rotate the pulley and pull the cable to the large pulley. Walla! All back together. Make sure there is a ton of grease over all the sliding parts, cables and pulleys. You don't want this to jamb up once it's together again.
Figure 13.
Figure 14.
To Reassemble the Regulator:
Reassembly is much easier. Jamb all the stuff back into the door through the large hole and position the sliders vertically.
Put the top bolt only through the upper hole on and put a nut loosely on each one. The allows each window clamp arm to be inserted into the regulator slider assembly. Get the arm started, then slowly push the bottom of the arm outward to force the arm into the slider. (Figure 8 then 7 in reverse) Put the lower stud through the lower hole and replace the nut when done.
Once both arms have been inserted into the sliders, tighten up all the nuts. Plug the regulator motor back in to its connector. Remove the tape from the window glass.
At this point, I tested the window by rolling it up and down several times to make sure there was nothing binding and that there were no strange noises coming from the mechanism. (Figure 15) You can do this by temporarily plugging the switch panel piece back in to its connector.
Figure 15.
If all is well, tighten up all the nuts, put the speaker back in, replace the watershield, plug all the cables and switches back in and push the little panel pieces back in. You're done!!
Time for refreshments!
Figure 16.
There are tons of threads discussing how to do this, but not a lot of pictures. I wasted a bunch of time learning how, so I thought I'd document how I did it in hopes it might help someone else down the line. This should help show what you can expect.
This project took me about two full hours on a sunny, Sunday afternoon not including time to go get the new regulator from the car parts place. Approximately 4 beers were consumed.
Follow along as I make the switch... Also, shoot me any comments for improvement or questions if I was unclear, and I'll try to clarify.
Gaining Access
First, the door panel needs to be removed. Ford did a pretty good job of hiding all the fasteners, so this was a challenge. I finally figured out that the panel comes off in pieces.
Figures 1 & 2)
1) The first piece is the one surrounding the door opening lever (#1). Gently pry this off with something slim like a wide blade screwdriver. 2) Then remove the panel piece that holds the switches (#2). The wire connectors will separate after depressing the "button" on each one (#5, #6). Set these two smaller panel pieces aside for re-installation later. 3) Finally, the two screws at the bottom of the panel can be removed (#3). At this time, remove the screw that holds the panel at the main handle too (#4). This screw takes the brunt of the force required to pull the door shut.
Figure 1.
Figure 2.
At this point, the entire door panel can be removed as one unit. Keep in mind that the general direction for removing the panel is UP, not out. Start at the bottom and pry the lower part of the panel away from the door about two inches or so. Now lift the panel straight up using the bottom and the handle. It should come up and away as a unit. You can see the inverted L-shaped hooks that hold it to the door in Figure 3. Also, the entire upper portion of the panel sits in the window slot and holds the panel from the top. It's a pretty good design IMO.
Figure 3.
You will now see the watershield which covers most of the door. (Figure 4) This picture also shows the holes where the panel hooks fit, wiring, and access holes. I've got an Eddie Bauer edition, so if you don't, your setup may be somewhat different depending on accessories.
Figure 4.
This watershield should be removed carefully so it's not torn, since you will want to replace it exactly where it was. I started in the upper right corner and slowly pulled it back off the adhesive to expose the window mechanism. (Figure 5).
Figure 5.
Removing the Regulator
At this point, you will probably see cables or parts in the door.
To actually remove the regulator, there are six or so bolts that hold the motor and the two window lift guides (as I call them - not really sure what their real names are.) These bolts are clearly visible once the moisture barrier has been removed. You can see at least three of them in Figure 5 - they are cadmium plated (gold color).
Note: on one of the upper bolts holding a guide bar, the nut would not come off because the stud started rotating in place. I was able to remove the upper U-shaped window weather stripping channel and reach in with a pliers to hold the stud from the backside while I removed the nut.
If you need to gain acccess from the front side of the door to push out the front window guide, you will have to remove the speaker. It is held in by several small hex head screws. I was impressed by the quality and size of the speaker assembly (at least for a stock radio.)
How to remove the regulator from the window?
If your window is down, you'll need to move it about half way up. The window should slide pretty easily in its channels. At this point, you can see that the window glass is attached to the regulator with clamps on the bottom on each side. The clamps are held in place by RTV silicone. On some cars, these clamps are bolted to the regulator which would make maintenance easy. BUT NOOOOO....on mine, they were riveted.(Figure 6) However, I devised a clever (if I do say so myself) way of overcoming this problem.
Figure 6.
The clamps that hold the window to the regulator have arms that slide into the regulator mechanism. Figure 6 shows a closeup of one of these with the window removed so you can see the detail. I took a long nosed pliers and straightened the middle tang (finger) on the arm. This allows the arm to slide out of the regulator assembly glide by pushing the glide arm toward the center of the door. Both sides are removed this way. Figure 7 shows the clamp and glide assembly installed. Figure 8 shows the glide bar pushed to the left, and the arm on the clamp almost out of the assembly.
Figure 7.
Figure 8.
Be careful. After the arms are out of their assemblies, the window glass will want to slide down. I raised the glass to the fully closed position and taped it in place (blue tape in Figure 1).
The regulator assembly may be in pieces or still one unit, but either way, it will need to come out the large hole at the rear (right in these pictures). Don't forget to unplug the regulator motor from its cable at the plug.
What was the Problem?
Once the regulator was out, I found my problem. One of the small plastic cable guides was missing from the window lift guide cables. I'm guessing it broke somewhere along the way. This probably allowed the cable to fall out of position. Once the cable was out of position, it fell out of its track on the drum at the motor assembly. (Figures 9, 10 and 11) The cable had also frayed, which made it about impossible to rewind and re-use. I decided against trying to re-use the cables since, if I tried to re-use the cable and it fell off again, I'd hate to repeat all this!!
How the cable plastic thingy should look:
Figure 9.
How the cable actually looked (plastic thingy missing):
Figure 10.
Close up of the mangled cable drum assembly.
Figure 11.
The new regulator had the arms already installed and ready to bolt in. The old slide mechanisms were constructed exactly like the new ones, so I removed the sliding arm pieces from the new unit and slid on the old mechanism. This allows the use of the arms on the window clamp. (Again, you would not have to take this step if your arms bolt on - mine were riveted and drilling them out, finding reliable bolts, etc., was more than needed to be done.) Figure 12 shows the slide mechanisms side-by-side on the regulator track. You can see how similar they are. To swap the sliders, the cable tension needs to be released. This is done by removing the cable from one of the pulleys on the tracks.
Figure 12.
The ends of the cable are loose enough to remove, and the old slider can be put in place. It's easy to replace the cable on the pulleys. Start the cable on the smaller, inner pulley. (Figure 13) Then use your long nose pliers to rotate the pulley and pull the cable to the large pulley. Walla! All back together. Make sure there is a ton of grease over all the sliding parts, cables and pulleys. You don't want this to jamb up once it's together again.
Figure 13.
Figure 14.
To Reassemble the Regulator:
Reassembly is much easier. Jamb all the stuff back into the door through the large hole and position the sliders vertically.
Put the top bolt only through the upper hole on and put a nut loosely on each one. The allows each window clamp arm to be inserted into the regulator slider assembly. Get the arm started, then slowly push the bottom of the arm outward to force the arm into the slider. (Figure 8 then 7 in reverse) Put the lower stud through the lower hole and replace the nut when done.
Once both arms have been inserted into the sliders, tighten up all the nuts. Plug the regulator motor back in to its connector. Remove the tape from the window glass.
At this point, I tested the window by rolling it up and down several times to make sure there was nothing binding and that there were no strange noises coming from the mechanism. (Figure 15) You can do this by temporarily plugging the switch panel piece back in to its connector.
Figure 15.
If all is well, tighten up all the nuts, put the speaker back in, replace the watershield, plug all the cables and switches back in and push the little panel pieces back in. You're done!!
Time for refreshments!
Figure 16.
