Andrew Booth

37 minutes ago, fendervg said:

The "hit it with a mallet" method can buy you several more years - using the windows often will also help stop them from seizing. We'll try anything to save us from doing this jjob - both beacuse it's a right pig, and because working replacements are so hard to source.

The motor is part of the cable assembly, so it can't really be detached, especially when it's in the door They are also not (and have never been) available separately, although you can get aftermarket versions that have a separate motor. These were intended as an upgrade for cars without electric windows.

Any time it is ever mentioned, the whole assembly needs to be replaced, although you could in theory open it up once off the car and refurbish the innards.

In any case, you will need Inspector Gadget arms.....

 

Thanks fendervg. Very helpful. You're right about this being a pig of a job. I'm loving the "several more years" positivity!

Thank you Matt. That's actually very interesting - I thought a whack on the motor would only ever be (at best) a very temporary/one-off solution. The possibility that it could be a long-term fix is pretty encouraging. How long has yours been ok after the whack?

Hoping from some help from this super-helpful community. I have read every thread on here and cannot find a definitive answer to these two questions:

1. Can you replace JUST the motor on the window regulator mechanisms (I know @fla stripped his motor down and removing it is easy - just two star/torx screws - so I cannot see why I couldn't just put a different motor back on there having removed the old (broken) one ...... but there are plenty of posts on here which say "you can't replace the motor - only the whole regulator" so I'm just checking my logic here.

2. Supposing you can replace just the motor, can you replace it with the regulator in situ? This one seems like a tall order .... 

My driver side motor is goosed but my regulator works ok (and the plastic stoppers are still ok, miraculously). I have sourced a different motor which works fine (attached to a broken regulator!) so my dream solution here is to leave the existing, working regulator in place (saving my knuckles and the plastic stoppers which always seem to break when people remove these) and just swap the motor. Anyone done this? Thanks in advance.