The window regulator is all 1 module, consisting of the motor, a spool for the cable, the cables themselves, the coupling the ends of the cables attach to, and the track the coupling (and window) rides along. The motor simply turns the spool, retracting 1 end of the cable while letting the other end out. Each end of the cable attaches to a coupling that rides on the window track, and the window attaches to the coupling. Might be hard to understand from reading it, but when your looking at the assembly it should all make sense.
The easiest thing to do is to detach the window from the coupling (there is a clip that holds the ball joint on the window to the coupling), pull the window all the way up and hold it in place with a screwdriver or something. The motor and track both will unbolt from the framing of the door, 4 screws for the motor I think, and 3 or 4 screws for the track. Unbolt everything and it all should come right out.
Not sure how your window will roll down but not roll up. Usually if the coupling breaks, the window falls right into the door and you can't re-attach it without replacing the coupling. The worst thing that can happen is if the ends of the cable break free from the coupling, because if you try to run the motor the cables will get tangled up in the spool and your probably screwed. Bottom line, if your window falls into the door and you suspect the coupling broke, don't touch the window switch! If your lucky, all you'll need to do is get a new coupling and re-attach it.
If you're unlucky like I was, your cable got tangled up in the spool. Its possible to fix it, but it involves drilling out the rivet to open the casing, straighten out the cable because it's likely bent up, fix the grooves in the spool that the cable rides in, re-winding the cable around the spool and putting it all back together. I had to use a torch to heat up the cable and straighten it out, and also had to re-establish the grooves in the spool because when the cable got tangled up it mangled the grooves, making it hard for the cable to ride properly on the spool. Once you get it back together, you have to keep it together because the rivet was drilled out. One stainless steel screw, some 2 part epoxy and a couple tie straps, and so far mine has held together (thank God).
I'm sure some can be so damaged that it can't be fixed, but you won't really know until you get it apart. If you're mechanically inclined, it's worth a shot trying to overhaul it yourself, but don't recommend trying to fix it on your own if you don't know what you're doing, I'd hate to see one get ruined in a poor attempt to fix it.
Hope this helps.
After seeing Chucks thread today I decided to take one more look at my drivers side window which is stuck almost fully down.
maybe I missed something in my 3 previous attempts.
anyway the motor gets power( for both directions) and will go down but not up.
travels smoothly down with no binding.
my question is for one of the gurus, how does this assembly work?
I know there is a cable involved but exactly how?
is there some kind of worm gear internal to the motor that the cable travels through?
can I disassemble the motor without damaging it and would it do any good?
getting my ac fixed won't do much good with the drivers window stuck down.
Thanks
