power window woes
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 403
Likes: 0
From: cincinnati hamilton
power window woes
has anyone replaced the power window mechanism in the front doors? mine shift forward and stick on the way down. i ordered and installed a new channel on the passenger side,it still shifts forward and sticks unless i pull down on the back corner. a neighbor of mine said if there is any play in the nylon bushing and lift arm that lifts the window it needs to be replaced. doesn't sound or look too easy. anyone have any experience with them? they must be sold as a whole unit, i guess i would have to drill out the rivits/screws that hold it all in the door.............. rick
FTE Community Team
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,842
Likes: 252
From: Oak Harbor, Washington
power window woes
I'm new here, but I'm sure that this topic MUST have been covered before.
Both of my power windows died several times before I got on the ball and did some major mods.
First: If you have an "early" Aerostar, like my '89, Ford will not sell you a replacement motor, they make you buy the motor + regulator assy, at well over $200. I know, this doesn't apply to your situation, but . . .
Next, the "early" power window regulators fail in a couple of ways. One is that the damn things just get very loose. I visited several junkyards and found a couple of "replacement" regulators and bought them, then bought aftermarket new motors from (Kragen/Schucks/Chief) for about $60 ea.
To remove the regulator, first use a punch on the rivets to remove the steel centers left behind, then a 1/2" bit to drill off the heads.
The next thing to be aware of is that the doors fatigue and crack out around the regulators' forward mountings. I thought that mine must have just had a hard life with lots of door slamming, but when I went to the junkyards and looked at other Aerostars, I found this cracking to be typical! I made up some aluminum doubler plates that reinforce the door around this area. I almost went into production and made up some "doubler plate kits" to bubble pack and sell, but figured that there wouldn't be enough demand to make it worth my time.
Lastly, buy the black plastic door panel mounting clips from Ford in advance. They come in packs of 10 (I have a pack around here somewhere), but each door takes 11! You have to replace ALL these clips EVERY time you take off the panel, or it'll work loose later. Fortunately, even from Ford they're not terribly expensive -- on the order of .40 each or $4 per package.
Regards,
Al S.
Both of my power windows died several times before I got on the ball and did some major mods.
First: If you have an "early" Aerostar, like my '89, Ford will not sell you a replacement motor, they make you buy the motor + regulator assy, at well over $200. I know, this doesn't apply to your situation, but . . .
Next, the "early" power window regulators fail in a couple of ways. One is that the damn things just get very loose. I visited several junkyards and found a couple of "replacement" regulators and bought them, then bought aftermarket new motors from (Kragen/Schucks/Chief) for about $60 ea.
To remove the regulator, first use a punch on the rivets to remove the steel centers left behind, then a 1/2" bit to drill off the heads.
The next thing to be aware of is that the doors fatigue and crack out around the regulators' forward mountings. I thought that mine must have just had a hard life with lots of door slamming, but when I went to the junkyards and looked at other Aerostars, I found this cracking to be typical! I made up some aluminum doubler plates that reinforce the door around this area. I almost went into production and made up some "doubler plate kits" to bubble pack and sell, but figured that there wouldn't be enough demand to make it worth my time.
Lastly, buy the black plastic door panel mounting clips from Ford in advance. They come in packs of 10 (I have a pack around here somewhere), but each door takes 11! You have to replace ALL these clips EVERY time you take off the panel, or it'll work loose later. Fortunately, even from Ford they're not terribly expensive -- on the order of .40 each or $4 per package.
Regards,
Al S.
