smt91278

hey all, got a 89 iroc. power window motor is on its last leg. i dread removing door trim panels, and breaking push pins and fastners. can anyone tell me how hard it is to get the door trim panel off? Once i get it off, how hard is the motor to remove and replace?

moninjars

I know that the original motor is riveted in so you got to shave those off. Replacing it sucks cause you got to readjust the window. Oh yeah make sure you support the window cause itll fall. Last The motor is like 30 something bucks at autozone (get the siemens, lifetime warranty)

5678TA

takes quite some work to replace a window motor.. the motor is rivetted to the door and should be rivetted back on.. the rivets are huge and take a special tool made for big rivets.. then the other part is adjustment.. takes a while but the finished result is great.. and take your time with the adjustment because you dont want the window falling off the track later on.. been there, done that..

Firebat

iTrader: (7)

there is an easier way...i didn't have to readjust anything

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...t=window+motor

Blackbird down

91' Formula, It took 2 people a Rivet gun, Drill, other stuff. I somehow put the gear for the window in backwards, and had to have a good mechanic friend show me how it goes, and it took him a while to figure out. If you did'nt like the door panel, that was very easy. I had a hard time, maybe it' just me. My cars not even running, right now, I think it's the Ignition module, or the computer, or one of the leeds to the computer. It died at a red light. Watch your older parts.

IrocEspo28

I DON NOT WISH THAT ON ANYONE, TAKE IT TO A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL. IT WILL SAVE TIME, KNUCKLES, AND A GIANT HEADACHE. PAY THE MONEY!

Firebat

iTrader: (7)

All i used was the template on thirdgen.org to drill 4 holes, then used small bolts. Thirdgen.org is your friend

RCAR7395

iTrader: (124)

I used the template on the link article posted by someone above and it all worked perfect. I cant believe I was sweatin it for two weeks. It was simple and had nothing to adjust. Make sure to have help for hand me this and hand me that and supporting the window while you drill.
Use screw drivers to hold and support the window up throw the holes in the scissors thing that raises and lowers the window. Put the template up on the door when the panel is off and line it up. You can put a finger or two on one or two of the rivits and even feel them by reaching between the inside of the door and the motor. Your purpose of drilling those holes is to expose the rivits , and then you can see them and drill thim out and the motor will fall to the floor.
I never took anything else out of the door and just used the existing parts inside the door. They geared up together fine. Piece of cake ! You can do it Dude.
I was intimadated worse than you. I have only been on this board about a month or 2 and never really did much working on cars. My 16 yr old son got his 1st car in April (91 RS) and I needed to learn to fix what ever comes up to save him cash. I liked it so much I had to buy an 86 Z28 for myself. Now I'm getting too much practice.
This site has so many people that are happy to help you. Do it! You'll be glad you fixed it yourself.
This was the 1st thing I fixed on my son's car. I couldn't let him open the door at the drive thru window! And the economy would suffer if he actually had to enter McDonalds and not just go to the window!
Remove the door panel if you can, If not all the way have some one hold it up for you as you drill. Good luck and please keep us posted on your results.

Belker

As said, if you do the "drill some small holes method" it is really easy.

1982TA

iTrader: (1)

Well, I finally decided to change out my drivers side window motor. I've probably read every post on the subject, since I've had my door panel off for about 6 months for the motor. I have to say it was NOT hard at all! I did it the way the shop manual says, I didn't want to bother with drilling through the door panel and using templates...some people say it works. If it does for you, that's fine. I wanted to do it "right" way.

(Don't take this the wrong way...everybody has a method and I am in no way saying my way is better than anybody elses method. I just decided to use the manual method)

Anyway, you will need 2 people. I tried to use door stops to hold the window up, like it shows in the shop manual. Didn't work. It slowly started to fall. The first thing I did was remove the window guide/track at the door latch end. If you don't take this out, have fun getting the regulator out. I then drilled out the 4 rivets holding the regulator/motor assembly. Make sure the window was down halfway by using the motor, it lines up a hole in the regulator gear and "housing". After the rivets are out, slide the regulator arms to the door latch end to get the off the track. There are 2 on the top track and one on the bottom track. They should slide out no problem. Then just guide the whole assembly out the big hole at the door latch end.

The motor is riveted to the regulator. If the regulator was lined up there should be a hole in the center. Get a big screw driver, or in my case, a highlighter marker and stick it in the hole. This will keep the regulator from springing back and cutting your hand off . Drill out the 3 rivets on the motor and take it off. Put the new motor in it's place. Mine came with screws and nuts. They worked fine, but some have said they stripped them. Don't over tighten them and they will work fine. Make sure the teeth on the motor line up with the teeth on the regulator. Use the rivet holes as reference. If it doesn't quite line up, hook the power to the motor and use the switch to lower or raise the regulator until the rivet holes line up. Rivet or screw it back on.

Now just slide the regulator back through the hole and line up both arms on the top track, and the lower on the bottom track. Then bolt in the window guide/stop you took out previously. Now have someone hold the window and get the motor/regulator in position, using the rivet holes as guides. Have your helper raise or lower the window to get them lined up. Now you can use bolts and bolt the regulator back in, or use rivets. I would reccomend rivets, however I bolted mine in. Bolting them in is a the only part that is a PITA! Use rivets! It would be soooo much easier. I got 3 of the 4 bolts in, but I'm going to get rivets and use those instead. For the first time doing this I would say it's pretty easy. I know there are tons of write ups on this, but I thought I'd share my experience and the methods I used. Overall it took me probably about an hour to replace the motor and reinstall everything.

luvofjah

iTrader: (2)

I did mine this weekend too...

I removed it by myself (and the help of a rubber mallet to hold the window) but puttingi it in, a friend is needed.

Mine had already been replaced, so instead of rivets, there were 4 bolts holding it in the original position...

I did not want to lose a finger, so I found a guy on Craigs list that works on car windows, brought him the new motor and the arm / old motor and he switched them for $20 bucks...

As for taking the motor out initially, I removed the guide / track that was closest to the door handle, it goes from top to bottom at an angle. After that was out, 3 bolts, I was able to slide the window motor / arm out the back.

Rafael