I'm in the middle of replacing my driver's side window motor. All the instructions I've found talk about how you should secure the regulator in place before removing the old motor so you don't lose the tension in the clock spring.
Well I read all those after the whole thing was already apart so now I've got a regulator, a clock spring, and a new motor and I need to know how to put them together.
There's only two conceivable ways for me to do this. I can either install the motor at the end of the half-moon gear that would have the window fully open and place the spring on with almost zero tension at this point.
Alternately, I can rotate the part that the motor mounts to 180 degrees and put the spring on. I can then rotate it into position putting quite a bit of tension on the spring before securing it in place and then mounting the motor.
In the first option, it doesn't seem like there will be enough tension on the spring to make it actually useful until the window is most of the way down.
In the second option, it takes a LOT of force to pull the motor mount around when you put the spring on that way. It seems there's way more tension than is necessary to counter the weight of the window so it seems like overkill. Of course, the instructions I've read talk about the spring tension making this thing dangerous and to be really careful when working with them. This amount of tension certainly makes the thing dangerous.
Does anyone have the 411 on exactly how that spring should be?
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damn man have fun. i wish i could even afford the replacement parts for mine. my driver side one goes about halfway down then if you try to put it up the damn thing takes like 3 hours to move like a inch and i dont know if its the motor, regulator, or switchs but its annoying as hell..
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If you've got access to a multimeter, the first thing to do is pop off the door panel and check the voltage to the motor. At least you'll narrow it down.
Anyone else know how to mount this spring??
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Yeah, that's the motor.
The spring goes on the regulator and provides a counter-force to the weight of the window.
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This link won't answer your intial question but it is a handy one for all.
The vehicle in the article is a S10 Blazer I know but the motor set out is the same. It helped me out when I changed mine.
Changing Power window Motor
Yeah, I found all sorts of useful instructions after I'd already taken the thing apart.
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Try this .. Domestictunerz.com
My write up .. I have done dozens of window motors .. never have I seen a spring on anything .. must be something different from the 95-01 <br>
Hit 200 na Headed for 300
Thanks man. My only issue right now is how to put the spring on though.
Here's some pics of what I'm talking about. The first pic shows the first way I could install it and the second pic shows the second. That silver bracket behind the regulator is where the motor mounts.
In the first pic, the motor bracket is lined up at the top of the half moon gear. As it sits, there is no tension in the clock spring and the bracket sits where it would be with the window almost all the way up. As the bracket is moved along the gear, the spring builds more and more tension, though not really all that much at the bottom.
In the second pic, it would have to be rotated just over 180 degrees clockwise to be in position, putting a whole lot of tension on the clock spring to begin with and obviously more and more as the window goes down.
<img src="http://www.precizion.org/forums/download.php?id=1352">
<img src="http://www.precizion.org/forums/download.php?id=1351">
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Nobody, eh? Guess I'm gonna have to go experimenting on this one.
Off to take apart the passenger door to see what sort of state it's spring is in...
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man no wonder you are having problems .. you took it apart way to far .. just follow the directions I gave you above .. its like a 20 min job. <br>
Hit 200 na Headed for 300
Took it apart too far? I did pretty much exactly what your directions say.
And I've got the problem solved.
The correct answer is that it's supposed to be installed in the second manner, with the 200 degrees of massive tension.
And here's how I know...
I went to the trouble of opening up my passenger side door to see if I could tell what the tension was like on that spring. If my first option was correct, there wouldn't be any tension on the spring with the window all the way up. If there was, then it could only be the second option. There's simply no other way to do it.
So... with the door panel off I peeled back the plastic... reached around inside the door and found... nothing. No spring. Nada. At some point, probably in a round of cost cutting, it seems that GM decided the spring wasn't necessary and pitched it entirely. Remember that my driver's side door is from an older car. The mount for it was still there as was the tab that it sits against to make tension. No spring though.
With that in mind, I figured I was pretty safe in using the spring in the configuration with the least bit of tension. Since it was also the easier way to set it up, it seemed like the best solution so that's what I did.
I got everything bolted up and tested out the mechanism. It seemed to be working properly.
I installed all the door hardware and got the window back in. I tested again and it still worked fine. I was just about done. Since I'd been testing the windows and had the key in a lot (with the reverse lights on) I figured I'd run the car and see how it worked with full power. I didn't want to run the car in the garage so I got in and shut the door... and CLANG. I heard something drop. I reached into the door and felt around and found the spring sitting at the bottom of the door. So that was that. Obviously, it had to be the second solution because in the first one, it just falls off.
I could take it apart and put the spring back on properly... but this recent one was the second motor that door has killed. My passenger door is still working fine with it's original so I figure I'm certainly not worse off without the spring in there. What's more... is the new motor is working a good 20% faster than the passenger side! Before, both were just about identical so I've taken a big step in the right direction with this one.
So it stays. Mystery solved. The spring appears to be best placed in the garbage.
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so i can install the motor without worrying about the spring?
Your first pic confused me for a second, I have replaced the left front motor on my 01 3 times and never saw anything like that. Glad you got it figured out, by the way what motor did you use?
I found that the new Siemens motors that Advanced Auto sells have worked the fastest and longest so far, it also helped when I did the Big 3 for the stereo system and adding extra ground cables throughout the car that electrical things just work better now.
