power window motor bushings and brushes

[85crownHPP]

The drivers motor in the p72 was dying, so i finally did something about it. Re-manufactured ones just don't seem to last, so I decided to try out 'rebuilding' one myself for the first time.

Some people will insist that you have to take the regulator out of our cars to R&R the motor, but they are ignorant. If they haven't been drilled out already, you will find three tiny dimples where you need to drill. (make them large enough to get your 8mm socket through)

Once you get the door panel off and the holes drilled, you can get right at the bolts to release the motor. The glass should stay in place where it is, you can secure it with something if you are a worry wort.



Ta daaa!!


now take that skank apart



more to come...

[85crownHPP]

One bushing had exploded, the other two getting ready to. You can get replacement bushings from the HELP section of your local discount auto parts store, most places should have the whole gearset too if it happens to be damaged.

[Lincolnmania]

the inside of that motor looked pretty good......you should see how nasty mark VII window motors get inside when the dew wipes fail

they can usually be rebuilt as long as the brushes are intact and the magnets stayed in place to the motor housing.

[85crownHPP]

The green arrows point at the brushes, these make electrical contact to the rotating part of the motor and are designed to wear out. Once they wear out enough they can slip out of place and get covered in their own crud, leaving a poor connection. These aren't too bad, but I replaced them with some better ones I had.

Harvesting tip: you can pull just the end caps and attached brushes through the speaker hole with the door panel still on... the passenger side is *usually* better off than the drivers side. save the springs if you can, they are easy to loose and crucial.

Hose everything off with electrical cleaner, and polish the copper contacts on the electro-end of the motor (red) with some fine sandpaper.



Twist-ties are one method to ease re-assembly. This is another test of patience, since the strong magnet will want to pull the motor out of the end cap, letting the brushes spring back out of place. try to re-use the thin gaskets if you can salvage them. Some silicone might work well in its place (to keep moisture out)

[85crownHPP]

Yeah I was surprised too, it was a virgin door panel, not bad for an original motor. Its dew wipes are cracked up too...

[Lincolnmania]

half a spring from a retractable ball point pen works in a pinch if you have a rusted weak spring behind the brushes

[1990LTD]

is there a spot to buy a lot of these bushings online? i can get them from the parts store just fine but they've usually got one package of 3 and then have to order more in

[BerniniCaCO3]

thanks, this is helpful! I'd bought the remanufactured units, I'll see how long they last , but I still have my cores and might be doing the same myself in a little while! Maybe rebuild them when I'm bored some weekend

[sly]

you could always buy that one pack... go over to a hardware store and stock up on nuts or ball bearings that are the same diameter. once you're done sizing everything up... take the plugs back to the parts store for a refund. You'll end up spending less for all the hardware than just one pack of those plugs.

[1990LTD]

you could always buy that one pack... go over to a hardware store and stock up on nuts or ball bearings that are the same diameter. once you're done sizing everything up... take the plugs back to the parts store for a refund. You'll end up spending less for all the hardware than just one pack of those plugs.

i'm going to do exactly that tomorrow!


is the only difference between a front/back motor the length of the wire?

[1990LTD]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5530177861276020764

anyone see this before?

[87gtVIC]

That is an absolutely fantastic video aside from the part where he pry's on the door frame to remove the old door panel clips and tries to clamp down on the gear once the bushings are replaced.

[85crownHPP]

well it almost lasted a month...it got stuck down again today... a smack on the motor while holding the switch got it going again. The brushes I put in it looked almost new... I think I cleaned everything electrical that needed to the cleaned... wtf!!!
Are they that sensitive to moisture? The dew wipes are shot, and Im sure I made the poor end seals even poorer.
Can you put any kind of electrical grease on motor contact points to keep moisture out?

At least I haven't put the door panel back on yet... I had a feeling this might happen

[85crownHPP]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...77861276020764

anyone see this before?

I kept waiting for that guy to go "mmmm hmm"

[gadget73]

Moisture won't help thats for sure. Are the gaskets in the motor still intact? If they're missing or torn, it will be more susceptible to moisture problems.