Driver's window has stopped working, suggestions sought.

[decampos]

Driver's window worked but was considerably slower than the passenger's side. I removed the door card and began greasing the runners and the mechanism. Window started to speed up nicely, down, up, down, up, down, up, *stopped*

The window now won't move, is not the switch as I swapped them around but to no avail. Any suggestions on what I buggered up?

(looks like rust in the photograph but it's just some weird adhesive).

Many thanks

 

[Stevehose]

Stuck up or down or in between?

is the motor trying to turn - does the little gear on the motor shaft move slightly when switched up or down? If so move the shaft while the switch is on and unstick it.

 

[adawil2002]

I'd start with replacing the fuse. Then work from there if that doesn't fix it.

 

[decampos]

Thanks for the replies.

I'd start with replacing the fuse. Then work from there if that doesn't fix it.

Unfortunately all the fuses are fine.

Stuck up or down or in between?

Stuck all the way up

is the motor trying to turn - does the little gear on the motor shaft move slightly when switched up or down? If so move the shaft while the switch is on and unstick it.

I can't see anything moving but I hear a click coming from the motor/mechanism when I operate the switch. I don't know how significant that is.

Any further suggestions very much appreciated.

 

[Stan]

Does your car have this small red breaker switches?

 

[decampos]

Does your car have this small red breaker switches?

Is that what these switches are? They're not in my OM.

 

[Stan]

That is them

 

[Stevehose]

press the switch to the down position and try spinning the motor shaft in the direction it wants to go in to go down - it's probably stuck

 

[decampos]

That is them

What are they for? Could they be part of the problem I'm experiencing?
Thanks
Ben

 

[decampos]

press the switch to the down position and try spinning the motor shaft in the direction it wants to go in to go down - it's probably stuck

Okay thanks, I'll try that.

 

[HB Chris]

They are circuit breakers, be sure they haven't tripped. Also, there is a wire junction just inside the kick panel, if it is loose nothing will work.

 

[decampos]

press the switch to the down position and try spinning the motor shaft in the direction it wants to go in to go down - it's probably stuck

How do I spin the motor shaft? I saw in the OM it mentions using a 'plastic toothed rack' supplied in the toolkit but I can't find this. I can't see a way to manually move the window. Any ideas?

 

[Stevehose]

What year is your car late 73 or 74? It appears as thought you have the later style motor without the toothed gear - if your door panel vinyls don't have the plastic acess hole plugs then I am not sure what the technique is for this type of motor - maybe someone here with those motors can chime in.

How do I spin the motor shaft? I saw in the OM it mentions using a 'plastic toothed rack' supplied in the toolkit but I can't find this. I can't see a way to manually move the window. Any ideas?

 

[decampos]

What year is your car late 73 or 74? It appears as thought you have the later style motor without the toothed gear - if your door panel vinyls don't have the plastic acess hole plugs then I am not sure what the technique is for this type of motor - maybe someone here with those motors can chime in.

Ah right. It's a late '74 car. The door cards don't have an access hole. Thanks for your reply, I will investigate.

 

[bill]

If your motor has a plastic case (instead of the metal case), you can pull the case down about an inch or so to expose the top of the armature. Then you can turn the armature by pushing or pulling (i forgot which way) with a small screw-driver, being careful not to break any of the armature wires. This is not fun, and it will try your patience, but you'll be able to move the window up or down depending on what you want to do. IIRC, the window has to be more than half-way down in order to remove the regulator which you have to do if the motor is bad and you want to remove it to repair it. My coupe is a '74.
Do your windows work when the driver (left) door is open? In my coupe, there are two relays in the window circuits. One of them is controlled by the left-side door switch. If the switch or relay fails, the windows won't work when the door is closed. I have no idea why this is the case and it took me a while to figure this out. I replaced the defective relay (it was in the left under-dash area) and everything was fine. Hope this helps.

 

[decampos]

Hi Bill. Thanks for your reply.

If your motor has a plastic case (instead of the metal case), you can pull the case down about an inch or so to expose the top of the armature. Then you can turn the armature by pushing or pulling (i forgot which way) with a small screw-driver, being careful not to break any of the armature wires…

Looks like the motor is housed in a metal case, doesn't appear to be any wiggle room.

Do your windows work when the driver (left) door is open? In my coupe, there are two relays in the window circuits. One of them is controlled by the left-side door switch. If the switch or relay fails, the windows won't work when the door is closed. I have no idea why this is the case and it took me a while to figure this out. I replaced the defective relay (it was in the left under-dash area) and everything was fine.

That's interesting. I don't think I have that relay. The windows would only work when the key is in the ignition and turned to the first click.

 

[Arde]

One way to eliminate most electricals is to run the wires directly from the battery to the window motor. The motor may have either 2 or 3 connections. For 2 connection you reverse the 12V to select UP/DOWN direction. For a 3 connection motor you always connect the GND and change direction by applying 12V to the second vs the third wire. GND is the one that has a differenet color than the other two.

Make the connection brief, a second or two while you gently push down on the window glass in case the gearbox is stuck. Do not keep 12V to the motor for longer if the window doesn't move as you can fry the motor.

Looks like you ultimately want to separate the motor from the regulator and take them out of the door for service.

 

[decampos]

One way to eliminate most electricals is to run the wires directly from the battery to the window motor. The motor may have either 2 or 3 connections. For 2 connection you reverse the 12V to select UP/DOWN direction. For a 3 connection motor you always connect the GND and change direction by applying 12V to the second vs the third wire. GND is the one that has a differenet color than the other two.

Make the connection brief, a second or two while you gently push down on the window glass in case the gearbox is stuck. Do not keep 12V to the motor for longer if the window doesn't move as you can fry the motor.

Looks like you ultimately want to separate the motor from the regulator and take them out of the door for service.

Great. Thanks for that. Will give it a try.

 

[MMercury]

Before completely tearing into the mechanism, as HBChris suggests, check that the wiring is solidly connected to the terminals (2,3,4,5). If you haven't figured it out, manually turning the white-ribbed object (upper right hand corner) is what can move the window/mechanism.
http://www.e9-driven.com/Public/Library/BMW-E9-Manual/pages/en/51330050.html#refertoc

 

[Bill Riblett]

Before completely tearing into the mechanism, as HBChris suggests, check that the wiring is solidly connected to the terminals (2,3,4,5). If you haven't figured it out, manually turning the white-ribbed object (upper right hand corner) is what can move the window/mechanism.
http://www.e9-driven.com/Public/Library/BMW-E9-Manual/pages/en/51330050.html#refertoc

FYI. This is a picture of the earlier "sardine" window motor with the separate gearbox just barely visible at the upper right. Maybe someone with the later motor can verify if that has the same wiring connections?