Electric window slow - fix
10-01-2013, 06:08 PM
#1
Electric window slow - fix
Hi,
I am submitting this on behalf of a friend, who had this issue with his Mustang, and was able to find the source of it. He put together a thorough write-up on how to fix it for those encountering the issue.
This was done on an 05 convertible.
Hello All, I am new to the submitting something to a forum but for some time I've used the forums for guidance so I figured I should pay off my debt and submit something.
My Background: Fairly new to working on cars. I am an electrical engineer so I have some skills there.
Problem: Driver side window slow to roll up
Solution: I did many things so it is difficult to isolate what action had the most impact. It wasn’t until my fourth attempt that I got the window to roll up faster. Could be tons of lubrication (white lithium grease and Tri-Flow) but I give it a 50/50 chance it was the motor.
How I did it:
Removal of Interior Door Panel
To remove the interior door panel you will need:
Removal:
1. Pull the side mirror control module off with your hands (pull out horizontally) and disconnect the electrical harness
2. Remove the plastic plate behind the door lever (you can use the small flathead screwdriver and pry from the lower left corner)
3. Remove the T-30 screw from the door lever
4. Use a flathead screwdriver to pull off the plastic cover behind the door handle. Be mindful of the tabs on the cover and make sure they do not to pull on the vinyl.
5. Remove the T-30 screw from behind the door handle
6. Remove the window control module from the door by hand. Pull horizontally first. After it pulls out, disconnect the electrical harnesses. You may need to pull the top plate off too (you could remove the top plate off first if you wish).
7. Remove the 7mm hex screw that was hidden behind the window control module.
8. Remove the 7 mm hex screws along the perimeter of the door (Sorry, didn’t bother to count but I would guess 8 along the perimeter).
9. Have the needle nose pliers and flathead screwdriver nearby. Pull up on the interior door panel and partially remove it. Disconnect the woofer and door lock electrical harnesses.
10. Disconnect the door lever cable. Pull on the door lever (like you were opening the door from inside the vehicle) and use the needle nose pliers to hold the slack of the cable (you can let go of the lever now). Move the cable to the slit on the backside of the door lever. Use the small flathead screwdriver to push the cable cap out of the door lever.
11. Use the needle nose pliers again to pinch down the flared plastic anchor on the cable sheath to disconnect the cable assembly from the door bracket.
12. Your door should now look like this...
13. Remove the plastic wrap from the door. Only the bottom section needs to be removed. The black adhesive is probably called Butyl. It’s an interesting material that stays tacky (like 70’s fashion). Best to avoid getting dirt on the material.
Removal, Inspection, & Cleaning of Window Motor
To Remove / Service the window motor you will need:
WARNING: Those with pacemakers shouldn’t be around magnets or fast changing magnetic fields. The field strength between the magnets is a bit over 1,000 Gauss or ~ 0.1 Tesla. Do not try to remove the magnets from the stator. Keep in mind that any object containing iron will be attracted to the magnets (like a screwdriver). It’s always smart to wear gloves when working near magnets to prevent pinched fingers. Don’t wear a watch or jewelry.
PICTURES: In the pictures you may see me not wearing gloves. I am not a good example to follow. I have years of experience with inventing, designing, and building electric motors. I understand well how magnets behave.
Something useful to know: Magnets can be weakened by jerk. Jerk being the derivative of acceleration (which is the derivative of speed, which is the derivative of position with respect to time). In short, try not to drop the stator or hit it hard against something. If you do by accident, don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll be fine.
Removal:
1. The window motor and gear assembly (I believe officially called the motor regulator) is affixed to the door by three screws. The motor itself can be located by following a harness with large connector in the lower right cutout of the door panel.
2. Disconnect the harness from the window motor assembly.
3. With a T-25 Torx Driver, remove the 4 screws on the four corner flange mounts of the motor’s stator. The stator is a shinny metal / iron cylinder just above the window motor assembly connector. Try not to let the screws fall as it will be a pain retrieving them from the abyss at the bottom of the door. I suggest you have one of those tools with the small magnet at the end of a telescoping biro (pen) for retrieving fallen screws handy.
4. Pull the stator off with your hand. You’ll be pulling perpendicular to the plane the stator was mounted too. It will probably move a centimeter or so then feel like it’s stuck on something. That feeling is the magnetic field trying to keep the stator on. As you continue to pull on it harder it will surprise you and let the stator go suddenly. Try not to bang your hand on the window slide rail. When removed, keep the stator a foot away from metal objects (includes the car door unless you plan to remove the paint anyway). The result of your work should look like the figure below.
5. There should be two arc shaped magnets and two arc shaped retaining springs inside the stator. Inspect the inside of the Stator for debris. You can clean the inside of the stator with a clean paper towel by twisting it and jamming it in there with your finger (don’t use a metal screwdriver). It’s smart to wear gloves too.
6. Going back to the window motor assembly you will see the rotor suspended with the copper windings weaving in and out of iron plates. Spin this counter-clockwise. The rotor should be backing out and eventually come off.
7. At the end of the rotor shaft is the worm gear. Inspect for damage.
8. Verify that the leads from the windings connect to the commutator contact pads and none of the wires are cut or damaged (this is unlikely). There will be two connections 180 degrees apart that look different (this is okay).
9. Now for the part that I believe affected my motor. I found little black carbon particles between the commutator pads. If the resolution of the attached picture is high enough you will see the carbon particles on the black / grey (rev counter index) cylinder between the worm gear and commutator pads. This is bad. These electrically conductive carbon particles come from one of the two carbon brushes on the window motor assembly (mine was chipped). Clean the rotor from all the carbon particles if you have any. Pay close attention to the gaps between the commutator pads. If the gaps are not free of the conductive particles, windings are shorted and the motor will loose strength / speed. I found cotton swabs to work well between the commutator gaps.
10. If you have some very high grit emery paper, I would suggest a light rubbing of the commutator pads with the emery paper to clean / remove oxide layer. This might not be a useful step depending on the climate you live in.
Reinstallation of Window Motor & Lubrication
Unfortunately the safest / best way I found to reinstall the motor is by taking more of the window regulator apart. This isn’t a bad thing as it will give better access to important parts that need lubrication.
To Reinstall / lubricate the window motor you will need:
1. Use a small flathead screwdriver to (CAREFULLY) pull back on the plastic tabs on the window regulator’s electrical connector.
2. Carefully pull out the electrical connector (*If this is too challenging at the moment, try it again later after your instructed to remove the regulator).
3. You will see a circuit board on the back of the electrical connector that you’ve just removed. Give it a quick look to make sure you don’t see any green powder type substance or any other signs of corrosion / damage. You should see a layer of non-conductive glue on most of the conductive parts. WARNING: Don’t touch the electronics (this includes your fingers, paper, metal objects, etc.). Some parts may be ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) sensitive.
4. Inspect the carbon brushes for chips / damage. Inspect the copper braided wires leading to the brushes for connectivity.
5. Insert the rotor into the electrical connector assembly. Push the carbon brushes back to allow the rotor to enter up to the point of the commutator pads aligning with the carbon brushes.
6. Disconnect the window motor regulator from the door panel. There are three nuts in the center of the door panel that hold the window motor regulator onto the door. Remove the nuts. The window motor regulator will be suspended by steel cables and you will be able to pull the window motor regulator closer to the cutouts in the door panel.
7. Spray Tri-Flow lubrication between the cable sheaths and cables. Spray the cable wheel, cable wheel axel (accessible at the back of the motor regulator), and worm gear pinion (accessible where the rotor is inserted).
8. Reconnect the rotor & electrical connector assembly to the motor regulator. You will need to turn the rotor such that the worm gear can enter the regulator.
9. Place a few drops of 3 in 1 oil into the bearing of the stator housing.
10. Reattach the stator housing
11. Reconnect the window motor regulator to the door panel.
Additional Lubrication
1. Apply Tri-Flow between the cable and sheaths at the four corners of the door. At the top of the door it might help to remove the weather stripping. It might also help to look for the green pulleys to lead you to the cables.
2. Apply white lithium grease to the two vertical slide rails that the window grabs onto.
Reassemble the door
1. Do the reverse of taking apart the door with the following considerations below.
2. Make sure your window is clean from any grease or Tri-Flow. Otherwise when you roll it up it will spread to the weather stripping.
3. The really neat tacky black adhesive may not be tacky enough to hold the plastic covering back onto the door. I’m told this adhesive is called Butyl. I was unable to find a store that sells this. Unfortunately I had to use caulk, which does the job, but is not as nice as butyl.
4. Your window most likely will need to be reprogrammed. This is a 2-person job unfortunately. From the two options of removing the fuse or disconnecting the battery I found battery disconnection to be the easiest. Search the Internet for the official ford procedure on this.
5. If you get into a jam where the window travel is so short that you can’t disconnect the battery in time while the window is moving you will need to take apart the door, remove the stator housing, and manually twist the rotor (ensuring it doesn’t back out) to reposition the window. Try to avoid this by performing the window-reset procedure to the letter!
Hope this helps you save ~$100 from buying a new window motor regulator and who knows how much it would be to pay someone to have all the fun.
I am submitting this on behalf of a friend, who had this issue with his Mustang, and was able to find the source of it. He put together a thorough write-up on how to fix it for those encountering the issue.
This was done on an 05 convertible.
Hello All, I am new to the submitting something to a forum but for some time I've used the forums for guidance so I figured I should pay off my debt and submit something.
My Background: Fairly new to working on cars. I am an electrical engineer so I have some skills there.
Problem: Driver side window slow to roll up
Solution: I did many things so it is difficult to isolate what action had the most impact. It wasn’t until my fourth attempt that I got the window to roll up faster. Could be tons of lubrication (white lithium grease and Tri-Flow) but I give it a 50/50 chance it was the motor.
How I did it:
- Removal of Interior Door Panel
- Removal, Inspection, and cleaning of Window Motor
- Reinstallation of Window Motor & Lubrication
- Additional Lubrication
- Reassemble the door
Removal of Interior Door Panel
To remove the interior door panel you will need:
- A T-30 Torx Driver
- A 7 mm socket (preferably with a slim profile ratcheting driver)
- A small flathead screwdriver
- Needle Nose Pliers
Removal:
1. Pull the side mirror control module off with your hands (pull out horizontally) and disconnect the electrical harness
2. Remove the plastic plate behind the door lever (you can use the small flathead screwdriver and pry from the lower left corner)
3. Remove the T-30 screw from the door lever
4. Use a flathead screwdriver to pull off the plastic cover behind the door handle. Be mindful of the tabs on the cover and make sure they do not to pull on the vinyl.
5. Remove the T-30 screw from behind the door handle
6. Remove the window control module from the door by hand. Pull horizontally first. After it pulls out, disconnect the electrical harnesses. You may need to pull the top plate off too (you could remove the top plate off first if you wish).
7. Remove the 7mm hex screw that was hidden behind the window control module.
8. Remove the 7 mm hex screws along the perimeter of the door (Sorry, didn’t bother to count but I would guess 8 along the perimeter).
9. Have the needle nose pliers and flathead screwdriver nearby. Pull up on the interior door panel and partially remove it. Disconnect the woofer and door lock electrical harnesses.
10. Disconnect the door lever cable. Pull on the door lever (like you were opening the door from inside the vehicle) and use the needle nose pliers to hold the slack of the cable (you can let go of the lever now). Move the cable to the slit on the backside of the door lever. Use the small flathead screwdriver to push the cable cap out of the door lever.
11. Use the needle nose pliers again to pinch down the flared plastic anchor on the cable sheath to disconnect the cable assembly from the door bracket.
12. Your door should now look like this...
13. Remove the plastic wrap from the door. Only the bottom section needs to be removed. The black adhesive is probably called Butyl. It’s an interesting material that stays tacky (like 70’s fashion). Best to avoid getting dirt on the material.
Removal, Inspection, & Cleaning of Window Motor
To Remove / Service the window motor you will need:
- A T-25 Torx Driver
- Emery Sandpaper
- Cotton Swabs
WARNING: Those with pacemakers shouldn’t be around magnets or fast changing magnetic fields. The field strength between the magnets is a bit over 1,000 Gauss or ~ 0.1 Tesla. Do not try to remove the magnets from the stator. Keep in mind that any object containing iron will be attracted to the magnets (like a screwdriver). It’s always smart to wear gloves when working near magnets to prevent pinched fingers. Don’t wear a watch or jewelry.
PICTURES: In the pictures you may see me not wearing gloves. I am not a good example to follow. I have years of experience with inventing, designing, and building electric motors. I understand well how magnets behave.
Something useful to know: Magnets can be weakened by jerk. Jerk being the derivative of acceleration (which is the derivative of speed, which is the derivative of position with respect to time). In short, try not to drop the stator or hit it hard against something. If you do by accident, don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll be fine.
Removal:
1. The window motor and gear assembly (I believe officially called the motor regulator) is affixed to the door by three screws. The motor itself can be located by following a harness with large connector in the lower right cutout of the door panel.
2. Disconnect the harness from the window motor assembly.
3. With a T-25 Torx Driver, remove the 4 screws on the four corner flange mounts of the motor’s stator. The stator is a shinny metal / iron cylinder just above the window motor assembly connector. Try not to let the screws fall as it will be a pain retrieving them from the abyss at the bottom of the door. I suggest you have one of those tools with the small magnet at the end of a telescoping biro (pen) for retrieving fallen screws handy.
4. Pull the stator off with your hand. You’ll be pulling perpendicular to the plane the stator was mounted too. It will probably move a centimeter or so then feel like it’s stuck on something. That feeling is the magnetic field trying to keep the stator on. As you continue to pull on it harder it will surprise you and let the stator go suddenly. Try not to bang your hand on the window slide rail. When removed, keep the stator a foot away from metal objects (includes the car door unless you plan to remove the paint anyway). The result of your work should look like the figure below.
5. There should be two arc shaped magnets and two arc shaped retaining springs inside the stator. Inspect the inside of the Stator for debris. You can clean the inside of the stator with a clean paper towel by twisting it and jamming it in there with your finger (don’t use a metal screwdriver). It’s smart to wear gloves too.
6. Going back to the window motor assembly you will see the rotor suspended with the copper windings weaving in and out of iron plates. Spin this counter-clockwise. The rotor should be backing out and eventually come off.
7. At the end of the rotor shaft is the worm gear. Inspect for damage.
8. Verify that the leads from the windings connect to the commutator contact pads and none of the wires are cut or damaged (this is unlikely). There will be two connections 180 degrees apart that look different (this is okay).
9. Now for the part that I believe affected my motor. I found little black carbon particles between the commutator pads. If the resolution of the attached picture is high enough you will see the carbon particles on the black / grey (rev counter index) cylinder between the worm gear and commutator pads. This is bad. These electrically conductive carbon particles come from one of the two carbon brushes on the window motor assembly (mine was chipped). Clean the rotor from all the carbon particles if you have any. Pay close attention to the gaps between the commutator pads. If the gaps are not free of the conductive particles, windings are shorted and the motor will loose strength / speed. I found cotton swabs to work well between the commutator gaps.
10. If you have some very high grit emery paper, I would suggest a light rubbing of the commutator pads with the emery paper to clean / remove oxide layer. This might not be a useful step depending on the climate you live in.
Reinstallation of Window Motor & Lubrication
Unfortunately the safest / best way I found to reinstall the motor is by taking more of the window regulator apart. This isn’t a bad thing as it will give better access to important parts that need lubrication.
To Reinstall / lubricate the window motor you will need:
- A wrench / socket (I forgot the size needed)
- A T-25 Torx Driver
- A small flathead screwdriver
- Aerosol Tri-Flow lubrication
1. Use a small flathead screwdriver to (CAREFULLY) pull back on the plastic tabs on the window regulator’s electrical connector.
2. Carefully pull out the electrical connector (*If this is too challenging at the moment, try it again later after your instructed to remove the regulator).
3. You will see a circuit board on the back of the electrical connector that you’ve just removed. Give it a quick look to make sure you don’t see any green powder type substance or any other signs of corrosion / damage. You should see a layer of non-conductive glue on most of the conductive parts. WARNING: Don’t touch the electronics (this includes your fingers, paper, metal objects, etc.). Some parts may be ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) sensitive.
4. Inspect the carbon brushes for chips / damage. Inspect the copper braided wires leading to the brushes for connectivity.
5. Insert the rotor into the electrical connector assembly. Push the carbon brushes back to allow the rotor to enter up to the point of the commutator pads aligning with the carbon brushes.
6. Disconnect the window motor regulator from the door panel. There are three nuts in the center of the door panel that hold the window motor regulator onto the door. Remove the nuts. The window motor regulator will be suspended by steel cables and you will be able to pull the window motor regulator closer to the cutouts in the door panel.
7. Spray Tri-Flow lubrication between the cable sheaths and cables. Spray the cable wheel, cable wheel axel (accessible at the back of the motor regulator), and worm gear pinion (accessible where the rotor is inserted).
8. Reconnect the rotor & electrical connector assembly to the motor regulator. You will need to turn the rotor such that the worm gear can enter the regulator.
9. Place a few drops of 3 in 1 oil into the bearing of the stator housing.
10. Reattach the stator housing
11. Reconnect the window motor regulator to the door panel.
Additional Lubrication
1. Apply Tri-Flow between the cable and sheaths at the four corners of the door. At the top of the door it might help to remove the weather stripping. It might also help to look for the green pulleys to lead you to the cables.
2. Apply white lithium grease to the two vertical slide rails that the window grabs onto.
Reassemble the door
1. Do the reverse of taking apart the door with the following considerations below.
2. Make sure your window is clean from any grease or Tri-Flow. Otherwise when you roll it up it will spread to the weather stripping.
3. The really neat tacky black adhesive may not be tacky enough to hold the plastic covering back onto the door. I’m told this adhesive is called Butyl. I was unable to find a store that sells this. Unfortunately I had to use caulk, which does the job, but is not as nice as butyl.
4. Your window most likely will need to be reprogrammed. This is a 2-person job unfortunately. From the two options of removing the fuse or disconnecting the battery I found battery disconnection to be the easiest. Search the Internet for the official ford procedure on this.
5. If you get into a jam where the window travel is so short that you can’t disconnect the battery in time while the window is moving you will need to take apart the door, remove the stator housing, and manually twist the rotor (ensuring it doesn’t back out) to reposition the window. Try to avoid this by performing the window-reset procedure to the letter!
Hope this helps you save ~$100 from buying a new window motor regulator and who knows how much it would be to pay someone to have all the fun.
10-02-2013, 01:50 PM
#5
I am not familiar with the blue electrical cleaner you are talking about, although if its a liquid, it would need to evaporate, otherwise it will collect other dust etc.
10-07-2013, 06:28 AM
#6
Join Date: May 2013
Location: California
Posts: 10
He who B Adrian is right. I B the guy who fixed the slow window and took the pictures.
Which blue electrical cleaner are you referring to out of curiosity?
Adrian is spot on with the comment on collecting dust, evaporative, etc. Compressed air is a good idea. I got by with just the cotton swabs. The important part is to remove conductive particles between the commutator pads so that there are no "shorts". You want the current to go through the windings and not bypass any windings by having a conductive path from pad to pad. The carbon brush is conductive. The brush is just like a graphite pencil (Do kids use these things anymore?). That in mind, it should be easy to imagine that sometimes decent size bits come off and get stuck between pads.
In case your wondering, yes, the brushless motor does exist. For your car window... don't bother searching.
Thanks for the feedback. Glad to see the "how to" is liked. If anyone knows where to get the butyl type adhesive or what it's really called I'd appreciate it.
Cheers!
Which blue electrical cleaner are you referring to out of curiosity?
Adrian is spot on with the comment on collecting dust, evaporative, etc. Compressed air is a good idea. I got by with just the cotton swabs. The important part is to remove conductive particles between the commutator pads so that there are no "shorts". You want the current to go through the windings and not bypass any windings by having a conductive path from pad to pad. The carbon brush is conductive. The brush is just like a graphite pencil (Do kids use these things anymore?). That in mind, it should be easy to imagine that sometimes decent size bits come off and get stuck between pads.
In case your wondering, yes, the brushless motor does exist. For your car window... don't bother searching.
Thanks for the feedback. Glad to see the "how to" is liked. If anyone knows where to get the butyl type adhesive or what it's really called I'd appreciate it.
Cheers!
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