1988 F-150 XLT Lariat 302 EFI Auto

Just randomly stopped working today after having been in use on a short drive. Pushing the switch does nothing. The passenger side works fine. So do the power locks.

I took apart the door and took out the motor. The motor spins fine when I push the switch and it's not in the door but still connected to the harness.

Does this mean the lever or gears that raise the window are too stiff? I can move the window up and down manually, but it does seem a bit stiff, and the lever and gears seem a bit rusty.

I've seen in other posts that the motor has plastic gears inside that can break, but since it's spinning fine when not in the door I assume I can rule that out?

If it just needs to be lubricated, how the heck do I get the lube in there? Seems like taking off the inner steel panel would be nigh to impossible. I guess I could sort of do it blind...

Anyone else run into this?

 

Plastic gears.

 

The regulator has the plastic gears not the motor. It is an easy fix. The hardest part is getting the regulator out. Once out you unscrew the cover and remove the gear. It is packed in grease so it is messy. You need to clean out the grease, re-grease the new gear and install. Mine had chunks of plastic missing. I replaced it and it works like a charm. It was also not expensive. Maybe $10.

 

I guess I don't understand why the motor spins when out of the door but doesn't spin when installed. If a gear was broken, wouldn't it also not spin when there is no load on it?

 

This article has a good explanation. Although he says the plastic bits are in the motor, not the regulator, which is the impression I had gotten from some other discussions...

http://www.justanswer.com/ford/2a1lc...1988-f150.html

 

You should not be able to move the window at all without the motor working. Otherwise anybody can get in your truck, locks would be useless.

 

This is the exact same thing that happened to mine. There is a gear, appropriately called the window regulator gear in the regulator. It has both metal and plastic teeth. The underside has three plastic plugs that wear out. Once they do the window will no longer go up or down properly. Mine would not spin in the door but would once removed. I'm not sure why but it sounds like the problem you are having. Other than getting the regulator out if the door it is an easy fix. You will need a rivot tool to re-attach the regulator and motor.

 

I rebuilt the motor using the 1/4" nut trick and it seemed to have worked... But then it stopped working again!

I figured out that the problem is when the window gets all the way down. It's fine if it's not quite all the way. Only when it bottoms out does it seem to be getting stuck. I also notice that the trim panel also bulges out slightly when the window gets to the bottom and I'm pretty sure that's somehow related.

I guess it could be a bad regulator? Not sure. Has anyone else come across this?

PS Jtsarby: I did not need to remove the regulator to remove the motor. It's possible to drill holes in the door sheet metal to access the bolts connecting the motor to the door. In fact, someone had already drilled the holes in mine.

 

Not to thread jack but my window slips like its off track or something and it sounds like a jack hammer. Any idea what that is?

 

Either the rollers have broken or come off track or the regulator in the motor is worn and slipping. You need to pull the door panel and check it out.