QuestionQUESTION: Goes down fine but seems to trip the 30amp CB when going up.
After the CB resets it will go up a little until it trips again.
Old CB changed no difference. I can hold two hands pressing on each side of the glass and lift while my wife pushes the up switch and it will go up ok. The Door panel is off and motor assembly appears to be riveted to the metal support. I have a new motor and reduction gear but not a plastic regulator that drives that belt forwards and backwards to open close the door. The belt seems ok. I lubed everything.
Near the bottom rear of the glass is a two 10mm bolted fixture.These bolts as found were not tight. Is this an alignment adjustment? The two 10mm bolts are in slotted holes so alignment seems possible. But if so, I do not know the procedure.
I'm trying anything I can because I don't want to really drill out these rivets. It would be a bugger to get replacement machine bolts in there.
It was my mother-in-laws car who passed away and my wife is selling the car. It's cherry with 84k miles except for this window. There has not been any door accident damage.
Thanks in advance. Any help or clues would he appreciated.
ANSWER: Hello Russ,
This is one of the more difficult window mechanisms to work on so don't feel too bad that you weren't able to deal with it right away.
I am not sure what the two 10MM bolts you reference are for. I can assure you that any adjustment you make on them will not solve your problem.
I don't know of any alternative to installing a new window motor. You will have to remove the window regulator/motor assembly to install the motor. Before removing the assembly, disconnect the glass from the regulator and slide the glass all the way up and secure it with a piece of tape over the top of the door. Next, disconnect the motor wiring connector. You should probably remove the speaker if there is one so you can use the opening to reach your left hand inside the door. Next you will need to remove the four or five rivets that hold the regulator/motor assembly to the inside of the door. If you punch out the center pins of the rivets it is easy to drill out the remainder of the rivet bodies using a 1/4 inch drill bit.
Once you have the rivets out, you need to turn the regulator/motor assembly so that you can get it out of the opening in the back of the door. This is not easy and it will probably take a little trial and error to figure out the best position, so be patient with yourself.
Once you have the assembly out of the door, you will see the three small rivets that hold the motor to the regulator. I don't think you'll have any trouble drilling out those small rivets and installing the new motor. However, once you have the motor off the regulator be sure to slide the regulator "tape" up and down to inspect for damage before installing the new motor.
As you mentioned in your question, you will have to re-install the assembly using nuts and bolts rather than rivets, but that shouldn't be too difficult. You can even use a "stove bolts" (slightly flat, rounded head) with the heads on the inside of the door and the nuts on the outside.
Sorry I didn't have better news for you. If there is anything else I can do to help, just send a follow up question.
Ben ... the power window guy
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi Ben,
Russ again.
The two 10mm bolts attach the window glass to the tape & track via a plastic clamp. There is just this one attachment point for the window drive. It is something of a balancing act. They have to be removed to remove the window from the drive. I played with them today and the window actually went up successfully a couple of times. The motor two wire connector can not be removed before motor removal since it is not accessible - forward of the motor toward the door hinges behind sheet metal.
If I punch out and drill the rivets holding the motor and regulator do I also need to do the same for the track holders. Do I have to remove all this hardware at once? Motor regulator all the track and tape?
Thanks in advance,
Russ
ANSWER: Hi Again Russ,
Oh, those two 10MM bolts! I doubt very much that adjusting those would help the performance of the window motor. As I mentioned in my first response, you do have to remove the glass from the regulator, and as you have discovered, those two bolts are what holds the glass to the regulator.
The motor cannot be separated from the regulator while it is inside the door, so you need to remove all the rivets (4 or 5) from the regulator/motor assembly before you can remove the assembly from inside the door. Once the rivets are out, you can slide the assembly back and remove the motor wiring connector before you can remove the assembly from the door.
Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help you with this project.
Ben ... the power window guy
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi Ben,
So I do have to also remove all of the Tape and Track when I remove all the other stuff?
Russ
AnswerHi Russ,
Yes, the metal track and the tape are part of the assembly.
If you want to get a "visual" idea of what you will be taking out of the door, go to EBAY and type in "1996 Buick Century window regulator." There are a couple of used ones listed for sale and they have a picture that will at least give you some idea of what you are dealing with.
Ben ... the power window guy
