87 power window problems/questions

[87Z52]

Hey all,

Last fall when I put the car to bed for the winter, the passenger window would not move. It had worked great up until that day when it did nothing. I decided to leave it until spring so here we are.

I pulled the door panel today and noticed that the interior lights dim ever so slighly (as normal) when the switch is moved and I can hear a "click" from inside the door. No movement of the regulator at all.

Now, this car has always puzzled me because I was always under the understanding that 87 was the first year for the new-style regulators (non-ribbon type). My driver's door appears to have the ribbon type because it is very slow (like my brother's 86 was) compared to the pass. side. Also, the mounting bolts on the bottom edge of the door indicate that it is indeed the older style regulator (two bolts, one toward each end of the door). The newer regulators (correct me if I'm wrong), have two bolts relatively close to each other toward the rear of the door (as is the case with my passenger door).

My car is a very early 87 (within the first 130 cars of the model year). Is it possible they were still using up old ribbon-style regulators for the driver's door? Anybody else run across this?

Anyway, back to the problem. What is the likely failure here? Motor? As long as I've got the door apart, I think I'll be replacing weatherstripping as well. Since I want to replace the weatherstripping on BOTH doors, I'll have the other door apart. As long as I'm inside the OTHER door, I was considering replacing that regulator with the newer-style unit. This little "fix" is snowballing as usual!!

Any ideas on fixing the passenger door? Any tips on replacing the old ribbon regulator in the driver door?

Thanks in advance!

 

[87Z52]

Update: I got the rest of the door apart (inner panel) and I was about to unplug the motor and check voltage but I thought I'd try the window again. I could still hear the "click" at the motor when the switch was moved (like it was getting power) but no movement. I lightly tapped on the motor housing with a tool and it sprang to life and now seems to work flawlessly!

Is this a sign of the motor dying? Should I put it back together and hope for some more life from it or should the motor be replaced as long as I'm "in there."

Also, the '87 factory manual lists the convertibles as having the newer regulators and the coupes having the old ribbon units. Can anyone verify this? If this is true, a previous owner must have replaced the passenger side unit with the newer style at some point. It's funny that it's THAT one that is acting up and not the old ribbon unit in the driver's door! Go figure.

 

[offshore]

tough call. and it's your call it sounds like a hung brush. if it were mine i'd load the mtr. w/wd-40 or the like run many times and if i had "no" fault whatsoever i'd button it up water can get in and cause the brush to hang. then again the mtr. could fail in july 95 deg. 90 % humidity.

 

[silver 80]

Your that far, you might as well replace it if you have a new one. keep the old one as a spare. So how of a PIA was it to get where you are now?

 

[87Z52]

It was not hard at all to get the door this far apart. Having done it once now, I could really get it done in a hurry again if I had to.

I don't have the new motor yet so I may just button it back up. Spraying WD-40 into the motor won't hurt anything?

 

[Eagle85C4]

If you have gone far enough to remove the motor, then take it apart and clean it. The armature has a ring the brushes ride on....Take emery cloth or fine sandpaper and clean it till it is shiny. You will notice there are grooves between the little copper pieces...use an exacto knife to run down into each groove and clean between them all around the armature. Now take the sand paper and LIGHTLY sand the bottom of the brushes, just enough to take the shine away. Take the bearings and coat them liberally with white lithium grease. Reassemble the motor. Hook it up outside the door and run it up and down a few times to reseat the brushes and make sure it works prior to assembling it back in the door. Apply the lithium to the ribbon cable after cleaning the old junk out of it and it's housing. Need anymoore help just hollar...good luck

 

[EDDYVETTER]

I had the same problem with mine. It didn't work i took it out tapped on it bench tested it it worked so i put it back in worked like a dream.Went to dinner two nights later and i couldn't roll it up. had to leave my window down while i ate could'nt enjoy myself at all. My wife wanted to go dancing afterwords NOT!!!!
make long story short replace it. It's like the old days if your starter didn't work tap on it and it worked in other words your starter was going south. My 2 cents worth