Window Motor Installation (w/pics)

UPDATE: PICTURES re-linked and ATTACHED

First let me say that this is a pretty good pain the ass. It took me 2 hours, but thats better then dishing out $500 to the dealer. Also, wear gloves; both of my thumbs are shredded after performing this install.

Window motor purchased from permier subaru for $124.

1. First you must remove the door panel. Instructions for that can be found here: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20069

2. Next peal back the plastic, its held on by silicone, so it’ll stick back up there when you are done. Also remove the plastic panel on the bottom left of the door. You can pretty much just pull it off, it is held in with a few plastic clips attached to the piece.


3. Locate the window motor and crank gear(Circled in red) and the 4 bolts(Circled in green) holding it on. Remove all 4 bolts, BUT be careful, if the window is up, it will want to come down, so you must slowly ease the window down. Probably best to have a second pair of hands…I didn’t.


4. Next thing that we have to do is remove the motor from behind the door. To figure out just how to do this, it took me about 45 minutes. Find the two nuts holding the top rail(Circled in blue, already removed) and the one nut holding the bottom rail(Circled in red). Remove these nuts. Also, notice the small tab (pointed at with Pink Arrow). Bend this tab back so we can slide off the rails.
WARNING: After doing this and bending the tab back, it broke off!!! So, be careful. I crimped the end of the rail to make up for the missing tab.


5. Slide off the rails and pull out the motor and crank


6. The motor is held on by 3 bolts (circled in red).


7. New motor



8. Put everything back together. One piece of advice, when I was mounting the motor back in, I could only get one bolt to mount to the door. So I attached the window switch and carefully pulled the window up. After one or two taps on the switch, the motor moved right into place.



As its stands, the window works. I also performed the window switch mod so its not clunky and works better then new. One issue is that when the window goes up, it stuggles the last inch or so. Also when the window is down and i close the door, it makes a loud hollow sounding sound. My guess is the there is a guide on the inner edge of the door that it came off of, so when i get another free weekend, i'll try and tackle that.

Interesting that the mechanism uses a sector gear. Most power windows I have seen use cables.

if it was a cable system i think it'd be a hell of alot harder to replace.

Nice write up. Why wasn't this covered under warranty though? Or are you out of warranty?

Interesting write up.

What was the window switch mod???

Btw, next time you disassemble it, could you take few closeup pics of the switch itself? The rumor is it's a Nissan switch and if we could find another Nissan one with auto-up function it would be plug-and-play for auto-up feature.

I know the current Nissans/Infinitis use different switch (and have auto-up functions for front or in case of Inifnitis also for rear windows). Funny thing that switch is used in 07 Forrester.

yeah sure, i'm planning on taking it back apart when the weather clears up a bit here.

The window mod is when you take the switch off of the door, and pop-off the drivers window button. Then you take the small white pin and flatten the tip slightly, this will allow it to grip better so it goes down w/o pressure (from your finger).

If you search you will find it on this forum.

I know the OP was from '06, but does anyone have the p/n for the motor? Mine died recently and need to replace it. When I called the dealership, the cost was $215 though.

my windows are like being held up by sumthing, it takes some dificulty for the motor to go up and down at some spots... what could be the reason? is that that the cover is not put in properly? as i did put new speakers!!

Can the window switch housing (your last picture) be pulled off the door without removing the interior door panel? I'm going to have to replace the drivers side window switch soon.

Originally Posted by LongHiway

Can the window switch housing (your last picture) be pulled off the door without removing the interior door panel? I'm going to have to replace the drivers side window switch soon.

You have to pull the panel off to replace the door switch. Having said that, it is very easy just to pull the door off and change the switch. That was the first thing I tried, and the whole process took maybe 30 minutes.

Thanls for the tip and link. I've done this on other cars, they never seem to go back on as nicely as from the factory.

Ok, did this today and overall wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. The writeup helped tremendously though. I probably wouldn't have attempted it without it, so thanks for the detailed writeup. It still took me the better part of two hours though. Actually, putting it back together was the worst part. I could not get the four motor bolts to line up correctly, so I kept having to mess around with that.

Also, instead of bending that tab down (which almost seemed impossible without breaking it), there is another nut on the front of the bottom rail that you can take off easily. Then slide the assembly out.

And you weren't kidding about your hands. I sliced my thumb open somehow and had blood everywhere.

waiting on pics of the switch part number to see if we can get some nissan switches with auto-up feature....

Didn't even think about taking pics of the motor. But, I have to pull the panel back off as my window is mis-aligned a little. Not sure if I have to pull the assembly back out or not (I'm hoping not), but if I do, I'll make note of the p/n's.

don't they sell a mod that makes our windows auto up and down?