Question
'94 Taurus Passenger D
QUESTION: Hello Ben:
Thank you in advance for any guidance you can provide.
I have a 1994 Ford Taurus GL station wagon, VIN number 1FALP57U3RAXXXXXX,with 3.0 liter engine, automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes, power mirrors, cruise control, air conditioning, power door locks and power windows with about 136,000 miles.
The rear passenger door window is stuck in the down position. I've confirmed: (1) all fuses are good, (2) both the driver door switch and passenger rear door switches send 13.8 Vdc (no load) and 10.5 Vdc (motor connected) to the electric window motor. (3) I've tried assisting the window to raise by hand with up position switch engaged, tapping on the motor, and (4) spraying the window guide rail with Gunk Knocker Loose to ensure the window can easily travel. As a last resort I tried (5) slamming the door with one or both switches engaged to try and dislodge the motor. I've concluded the window motor is likely defective.
Here are my questions:
(1) May the window regulator assembly be jammed in some manner I haven't noticed? The guide rail looks relatively clean with little corrosion, dirt or dried grease. What other checks can I make?
(2) How does one remove the motor from the gear and regulator assemblies? The motor appears to be held to the gear assembly by four, gold colored Phillip screws. If it is indeed the motor assembly, how does one access the two screws close to the exterior door skin? In turn, the gear assembly appears to be attached by three 5/16" bolts to a brace holding both the gear assembly and the window regulator. I removed the three bolts but the motor/gear assemblies did not loosen from the brace. The brace is held onto the inner door skin by three large rivets.
(3) Is there a way to manually operate the gear and regulator assemblies to raise the window, either with the motor attached or detached?
(4) Once raised, should the regulator assembly and window stay up without having a motor attached or should they be braced into place? Unfortunately, I am unable to purchase replacement parts at this time so I am more concerned about getting the window into the raised position than I am about having a functional window.
I've attached a photograph showing the parts I've spoken of in this message.
ANSWER: Hi Jim,
I'll answer your questions in the order your presented them.
1. I highly doubt that the regulator is stuck.
2. The motor is held onto the regulator with three (3) gold colored 5/16" bolts. The bolts are arranged in a triangle pattern about 2" apart. Often not all three bolts are visible or easily accessible. You may have to drill one or two 1/2" holes in the sheet metal of the door to access the hidden bolts.
3. There is no way to move the regulator with the motor attached, but once the motor is removed, you should be able to easily move the window up and down by hand unless there is some sort of damage to the regulator and the associated components.
4. Once you have removed the motor and raised the window it will tend to stay up, but it might "creep" down after a few thumps and bumps of normal driving. If you wish, you can brace the mechanism up or use an appropriately placed screw or even a cable tie to keep the regulator from moving.
You did a great job of investigating and explaining your problem. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.
Ben ... the power window guy
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
94 Tarus Right Rear Wi
QUESTION: Ben,
Thank you VERY much for your advice and assistance. The motor froze. I disassembled the motor and am it appears that one of the brush springs came loose so one of the brushes was not touching the armature.
All the gear teeth, motor armature and internal gear grease looks brand new! The brushes appear about half worn. I'm hoping I can figure out a way to keep the brushes and brush springs in their correct positions so I can reassembly the assembly. Any suggestions are welcome! Amazing lack of wear after seventeen years of use! If I can get the assembly back together and it works, great! If not, the window is currently held in the upright position by two tie wraps.
Here are a few additional observations that may help someone remove or replace a Tarus/Sable motor in the future.
The motor and gear assembly should be removed as one unit. Three 5/16" bolts in a triangle mounting pattern hold the assembly to a mounting bracket.
My assembly had two pieces of foam stuck to the assembly with double sided tape. A 1" X 2" rectangular piece is mounted to the motor and a 2" diameter circular piece with a 1" hole in the middle (like a doughnut) is mounted to the gear assembly. The foam pieces keep the interior door sheet metal from rattling against the motor assembly. These foam pieces may need to be removed from the assembly before you can remove the motor assembly.
In addition to the three bolts and foam, my motor and gear assembly was held to the mounting bracket by a low tension adhesive. If you try to remove the assembly from the bracket by pulling the assembly straight toward you, good luck! I had to twist the motor assembly in a counter clockwise direction about a quarter of a turn before the adhesive released.
I have attached a photgraph of the removed assembly. I will add a second photograph of the back side of the assembly in another posting.
AnswerHello Jim,
I am glad you found the information useful and got your window up.
I typically do not repair motors. am able to buy new motors directly from the importer, so my cost for a new motor is less than the value of the time necessary to repair the the old ones. Therefore, I do not have any advice on how to repair the worn or mis-positioned brushes in your existing motor.
If your attempt to repair your existing motor doesn't work out, I suggest you purchase a new motor from one of the local auto parts stores in your area. Ask for a Dorman brand motor. I believe the Dorman part number should be 742-277. Whatever you do do not install a re-built motor. Most of them are very unreliable.
Ben ... the power window guy
