Power window motor

shu-man

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need some help. I have a 1980 Lebaron town and country wagon. I keep eating up power window motor gears. I replaced the gear 3 times and keep breaking at the same place. Which is the small gear that runs against the main window plate. I thinking the teeth are bad on the plate. And would like to replace everything. So if any one has one that I can purchase. It for front driver side window. Thanks
 

old yellow 78

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Try contacting F body Deconstructor Jim. He is a valuable member here on the site who has a large collection of F/M/J parts for good prices! ;)
 

BudW

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I replaced the gear 3 times and keep breaking at the same place. Which is the small gear that runs against the main window plate.
Are you talking about this gear (red arrow) or this gear (black arrow)?
ACI 87433m.jpg

The red arrow gear is viewable from outside of the power window motor.

I’ve rebuilt and replaced hundreds of these power window motors – which are (except for the plug-in pigtail as well as Left vs. Right) the same from mid ‘60’s to early ‘90’s.

The problems I run into most is either the (what I call them) pucks disintegrate or the grease has solidified to almost the hardness of a common rock. It is rare to have the electrical part of window motor go bad.
I’ve heard them being called pucks, plugs, spacers and other names I won’t mention.
P Window gear.jpg

What I call the pucks are indicated by the white triangle.

The three round pucks are the weak link, which I feel was designed that way. Better to break a part that costs a dime than to break a $100 dollar motor (costs are figurative, not literal).
I had seen a few broken ring gears (the bigger part, in above picture) – but not as many as broken/disintegrated pucks.

A link that describes how to rebuild power window motors:
How To Rebuild Power Window Motor Clutch Assemblies
This link points to another link at For C Bodies only: How to rebuild Chrysler Power Window motor clutch assembly

Before reading that I’ve never thought about replacing the plastic pucks with metal nuts – but it makes sense. I would take your motor apart (as described) FIRST to make sure the plastic gear is not broken. If the gear is broken, it will be easy to tell. If it is broken, get a new gear kit (picture above). A few people manfacture it:
Dorman 747-411 (about $20)
Cordone 82-94 (about $21)
ACI 87433 ($12, on RockAuto.com)
Dodge 2932973 – but these have been out of production for a long time.

If gear is fine, clean all parts and cavity. A paper towel with a shot of carburetor cleaner helps, as well as a flat screwdriver (to scrape the hard grease out).
Use some, correction, use a lot of high-quality grease. Too much grease is better than not enough, in this case.

I've been successful with using the rounded corner nuts and as well as using metal tubing.

I have seen a few times the teeth on window regulator are worn away (the red arrow on top picture) – but not very often. The puck replacement takes care of 95+% of all power window motor problems, I’ve worked on.


One caution: The window regulator spring is under a lot of pressure. Sometimes too much and sometimes not enough to hold up the glass. I recommend taking a piece of 2x4 wood and place under the glass, inside of door – or sometimes in one of the holes behind the door panel (sticking out sideways), so glass doesn’t sharply drop, severing a finger (or worse), before removing the window motor.
I recommend only removing the window motor, with regulator still attached to the door, if at all possible.

The window regulators are all pop-riveted into the door shell, on all FMJ’s (I believe). If you plan on removing a power window motor and regulator (which is OK to do in some cases) and then separate the two pieces (window motor from regulator) after both have been removed – you will be in for a HUGE surprise. Without the weight of the door glass on the spring, the window motor (or regulator, or spring) will shoot off with high velocity, knocking parts/tools/body parts through steel doors, through concrete walls, through people, etc. so I highly recommend removing the window motor from car with the regulator still attached to door, before removing the window regulator.
I have seen too many co-workers harmed that way.


If you plan on removing the rivets that attach a window regulator (or door lock actuator), it is not hard. I like to find a straight punch 1/8” (3 mm) and use a 2 pound (1 kg) short handle hammer and drive out the steel rivet pin first. It doesn’t take much to drive out the pin – but a regulor “nailing” hammer just doesn’t have the oomph needed. Once the pin is out, take a ¼” (6.35 mm) drill bit and drill out the aluminum rivets. Once the steel pin is out, it only takes a few seconds to drill. If the steel pins are left in place – it will take a good long while to drill ‘em out.
With a punch, hammer and a drill, I can remove the 4 (or 3, depending on the car) aluminum pop rivets in about 5 minutes or less, total.
Pin Punch.jpg

2 lb Hammer.jpg


You can get replacement rivets – but it takes a huge pop-riveting tool to get them installed. I recommend getting some ¼” diameter bolts/nuts, that are ½” long to reinstall with. The bolts/nuts will cost less than rivets will cost you (not counting the cost for the HD tool, which you might only use once).
HD Pop Rivet tool.jpg

Recommended - HD rivet gun
LD Pop Rivet tool.jpg

Not strong enough - normal rivet gun

Note: I have tried to use the normal size pop rivet guns on those big rivets, but it takes a lot bigger guy than me (ie: impossible for 99.9% of us). Even with the huge tool, those rivets are still hard to install.
BudW
 

shu-man

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Thank u. Turns out the regulator was bad. The teeth were ground down and chewing up the gear.
 

Aspen500

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Soemtime's when the shank breaks on those large rivets, you can feel the shock wave in the force, along with every bone in your body. A real nerve racker is on vehicles that the glass uses those big rivets to attach it to the regulator. You're only one slip away from a million pieces of glass, like if the rivet gun jumps when the shank snaps, and the nose of the gun hits the glass just right (or is that just wrong?). Never had it happen personally but, I saw it happen a couple times over the years at work. :eek:
 

BudW

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I’ve done hundreds (thousands?) of pop rivets (all sizes). Those window regulator pop rivets remind me more of the (red hot) steel rivets used to construct ships or skyscrapers. Yes, a poor comparison, but not too far from it.
BudW
 
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