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.

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=112982&stc=1&d=1329959165

 

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.

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=112983&stc=1&d=1329959165

 

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.

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=112981&stc=1&d=1329959123

 

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

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=112984&stc=1&d=1329959165

 

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

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=112985&stc=1&d=1329959165

 

7. New motor

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=112988&stc=1&d=1329959165

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=112987&stc=1&d=1329959165

 

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.

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=112986&stc=1&d=1329959165

 

 

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.

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?

thr easiest mode to have all window auto.... kip pressin with your thumb

i wud love to have that mod... its too stressfull to b putin up one by one, as i like:wub: to drive with my front windows open

Bumping old thread - can anyone verify this is easier than following the FSM (removing glass)?

so what's up with that auto up mode?

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.

 

I actually unbolted the bottom rail entirely - 2 nuts: one towards the rear of the door(circled in red in the 2nd picture), and the second about 3/4 towards the front. There's a hole in the inner door 'skin' in which you'll see most-forward nut. Didn't have to mess with the tab on the rail whatsoever. The whole assembly slides right out.

 

Keep in mind when you're putting it all back together that there is a forward guide that's attached to the window glass itself, and the guide-slide is located about as far forward and towards the interior as you can get. It's easy to put it all back together without having that forward guide in the right place.

1. Put the motor & rail assembly inside the door
   
2. Tweak the glass so the front guide is in its rail
   
3. Lift the glass up as high as you can & get someone to hold it
   
4. Loosely reattach the 2 rails, the shorter 'upper' rail to the door skin (2 nuts, about 5-6" apart), then the window-rail.
   

Same as the OP, I could only get one or two screws started on the motor/bracket assembly, but by hooking the switch back up, I could jiggle the window up/down until one of the others lined up.

 

Took me 2 hours, with all the messing about to get the motor lined up right & then cleaning up my mess. And then, of course, I buttoned the whole thing back up and realized I forgot to put the plastic insert back into the door skin (Second part of step 2 in the OP). Duh

 

+1 gloves: handy for avoiding getting sliced up and silicone all over yourself.

Just wanted to give a huge tip to anyone that is going to tackle this.

 

I used some soft grip clamps that I had to pinch the glass right above the door, holding it in the up position during the entire motor replacement. This made it possible to swap the motor out without taking the assembly out of the door. All you need is a 1/4" socket with a #3 screw bit in it to get the screws off the back side of the motor.

 

I was done in less than an hour with no cuts on my hands.

Thanks for the great right up, it really helped with the process of replacing the window motor.

 

Update** I tackled it using kukles method which made it much easier cutting the time down to 45 min. I hope Legacy05GT and kukles, you don't mind me giving a revised version to help everyone out.

 

1. As stated do this http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20069 **take note of instruction #4 on this link. Where the glass meets that section you will place a soft clamp there as well to keep the front half of the window from falling in**

 

2. Next with the window still all the way up, place a soft clamp on the bottom outer edge where the glass meets the lip to prevent the back half from falling back into the door. http://www.lowes.com/pd_93410-281-53...ductId=3255150

 

3. Then peel back the plastic and unplug the power lead going into the window motor.

 

4. Remove the 4 bolts circled in green as provided by Legacy05GT

5. Then remove the 2 nuts circled in blue and push the two threadings back into the hole (this should cause the whole motor assembly to swivel down to the opening for easier access for removal)

 

6. As stated by kukles you will need this http://www.lowes.com/pd_338552-22328...ductId=3387782 using the PH3 screw bit with a 1/4" socket wrench in order to reach behind the motor assembly and remove the three screws holding it in place.

 

7. Important::make sure when you put in the new motor that the small gear on it sits flush to the crank gear (also be sure that it is 2 to 2.5 inches down from the final tooth of the crank gear.

 

8. Once the motor is secured in place with the three screws, lift the motor back behind the door panel and replace the 4 green circled bolts. Then realign the 2 blue circled bolts and do the same. (make sure the green and blue circled bolts are tighten loosely to allow wiggle room)

 

9. Finally remove the soft clamps At this point you may tighten the bolts. plug the power lead back into the window motor and window relay switch to make sure its working before putting the door panel back on in reverse order.

 

////Credit goes out to Legacy05GT and kuckles for all of the pics info and alternative ideas////

Just want to post that this epic thread helped me knock this out in 1 hour! You guys rock. Now I don't have to open my door at the drive through

Thanks for the picture, i just did this repair on a 05 outback and it was the first time doing a window motor.

 

i didnt have to remove the gear assembly, i unbolted 3 of the 4 gold bolts and let the 4th loose and taped the window up. i then used a stubby phillips screwdriver and loosened the motor by feel and pry it out with my hands. i then lined up the new motor back in til the holes aligned and i screw in two of the small screws for the motos just to hold it in position. i then hooked up the electrics to bump the motor til it lined up with the sector gear and fell into place and then i tightened up everything and put it all back together. it only took me 35mins for the complete job

 

hope this helps

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.

My husbands about to attempt this project now.The only Add I would make is that you'll need a 10M socket! He's off to the parts store!

Great write up and help. Thanks. So glad I didn't attempt that without seeing this.

 

I just swapped the motor without removing the additional rail bolts mentioned in the write up. I just removed the first two easy ones but not the one inside the door.

 

The screws are terrible. Make sure you use a good screw driver bit that engages thoroughly and you can put sufficient pressure on so it doesn't strip.

 

I made one of the mistakes mentioned the big gear was overextended past where it could engage the motor gear. But just redid it.

 

I installed one motor bolt then briefly pressed the window button and they all lined up within seconds. Super easy. Just get one bolt in and use the button.